Page:Library Legislation - Yust - 1921.djvu/12

 main features of this act have been widely copied and the long law has become the established method in the great majority of states.

Under the commission form of government a select board of five is retained in Iowa, its members appointed by the city commissioners, serving without pay and having all the powers given to library trustees under the general library law of the state.

A form of government frequently found is that of the "free library," which though free to the public is controlled by an incorporated association. Many of the early subscription libraries developed into this type by becoming entirely free. In return they have been permitted by statute to receive money aid from the municipality and even from the state. This aid is given on evidence officially certified that their service is up to the standard established by law.

As this form of control places the library entirely in the hands of its friends it is frequently adopted for endowed libraries or in starting small libraries before asking for a public tax. Many state laws authorize a municipality to contract with such an association for free library privileges, the library to receive public tax support based on the nature and extent of the service rendered. Such libraries exist in many parts of the country, especially in the East.

The A.L.A. and library legislation.—For a quarter of a century the American Library Association took no definite action on this matter of fundamental importance. In June, 1877, Melvil Dewey proposed a summary of legislation in the eleven states having laws with a view to the preparation of a model law by a committee of the association. In September of the same year Dr. William F. Poole sketched the existing laws noting some of their merits and their defects. He characterized the legislation of forty years as "crude and ill-digested," but thought it more judicious not to draft a