Governance and Organizational Structures

A library is a library is a library, right? Well, yes and no. While basic administrative practices remain the same across library types, the public law library poses a number of unique situations requiring uncommon administrative practices. Many of these administrative differences are due to the public law library's dual missions and uncommon organizational configurations. Other administrative differences are due to the nature of the law both as a subject and as a career field. This chapter reviews the diverse governance and organizational structures most often found among public law libraries; however, this discussion is not all-inclusive, and other governance forms may exist. Organizational documents such as mission statements, goals, and objectives are discussed within each type of public law library structure, and the organizational variations are depicted by sample organizational charts. The law library committee, the advisory law library board, and the governing law library board are also discussed.