CHIEF OF NAVAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) sponsors the Navy's General Library Program. Under CNO, the Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET) has the overall operational responsibility for the General Library Program. To ensure successful management of the Navy's General Library Program, CNET sets policies, establishes the required reports, and provides or directs the following functions:

• Management studies to plan, evaluate, and develop the General Library Program

• Liaison with services, commands, departments, and offices in and out of the Navy, Department of Defense, and federal government on library matters

• Advice on general library administrative and management elements such as budgets, staffing, facilities, collection development, public relations, and public services

• Arrangement of and participation in workshops, conferences, seminars, and other training programs for library personnel

• Collection and evaluation of data on general libraries and applying results in planning, budgeting, policy formulation, and developing standards and criteria

Figure 5-2.-A shipboard library today.

PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY SERVICES

Professional library services provided by the Naval Education and Training Program Management Support Activity (NETPMSA) include the following:

• Review, selection, and procurement of new books to be distributed to general libraries

• Development and funding rationalization in support of naval general libraries

• Preparation and distribution of professional information such as newsletters, bibliographies, and publicity items

• Distribution and redistribution of library materials and equipment within the general library system

• Designing of forms and publications useful in library operations

COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY AFLOAT

Commanding officers of afloat activities provide library staffing, facilities, equipment, furniture, supplies, binding, and other library materials and services not available through command administrative support, including library staff travel and training. Higher levels of command have the same obligations for proper administration of naval general libraries afloat as they have for all elements of their commands.

Delegation of Responsibility for Shipboard Libraries

Commanding officers may delegate staff liabilities for the General Library Program as a collateral duty. This library officer duty may be assigned to any qualified person, an RP, or a chaplain.

Regulatory Instructions for Shipboard Libraries

The Naval Service General Library Program, SECNAVINST 5070.3, sets basic policies and assigns responsibilities for administration and support of general library programs.

The Naval General Library Manual, NAVEDTRA 38021, carries out the policies of SECNAVINST 5070.3 and defines the basis for library procedures. The library manual provides guidance in administration, operation, and maintenance for the library system programs of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Commanding officers issue local library directives and require reports of library activities needed to ensure effective use of library facilities, materials, and services. The following topics should be covered in all library directives:

Location of the library, the days and hours of operation, and telephone numbers

Personnel authorized to use the library and requirements for setting up borrower identification

Rules for loan of library materials, including length of loan periods, number of books loaned to individuals at one time, and interlibrary loan service

Overdue notice procedures and actions to be taken to ensure the return of library materials within the time period specified

Reimbursement procedures for library materials lost, damaged, or destroyed

Directions on the use of music rooms, audiovisual materials, and equipment in a shipboard library compartment

Other matters such as appropriate dress and behavior

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF SHIPBOARD GENERAL LIBRARIES

As an RP, you should keep in mind that by providing excellent library service, you are enhancing the morale of your shipmates afloat. Before you can provide quality service, however, you must first understand how a general library afloat is staffed, organized, operated, and maintained. This means you must have a basic understanding of each of the following areas of library management:

Staffing

Controlling materials

Coordinating and maintaining audiovisual equipment

Preparing information displays and publicity materials

Maintaining periodical literature

Maintaining a reference library

Aiding customers in locating library materials

Checking library materials in and out

Repairing printed library materials

Library responsibilities should be designed so that no one person will have the responsibility for all the actions needed to develop and maintain an effective library system. As an RP, you may be responsible for many of these tasks. As you progress in the RP rating and in your expertise in organizing and maintaining a shipboard library, you will likely beheld responsible for additional tasks within the Navy's General Library Program. In the following paragraphs, let's take a look at some of these responsibilities and the persons to whom they will likely be assigned.