Library Laws

The library law, issued in 2012, covers goals, supervision and management of libraries as well as management and responsibilities of local authorities, and funding.

This law covers the operation of the National Library of Australia. It was last amended in 2016.

The purpose of the law is to promote the right to read and write under conditions of freedom, social equity, and respect for the diversity of cultural expressions, by generating public policies, plans and actions to encourage writing, reading and access to books, cultural, literary, academic, and scientific creations. It was issued in 2013 by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

In force since July 6, 2009, the Act regulates the governance of public libraries and their interaction in a national network. It stipulates their functions, sources of financing, and the professional requirements for library staff. The Act introduces unified standards for public libraries operation and services.  It creates conditions for free and equal access to library services for all (incl. free basic library services and Internet access). The Act provides for a National Library Council with the Ministry of Culture, tasked to prepare library development strategies and measures for the preservation of library collections and access to cultural heritage.

While there is not a Library Act in Canada that governs all libraries, there does exist the Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004), which establishes the legal framework for Library and Archives Canada.

The objective of this law is to define the policy of National Network of Public Libraries, to regulate its functioning and to establish instruments for its integral and sustainable development. It applies to institutions, proceses and resources related to the National Network of Public Libraries coordinated by the Ministry of Colombia through the National Library of Colombia. The law doesn't apply to public libraries which are established by autonomous or non-governmental institutions and funded by private or public-private funds. Also, this law defines:  the creation of Technical Committee of National Public Libraries and responsibilities in different territorial levels of libraries: national, departamental and municipal.

The National System of Libraries is created by decree N° 23382-C, constituted by the General Direction of the SINABI, the National Library Miguel Obregón and the Direction of Public Libraries with 57 official and semi-official public libraries.  This network of libraries is distributed in the seven provinces of the country.

The Decree-Law establishes the fundamental principles that govern the library activity of the Cuban State, strengthening the role that libraries play in the fulfilment of the constitutional right of citizens to access education, history, culture, and science in all its manifestations, as well as regulating the functions of the National Library of Cuba José Martí. The law defines all library systems of the country and defines concepts specific to the library sector, the principles and the scope and functions of all Cuban libraries.

Adopted in 2001, last amended in 2017, this Act regulates the system of libraries providing public library and information services and the conditions of their operation.  Libraries covered by this act can obtain state benefits (e.g., in the form of targeted subsidies), and they enjoy an exclusive position as to other related laws and legislative standards (e.g., the copyright act, accounting act).  The library act is linked up with other regulations and recommendations which regulate certain areas of library activities such as inter-library loan services, rules for providing financial subsidies, and standards for providing public library services.

Many laws and regulations govern the operation of libraries in higher education and research. In combination with the Loi Savary of 1984, Loi Faure set out the framework for the organisation of university libraries, shared documentation services and cooperation between institutions. Their mission is to "disseminate culture and scientific and technical information". The creation of joint documentation services is not a legal requirement, but most universities have already set up such services. The decree of 4 July 1985 on the documentation services of higher education establishments under the authority of the Minister for National Education provides a precise definition of the difference between integrated and associated libraries. Decree no. 2011-996 of 23 August 2011 on the libraries and other documentation structures of higher education establishments created in the form of shared services sets out the missions of these establishments: documentary policy, welcoming users and staff, processing documents and information resources on any medium, developing digital documentary resources and participating in research on these different resources, promoting initial and continuing training and research, cooperating with libraries and training users in new techniques for accessing scientific and technical information.

The Heritage Code / Code du patrimoine, legislative part, Book III, Libraries stipulates, in particular, that municipal libraries are organised and financed by the cities or groups of cities and departmental libraries by the local authority between the Region and the Cities (“départements”).

For elementary schools, circular no. 84-360 of 1 October 1984 defined the general principles for the creation of school libraries. For secondary schools, the circulars of 23 March 1973 and 74-108 of 14 March 1974 setup Documentation and Information Centres (CDI). Circular n° 86-123 of 13 March 1986 defines the duties of the documentalist teacher in charge of the Documentation and Information Centre. Today, every secondary school, whether public or private, has one. Part n°7 of Circular n°2012-056 of 27 March 2012 has seen Documentation and Information Centres evolve into Centres of Knowledge and Culture, the extension of the Learning Centre concept to School libraries.