HB 0049, Engrossed 1 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public libraries; amending s. 257.17,
3	F.S.; authorizing municipalities to receive operating
4	grants; establishing minimum standards for receipt of
5	funds; removing minimum population requirement for
6	municipalities to be eligible to receive funds; amending
7	s. 257.191, F.S.; revising provisions relating to public
8	library construction grants; providing for waiver of local
9	matching requirement under certain circumstances;
10	authorizing the Division of Library and Information
11	Services to administer certain funds; providing for
12	eligibility for grant funding; providing for the adoption
13	of rules; providing for effect contingent upon certain
14	appropriations; amending s. 257.22, F.S.; permitting
15	eligible political subdivisions to receive warrants;
16	amending s. 257.23, F.S.; requiring certification of
17	annual tax income by a specified date; clarifying
18	authority with regard to applications for grants;
19	repealing s. 257.19, F.S., relating to library
20	construction grants; amending s. 257.261, F.S.; revising
21	provisions relating to confidentiality of public library
22	registration and circulation records to authorize
23	disclosure of information to the parent or guardian of a
24	library patron under age 16, for the purpose of collecting
25	fines or recovering overdue books or other materials;
26	providing an effective date.
27
28	WHEREAS, in enacting revisions to the State Aid to
29	Libraries program, the Legislature recognizes that the original
30	intent of aiding and encouraging the establishment of free
31	library service throughout the state by offering grants to
32	individual counties is succeeding because all counties in this
33	state are currently participating in the program, and
34	WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that providing state
35	aid to independent municipal libraries while supporting
36	political subdivisions that are currently participating in the
37	State Aid to Libraries program is a valuable contribution to the
38	extension of the state's public library development plan, and
39	WHEREAS, the Legislature further recognizes the need for
40	state aid in order to equalize the level of service that public
41	libraries in various communities throughout the state are able
42	to provide, to promote free library service that benefits all
43	residents of the state, and to promote coordination among public
44	libraries in order to improve the delivery of library services,
45	NOW, THEREFORE,
46
47	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
48
49	Section 1. Section 257.17, Florida Statutes, is amended to
50	read:
51	257.17 Operating grants.—A political subdivision that has
52	been designated by a county or municipalityas the single
53	library administrative unit is eligible to receive from the
54	state an annual operating grant of not more than 25 percent of
55	all local funds expended by that political subdivision during
56	the second preceding fiscal year for the operation and
57	maintenance of a library, under the following conditions:
58	(1) Eligible political subdivisions include:
59	(a) A county that establishes or maintains a library or
60	that gives or receives free library service by contract with a
61	municipality or nonprofit library corporation or association
62	within such county;
63	(b) A county that joins with one or more counties to
64	establish or maintain a library or contracts with another
65	county, a special district, a special tax district, or one or
66	more municipalities in another county to receive free library
67	service;
68	(c) A special district or special tax district that
69	establishes or maintains a library and provides free library
70	service; or
71	(d) A municipality with a population of 200,000 or more
72	that establishes or maintains a library or thatand gives or
73	receives free library service by contract with a nonprofit
74	library corporation or association within the municipality.
75	(2) The library established or maintained by such
76	political subdivision shall:
77	(a) Be operated under a single administrative head who is
78	an employee of the single library administrative unit and who
79	has completed a library education program accredited by the
80	American Library Association. The single administrative head
81	shall have at least 2 years of full-time paid professional
82	experience, after completing the library education program, in a
83	public library that is open to the public for a minimum of 40
84	hours per week.and
85	(b) Expend its funds centrally.;
86	(b) Have an operating budget of at least $20,000 per year
87	from local sources; and
88	(c) Provide reciprocal borrowing and other library
89	services pursuant to interlocal agreement.Give free library
90	service to all residents of all political subdivisions within
91	the county that receive operating grants from the stateof the
92	county or residents of the special district or special tax
93	district.
94	(d) Have at least one library or branch library open for
95	40 or more hours per week.
96	(e) Have a long-range plan, an annual plan of service, and
97	an annual budget.
98	(f) Engage in joint planning for coordination of library
99	services within the county or counties that receive operating
100	grants from the state.
101	(3) Any political subdivision establishing public library
102	service for the first time shall submit a certified copy of its
103	appropriation for library service, and its eligibility to
104	receive an operating grant shall be based upon such
105	appropriation.
106	(4)(a) A municipality with a population of 200,000 or more
107	that establishes or maintains a library is eligible to receive
108	from the state an annual operating grant of not more than 25
109	percent of all local funds expended by that municipality during
110	the second preceding fiscal year for the operation and
111	maintenance of a library, under the following conditions:
112	1. The municipal library is operated under a single
113	administrative head and expends its funds centrally;
114	2. The municipal library has an operating budget of at
115	least $20,000 per year from local sources; and
116	3. The municipal library provides free library service to
117	all residents of the municipality.
118	(b) This subsection is repealed on July 1, 2002.
119	Section 2. Section 257.191, Florida Statutes, is amended
120	to read:
121	257.191 Public libraryconstruction grants.--
122	(1)The Division of Library and Information Services may
123	accept and administer library construction moneys appropriated
124	to it and shall allocate such appropriation to municipal,
125	county, and regional libraries in the form of publiclibrary
126	construction grants on a matching basis. The local matching
127	portion shall be no less than the grant amount, on a dollar-for-
128	dollar basis, up to the maximum grant amount50 percent. The
129	division shall waive the matching requirement if a county or
130	municipality requests a waiver of the matching requirement and
131	has been designated a rural community in accordance with ss.
132	288.0656(2)(b) and 288.06561. Initiation of a library
133	construction project 12 months or less prior to the grant award
134	under this section shall not affect the eligibility of an
135	applicant to receive a public library construction grant.
136	(2)(a) The Division of Library and Information Services
137	may accept and administer moneys appropriated to it for small
138	county public library construction grants. The purpose of the
139	grants is to assist counties and municipalities that have been
140	designated rural communities in accordance with ss.
141	288.0656(2)(b) and 288.06561 to construct, expand, or renovate
142	public library facilities to meet the requirement of 0.6 square
143	feet per capita of total library floor space.
144	(b) To be eligible to compete for funds under this
145	section, a county or municipality shall:
146	1. Comply with the definition of rural community as
147	provided in s. 288.0656(2)(b).
148	2. Have less than 0.6 square feet per capita of total
149	library floor space.
150	3. Certify that the county or municipality will
151	appropriate and expend sufficient funds to operate the completed
152	library facility.
153	4. Not apply for a grant under the public library
154	construction grant program provided in subsection (1) during the
155	same fiscal year.
156	(c) The implementation of the provisions of the small
157	county public library construction grants under this subsection
158	shall be contingent upon specific appropriations provided to the
159	Department of State for funding of these grants.
160	(3)The division shall adopt rules for the administration
161	of library construction grants. For the purposes of this
162	section, s. 257.21 does not apply.
163	Section 3. Section 257.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to
164	read:
165	257.22 Division of Library and Information Services;
166	allocation of funds.—Any moneys that may be appropriated for use
167	by a county, a municipality, a special district, or a special
168	tax district for the maintenance of a library or library service
169	shall be administered and allocated by the Division of Library
170	and Information Services in the manner prescribed by law. On or
171	before December 1 of each year, the division shall certify to
172	the Comptroller the amount to be paid to each county,
173	municipality, special district, or special tax district, and the
174	Comptroller shall issue warrants to the eligible political
175	subdivisionsrespective boards of county commissioners or chief
176	municipal executive authorities for the amount so allocated.
177	Section 4. Section 257.23, Florida Statutes, is amended to
178	read:
179	257.23 Application for grant.—
180	(1) The board of county commissioners of any county, the
181	chief executive officer of a municipality, or the governing body
182	of a special district or a special tax districtdesiring to
183	receive a grant under the provisions of ss. 257.14-257.25 shall
184	apply therefor to the Division of Library and Information
185	Services on or before October 1 of each year on a form to be
186	provided by the division. In The application, whichshall be
187	signed by the chair of the board of county commissioners and
188	attested by the clerk of the circuit court or the appropriate
189	officer in a charter county, by the chief executive officer of a
190	municipality and attested by the clerk of the municipality, or
191	by the chair of the governing body and attested by the chief
192	financial officer of a special district or a special tax
193	district. The county, municipality, special district, or special
194	tax districtthe board of county commissionersshall agree to
195	observe the standards established by the division as authorized
196	in s. 257.15. On or before December 1 each year, the applicant
197	shall certify the annual tax income and the rate of tax or the
198	annual appropriation for the free library or free library
199	service, and shall furnish such other pertinent information as
200	the division may require.
201	(2) The chief municipal executive authority of any
202	municipality desiring to receive a grant under the provisions of
203	ss. 257.14-257.25 shall apply therefor to the Division of
204	Library and Information Services on or before October 1 of each
205	year on a form to be provided by the division. In the
206	application, which shall be signed by the chief municipal
207	executive officer and attested by the clerk of the circuit
208	court, the chief municipal executive authority shall agree to
209	observe the standards established by the division as authorized
210	in s. 257.15, shall certify the annual tax income and the rate
211	of tax or the annual appropriation for the free library, and
212	shall furnish such other pertinent information as the division
213	may require.
214	Section 5. Section 257.19, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
215	Section 6. Section 257.261, Florida Statutes, is amended
216	to read:
217	257.261 Library registration and circulation records.—All
218	registration and circulation records of every public library,
219	except statistical reports of registration and circulation, are
220	confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and
221	from s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State Constitution. Except in
222	accordance with proper judicial order, a person may not make
223	known in any manner any information contained in such records,
224	except as provided in this section. As used in this section,
225	the term "registration records" includes any information that a
226	library requires a patron to provide in order to become eligible
227	to borrow books and other materials, and the term "circulation
228	records" includes all information that identifies the patrons
229	who borrow particular books and other materials. This section
230	does not prohibit any library, or any business operating jointly
231	with the library, from disclosing information to the parent or
232	guardian of a public library patron under the age of 16
233	municipal or county law enforcement officials, or to judicial
234	officials, for the purpose of collecting fines orrecovering
235	overdue books, documents, films, or other items or materials
236	owned or otherwise belonging to the library. This section does
237	not prohibit any library, or any business operating jointly with
238	the library, from disclosing information to municipal or county
239	law enforcement officials or to judicial officials or to any
240	business, for the purpose of collecting fines or recovering
241	overdue books, documents, films, or other items or materials
242	owned or otherwise belonging to the library; provided that,.in
243	the case of a public library patron under the age of 16, thea
244	public library or business entitymay only release confidential
245	information relating to the parent or guardian of the person
246	under the age of 16. Any person who violates this section
247	commitsis guilty ofa misdemeanor of the second degree,
248	punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
249	Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.