State Department orders Nonprofit Public Libraries to Stop Accepting Passports

The Associated Press reported this week that the U.S. State Department has ordered public libraries that are organized as 501(c)(3)-exempt nonprofits to stop serving as passport acceptance facilities. The State Department’s recent interpretation has triggered pushback from the American Library Association and prompted bipartisan legislation.

Nationwide, approximately 15% of public libraries are nonprofit. “In Pennsylvania 85% of public libraries are non-profit organizations, versus being a department of a local municipal government. In Maine, it’s 56%; Rhode Island, 54%, New York, 47% and Connecticut, 46%, according to the American Library Association.”