This article is a reflection on public library services within the context of public policy, as well as a review, from a historiographic point of view, of the trends and scope of state standards for public libraries. Also highlighted are the primary actions by the state that made possible the creation, development, and functioning of the public library in such a way as to be able to identify, describe, and analyze the actors, actions, conditions, and contexts that account for the origin and evolution of this institution. Consequently, this study is not an exhaustive treatment of this subject; rather, it is undertaken as a historical overview that compiles the normative and legal dispositions at the national level: laws, resolutions, and decrees that are directly related to public libraries or that put the public library in Colombia in its proper context during the period 1773-2003. This article concludes with a reflection on the roles that should be played by those personages involved in public library development
