Kansas Public Library Handbook

Download the Kansas Public Library Handbook 2020 (PDF)

The Kansas Public Library Handbook is an attempt to bring together in one source information useful to public libraries in Kansas.  From budgeting to complying with the Kansas Open Meetings Act, from dealing with censorship attempts to understanding state aid, you can find help here.

The last printed version of the Handbook was done in 2015; this online version incorporates changes since that time.  Besides allowing more timely revision, having the Handbook online allows hyperlinks to Kansas Statutes, Regulations, Attorney General’s Opinions, and other websites for more information on topics. Additionally, there are links within the document to move the reader from the “Table of Contents” to the section desired, and from “See References” to the topic referenced.

We hope you find the Kansas Public Library Handbook to be a useful tool!

Regional Library System Administrators and the State Librarian of Kansas

Background and acknowledgments

The Kansas Public Library Handbook (then the Handybook) was first published in 1983 by the Kansas State Library, and after considerable changes in the Kansas public library landscape updated editions were published in 1991 and 1998.  Again faced with considerable change, the Regional Library System Administrators undertook an updated edition in 2015 with assistance on some sections from the State Librarian and other State Library staff.

As stated in previous editions, “no work of this scope is accomplished by a single individual, regardless of the responsibility for producing the completed work.” Credit is due, first and foremost, to those who originally took this project on: Allen Gardiner who compiled the first edition and Roy Bird who updated and edited the 1991 and 1998 editions.