The Maine Library Commission has dropped its request that the state’s public libraries sign an agreement requiring them to have paid directors and minimum hours to continue receiving access to all library services, including internet service and the interlibrary loan program.

Several months ago, the state’s public libraries were told they would have to sign the Maine Regional Library System Public Library Agreement to Participate by Jan. 1 and conform to a new definition of a public library to continue receiving the services.

The definition would have required all libraries to employ paid directors and be open at least 12 hours a week — standards that many of Maine’s smallest rural libraries said they could not meet.

Smaller libraries rely heavily on volunteer staff members, including volunteer directors and children’s librarians, and are open only when those volunteers are available.

The proposed requirements drew pushback from some library staff members, particularly volunteers at the Pembroke Public Library in Washington County, who said the new standards threatened their ability to continue providing services.

When the Maine Library Commission met Nov. 17, commissioners heard from several library directors and patrons who were highly critical of the new standards and voted to table further action until their regular meeting scheduled for Jan. 12.

At the time, commissioners also voted to have Maine State Library staff seek advice from the Office of the Maine Attorney General and meet with library directors to gather input before moving forward with any changes to the standards.

As part of the process to update the standards, the commission had planned to consolidate its current nine regions into three — northern, central and southern Maine — with each assigned a consultant from the Maine State Library.

State library staff members scheduled a meeting with library directors for Dec. 2, but postponed it until they received legal advice. Staff members, along with the commission’s chair, vice chair and members of the subcommittee that worked on the revised standards, met Dec. 15 with a representative from the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

According to an email from Maine Library Commission Chairman Bryce Cundick, sent to some libraries by the Maine Library Association’s Rural & Small Libraries Interest Group on Dec. 19, the attorney general’s office has since recommended that the commission consider using a rulemaking process through the state’s Administrative Procedures Act to “formalize the number of regions, the libraries in each region and the criteria for libraries to receive certain statewide services through the Maine State Library.”

Cundick, the library director at the University of Maine at Farmington, represents large university libraries on the state commission.

Acknowledging the concerns raised at the November meeting, Cundick wrote that he was not in a position to answer all the questions about the proposed standards, but offered an update on where things stood at year’s end, with the rulemaking process at the top of the list.

The rulemaking process, Cundick explained, has a “mandatory requirement to collect feedback from the public about any draft rules created for consideration.”

The attorney general’s office has also recommended that rulemaking be done during full commission meetings rather than through a subcommittee, to ensure transparency, he said.

According to Cundick’s email, the attorney general’s office noted that the commission is responsible for policy regarding the Maine State Library’s services and resources, “but is not responsible for enforcing laws/rules put in place by other agencies,” including labor and wage laws.

Some librarians believe that could open the door for them to continue using volunteers.
In the weeks since the commission tabled action, commissioners and state library staff members have continued to hear from patrons and other library supporters.

Among them is Sarah Redfield, a former Maine assistant attorney general and a professor emerita at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law.

In a telephone interview Friday, Redfield said she felt compelled to raise concerns about the potential damage the proposed standards would have on rural libraries. A former resident of Newport who traveled Down East as part of her work with the attorney general’s office, Redfield said she is familiar with the needs of rural Mainers and their connection to their libraries.

She said she found it “beyond outrageous” that the commission would set standards that commissioners should have known rural libraries could not meet, particularly in places already lacking services.

She said she has reached out to Marijke Visser, director of library development at the Maine State Library, and to Andrea DeBiase, who represents Maine’s underserved and rural areas on the commission, to argue that any revised standards should view small rural libraries through a different lens than larger libraries.

In his email, Cundick thanked “the library community for its collective patience while we work to find a path forward regarding the revision of the Maine Regional Library System,” noting that if the commission moves ahead with the rulemaking process, it could take most of 2026 to complete.

“In the meantime, I want to reiterate that there are no changes to current MRLS agreements, and no library will be signing a new agreement on January 1, 2026,” he wrote.

Cundick’s email directed all questions to Maine State Librarian Lori Stockman. Stockman did not respond to requests for comment from Monitor Local on Friday.

The assistant attorney general working with the Maine State Library is expected to attend the commission’s Jan. 12 meeting and, after hearing public comment, will review the rulemaking process with commissioners before they consider further action, Cundick wrote in his email.

According to the director of public affairs for the attorney general’s office, that attorney will not be available for an interview.

The Jan. 12 meeting is scheduled to run from 1 to 3 p.m. on Zoom. It is expected to open with a period for public comment, with each speaker limited to three minutes.

The meeting agenda and link are to be posted on the commission’s website a week before the meeting.

The commission’s rule guide on public library responsibilities that had been posted on the site has been taken down.

In a related but separate action, the Legislature adopted a measure creating a working group to study the status of school and public library services for certain populations in Maine, including people 55 or older, individuals with disabilities, youth and children, immigrant and migrant communities, tribal communities and residents of remote areas.

The group, which has been given two years for its study, is expected to examine the role libraries play in emergency preparedness, cultural diversity and inclusion, public health and safety, community identity and resiliency, economic development and access to public services and resources.

The group has been instructed to gather public input and examine the overall status of partnerships, resources, facilities, technology and staffing at public and school libraries, with a report due to the Legislature in November 2027.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.