House Bill hb1115e1
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public libraries; amending
3 s. 257.17, F.S.; authorizing municipalities to
4 receive operating grants; establishing minimum
5 standards for receipt of funds; removing
6 minimum population requirement for
7 municipalities to be eligible to receive funds;
8 amending s. 257.191, F.S.; revising provisions
9 relating to construction grants; amending s.
10 257.22, F.S.; permitting eligible political
11 subdivisions to receive warrants; amending s.
12 257.23, F.S.; requiring certification of annual
13 tax income by a specified date; clarifying
14 authority with regard to applications for
15 grants; repealing s. 257.19, F.S., relating to
16 library construction grants; amending s.
17 257.261, F.S.; revising provisions relating to
18 confidentiality of public library registration
19 and circulation records to authorize disclosure
20 of information to the parent or guardian of a
21 library patron under age 16, for the purpose of
22 collecting fines or recovering overdue books or
23 other materials; providing an effective date.
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25 WHEREAS, in enacting revisions to the State Aid to
26 Libraries program, the Legislature recognizes that the
27 original intent of aiding and encouraging the establishment of
28 free library service throughout the state by offering grants
29 to individual counties is succeeding because all counties in
30 this state are currently participating in the program, and
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that providing
2 state aid to independent municipal libraries while supporting
3 political subdivisions that are currently participating in the
4 State Aid to Libraries program is a valuable contribution to
5 the extension of the state's public library development plan,
6 and
7 WHEREAS, the Legislature further recognizes the need
8 for state aid in order to equalize the level of service that
9 public libraries in various communities throughout the state
10 are able to provide, to promote free library service that
11 benefits all residents of the state, and to promote
12 coordination among public libraries in order to improve the
13 delivery of library services, NOW, THEREFORE,
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15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17 Section 1. Section 257.17, Florida Statutes, is
18 amended to read:
19 257.17 Operating grants.--A political subdivision that
20 has been designated by a county or municipality as the single
21 library administrative unit is eligible to receive from the
22 state an annual operating grant of not more than 25 percent of
23 all local funds expended by that political subdivision during
24 the second preceding fiscal year for the operation and
25 maintenance of a library, under the following conditions:
26 (1) Eligible political subdivisions include:
27 (a) A county that establishes or maintains a library
28 or that gives or receives free library service by contract
29 with a municipality or nonprofit library corporation or
30 association within such county;
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 (b) A county that joins with one or more counties to
2 establish or maintain a library or contracts with another
3 county, a special district, a special tax district, or one or
4 more municipalities in another county to receive free library
5 service;
6 (c) A special district or special tax district that
7 establishes or maintains a library and provides free library
8 service; or
9 (d) A municipality with a population of 200,000 or
10 more that establishes or maintains a library or that and gives
11 or receives free library service by contract with a nonprofit
12 library corporation or association within the municipality.
13 (2) The library established or maintained by such
14 political subdivision shall:
15 (a) Be operated under a single administrative head who
16 is an employee of the single library administrative unit and
17 who has completed a library education program accredited by
18 the American Library Association. The single administrative
19 head shall have at least 2 years of full-time paid
20 professional experience, after completing the library
21 education program, in a public library that is open to the
22 public for a minimum of 40 hours per week. and
23 (b) Expend its funds centrally.;
24 (b) Have an operating budget of at least $20,000 per
25 year from local sources; and
26 (c) Give the same free library service provided to its
27 own all residents to residents of all political subdivisions
28 within the county that receive operating grants from the state
29 of the county or residents of the special district or special
30 tax district.
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 (d) Have at least one library or branch library open
2 for 40 or more hours per week.
3 (e) Have a long-range plan, an annual plan of service,
4 and an annual budget.
5 (f) Engage in joint planning for coordination of
6 library services within the county or counties that receive
7 operating grants from the state.
8 (3) Any political subdivision establishing public
9 library service for the first time shall submit a certified
10 copy of its appropriation for library service, and its
11 eligibility to receive an operating grant shall be based upon
12 such appropriation.
13 (4)(a) A municipality with a population of 200,000 or
14 more that establishes or maintains a library is eligible to
15 receive from the state an annual operating grant of not more
16 than 25 percent of all local funds expended by that
17 municipality during the second preceding fiscal year for the
18 operation and maintenance of a library, under the following
19 conditions:
20 1. The municipal library is operated under a single
21 administrative head and expends its funds centrally;
22 2. The municipal library has an operating budget of at
23 least $20,000 per year from local sources; and
24 3. The municipal library provides free library service
25 to all residents of the municipality.
26 (b) This subsection is repealed on July 1, 2002.
27 Section 2. Section 257.191, Florida Statutes, is
28 amended to read:
29 257.191 Construction grants.--The Division of Library
30 and Information Services may accept and administer library
31 construction moneys appropriated to it and shall allocate such
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 appropriation to municipal, county, and regional libraries in
2 the form of library construction grants on a matching basis.
3 The local matching portion shall be no less than the grant
4 amount, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to the maximum grant
5 amount, unless the matching requirement is waived by s.
6 288.06561 50 percent. Initiation of a library construction
7 project 12 months or less prior to the grant award under this
8 section shall not affect the eligibility of an applicant to
9 receive a library construction grant. The division shall adopt
10 rules for the administration of library construction grants.
11 For the purposes of this section, s. 257.21 does not apply.
12 Section 3. Section 257.22, Florida Statutes, is
13 amended to read:
14 257.22 Division of Library and Information Services;
15 allocation of funds.--Any moneys that may be appropriated for
16 use by a county, a municipality, a special district, or a
17 special tax district for the maintenance of a library or
18 library service shall be administered and allocated by the
19 Division of Library and Information Services in the manner
20 prescribed by law. On or before December 1 of each year, the
21 division shall certify to the Comptroller the amount to be
22 paid to each county, municipality, special district, or
23 special tax district, and the Comptroller shall issue warrants
24 to the eligible political subdivisions respective boards of
25 county commissioners or chief municipal executive authorities
26 for the amount so allocated.
27 Section 4. Section 257.23, Florida Statutes, is
28 amended to read:
29 257.23 Application for grant.--
30 (1) The board of county commissioners of any county,
31 the chief executive officer of a municipality, or the
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 governing body of a special district or a special tax district
2 desiring to receive a grant under the provisions of ss.
3 257.14-257.25 shall apply therefor to the Division of Library
4 and Information Services on or before October 1 of each year
5 on a form to be provided by the division. In The application,
6 which shall be signed by the chair of the board of county
7 commissioners and attested by the clerk of the circuit court
8 or the appropriate officer in a charter county, by the chief
9 executive officer of a municipality and attested by the clerk
10 of the municipality, or by the chair of the governing body and
11 attested by the chief financial officer of a special district
12 or a special tax district. The county, municipality, special
13 district, or special tax district the board of county
14 commissioners shall agree to observe the standards established
15 by the division as authorized in s. 257.15. On or before
16 December 1 each year, the applicant shall certify the annual
17 tax income and the rate of tax or the annual appropriation for
18 the free library or free library service, and shall furnish
19 such other pertinent information as the division may require.
20 (2) The chief municipal executive authority of any
21 municipality desiring to receive a grant under the provisions
22 of ss. 257.14-257.25 shall apply therefor to the Division of
23 Library and Information Services on or before October 1 of
24 each year on a form to be provided by the division. In the
25 application, which shall be signed by the chief municipal
26 executive officer and attested by the clerk of the circuit
27 court, the chief municipal executive authority shall agree to
28 observe the standards established by the division as
29 authorized in s. 257.15, shall certify the annual tax income
30 and the rate of tax or the annual appropriation for the free
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 library, and shall furnish such other pertinent information as
2 the division may require.
3 Section 5. Section 257.19, Florida Statutes, is
4 repealed.
5 Section 6. Section 257.261, Florida Statutes, is
6 amended to read:
7 257.261 Library registration and circulation
8 records.--All registration and circulation records of every
9 public library, except statistical reports of registration and
10 circulation, are confidential and exempt from the provisions
11 of s. 119.07(1) and from s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State
12 Constitution. Except in accordance with proper judicial order,
13 a person may not make known in any manner any information
14 contained in such records, except as provided in this section.
15 As used in this section, the term "registration records"
16 includes any information that a library requires a patron to
17 provide in order to become eligible to borrow books and other
18 materials, and the term "circulation records" includes all
19 information that identifies the patrons who borrow particular
20 books and other materials. This section does not prohibit any
21 library, or any business operating jointly with the library,
22 from disclosing information to the parent or guardian of a
23 public library patron under the age of 16 municipal or county
24 law enforcement officials, or to judicial officials, for the
25 purpose of collecting fines or recovering overdue books,
26 documents, films, or other items or materials owned or
27 otherwise belonging to the library. This section does not
28 prohibit any library, or any business operating jointly with
29 the library, from disclosing information to municipal or
30 county law enforcement officials or to judicial officials or
31 to any business, for the purpose of collecting fines or
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CS/HB 1115, First Engrossed
1 recovering overdue books, documents, films, or other items or
2 materials owned or otherwise belonging to the library;
3 provided that,. in the case of a public library patron under
4 the age of 16, the a public library or business entity may
5 only release confidential information relating to the parent
6 or guardian of the person under 16. Any person who violates
7 this section commits is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second
8 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
9 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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