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| 1 | A bill to be entitled | ||
| 2 | An act relating to public libraries; amending s. 257.191, | ||
| 3 | F.S.; revising provisions relating to public library | ||
| 4 | construction grants; providing for waiver of local | ||
| 5 | matching requirement under certain circumstances; | ||
| 6 | authorizing the Division of Library and Information | ||
| 7 | Services to administer certain funds; providing for | ||
| 8 | eligibility for grant funding; providing for the adoption | ||
| 9 | of rules; providing for effect contingent upon certain | ||
| 10 | appropriations; providing an effective date. | ||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: | ||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | Section 1. Section 257.191, Florida Statutes, is amended | ||
| 15 | to read: | ||
| 16 | 257.191 Public libraryconstruction grants.-- | ||
| 17 | (1)The Division of Library and Information Services may | ||
| 18 | accept and administer library construction moneys appropriated | ||
| 19 | to it and shall allocate such appropriation to municipal, | ||
| 20 | county, and regional libraries in the form of publiclibrary | ||
| 21 | construction grants on a matching basis. The local matching | ||
| 22 | portion shall be no less than the grant amount, on a dollar-for- | ||
| 23 | dollar basis, up to the maximum grant amount, unless the | ||
| 24 | matching requirement is waived by s. 288.06561. The division | ||
| 25 | shall waive the matching requirement if a county or municipality | ||
| 26 | requests a waiver of the matching requirement and has been | ||
| 27 | designated a rural community in accordance with ss. | ||
| 28 | 288.0656(2)(b) and 288.06561.Initiation of a library | ||
| 29 | construction project 12 months or less prior to the grant award | ||
| 30 | under this section shall not affect the eligibility of an | ||
| 31 | applicant to receive a publiclibrary construction grant. | ||
| 32 | (2)(a) The Division of Library and Information Services | ||
| 33 | may accept and administer moneys appropriated to it for small | ||
| 34 | county public library construction grants. The purpose of the | ||
| 35 | grants is to assist counties and municipalities that have been | ||
| 36 | designated rural communities in accordance with ss. | ||
| 37 | 288.0656(2)(b) and 288.06561 to construct, expand, or renovate | ||
| 38 | public library facilities to meet the requirement of 0.6 square | ||
| 39 | feet per capita of total library floor space. | ||
| 40 | (b) To be eligible to compete for funds under this | ||
| 41 | subsection, a county or municipality shall: | ||
| 42 | 1. Comply with the definition of rural community as | ||
| 43 | provided in s. 288.0656(2)(b). | ||
| 44 | 2. Have less than 0.6 square feet per capita of total | ||
| 45 | library floor space. | ||
| 46 | 3. Certify that the county or municipality will | ||
| 47 | appropriate and expend sufficient funds to operate the completed | ||
| 48 | library facility. | ||
| 49 | 4. Not apply if a grant has been awarded under the public | ||
| 50 | library construction grant program provided in subsection (1) | ||
| 51 | for the same fiscal year. | ||
| 52 | (c) The implementation of the provisions of the small | ||
| 53 | county public library construction grants under this subsection | ||
| 54 | shall be contingent upon specific appropriations provided to the | ||
| 55 | Department of State for funding of these grants. | ||
| 56 | (3) A public library shall not receive grant funding from | ||
| 57 | the public library construction grant program provided in | ||
| 58 | subsection (1) and the small county public library construction | ||
| 59 | grant program provided in subsection (2) during the same fiscal | ||
| 60 | year. | ||
| 61 | (4)The division shall adopt rules for the administration | ||
| 62 | of library construction grants. For the purposes of this | ||
| 63 | section, s. 257.21 does not apply. | ||
| 64 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. | ||
| 65 | |||