The purpose of this paper is to examine the role state departments of education, a professional organization and a leading internet organization play in providing recommendations and guidelines in the construction of new high school libraries. Four state agencies were identified and specific square footage formulas noted as well as information provided by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and Eduscapes internet organizations. An overview of a small public high school library in southwest Virginia, Franklin County High School, was also included, with its collection, and first semester circulation and student use statistics noted. Results show that some state agencies and organizations provide no recommendations, while those that do show significant disparity in those recommendations. It is concluded that smaller may in fact be as effective as larger libraries and that any decision to build big should be based on a qualitative assessment.