Some of RI's public libraries are actually nonprofits. How that came to be
Nearly half of Rhode Island’s 48 public libraries are 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and for many of them, that status is tied to 19th-century education reform efforts that swept both rural and urban communities throughout the state.
These days, even though nonprofit public libraries are owned and operated by independent groups rather than the local government, library patrons can hardly tell a difference. They conduct themselves the same as regular municipal libraries, said Karen Mellor, who oversees the Rhode Island Office of Library & Information Services.
“Most of them receive a substantial amount of funding from the city or town that they are in,” she said. “In terms of how the public interacts with them, there’s no difference, because they are engaged by the cities or towns to serve as a public library in that community.”