Rawlins Municipal Library and its Board of Trustees recently had its Exemplary Level Accreditation renewed. It’s the highest level of recognition a Library can achieve in South Dakota.
Accreditation standards are established through the South Dakota State Library in conjunction with national public library standards. Exemplary Level Accreditation requires libraries to meet more than 80 criteria in the areas of governance, administration, access, collections and resources, funding, staffing, technology, and public relations. Accreditation is valid for three years; Rawlins Library first received Exemplary Level recognition in 2018.
According to Abby Edwardson, Library Director, accreditation is a public way to show the community that both staff and the Board of Trustees care about the local library and are committed to making sure their community library is the very best it can be.
“Exemplary Accreditation is no small achievement,” said Edwardson. “We are very fortunate to have volunteer trustees and dedicated staff willing to put in all the work needed to accomplish this level of accreditation.”
There are more than 150 public libraries in South Dakota. Of those, less than ten have Exemplary Accreditation.
“The Exemplary Accreditation is certainly impressive, but library patrons are the real beneficiaries here,” said Pierre Mayor Steve Harding. “Rawlins Library wouldn’t receive this recognition if it didn’t provide professional and outstanding service to the taxpayers in Pierre.”
In 2023, Rawlins Library had just over 71,000 visitors, including more than 8,200 who participated in programming such as summer reading for youth and adults, after school events, adult game nights and author talks. In 2024, Rawlins is expanding its programming to include the Hoopla digital app, outreach story time and free library cards for patrons in Hughes and Stanley County.
For more information about library programs and activities visit, rawlinslibrary.org.
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