Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
A public, free association or Indian library may be
approved for State aid, pursuant to the provisions of section
273
(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law, provided that
it meets the criteria for eligibility set forth in such paragraph of the
Education Law and this section.
(a)
Definitions. As used in this section and in Education Law, section
273(1)(f)(5):
(1) Chartered and registered
library means public, free association and Indian libraries, as defined in
section
253 of the
Education Law, which are chartered by the Regents or incorporated under a
general or special act of the Legislature, registered by the department in
accordance with the provisions of section
254 of the
Education Law and sections
90.1, 90.2 and
90.8 of this Part, and members of
public library systems. Library also means each public or free association
library serving a city with a population of 100,000 or more which merged with
the public library system on or before January 1, 1976. Libraries serving
cities with populations over one million are not chartered and registered
libraries within the meaning of this section.
(2) Library system means an approved public
library system as defined in section
272
(1) of the Education Law, and does not
include library systems serving cities with populations over one
million.
(3) Chartered service area
means the geographic area served by a library as stated on charter documents
approved by the Board of Regents and on file at the department. For the
purposes of this section, the phrase "and environs" or its equivalent as
contained in any charter document will not be recognized by the commissioner as
a valid part of a library's chartered service area. For the purpose of this
section, areas served by the library under contract will not be recognized by
the commissioner as a valid part of a library's chartered service
area.
(4) The population of the
chartered service area shall be deemed to be that shown by the latest Federal
census for the political subdivisions in the chartered service area. Such
population shall be certified in the same manner as provided by section
54 of the
State Finance Law except that such population shall include the reservation and
school Indian population and inmates of State institutions under the direction,
supervision or control of the Department of Correctional Services, the Office
of Mental Health, the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, and the
Department of Social Services. In the event that any political subdivisions lie
within larger political subdivisions in a chartered service area, only the
population of the larger subdivision shall be used for the purpose of computing
State aid.
(b) Criteria
for eligibility. To be approved for local library services aid, a library
shall:
(1) be chartered by the Regents or
incorporated under a general or special act of the Legislature;
(2) be registered by the department in
accordance with the provisions of section
254 of the
Education Law and sections
90.1, 90.2 and
90.8 of this Part;
(3) be included in the membership of a public
library system, as recorded in the system's plan of service which has been
approved pursuant to section
272 of the
Education Law; and
(4) have filed
with the department an annual report pursuant to sections
215 and
263 of the
Education Law by March 1st. Any library whose annual report for the preceding
fiscal year is not received within 90 days after the end of a calendar year
shall not participate in any apportionments of local library services aid for
the ensuing State fiscal year unless such neglect is duly excused by the
commissioner.
(c)
Determination of payment amounts. The determination of the payment amount for a
library for local library services aid is based on the provisions of section
273
(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law and the
provisions of this section. A library will be approved for payment of local
library services aid based on the population of its chartered service area as
on file at the department.
(1) Changes in
chartered service area. A library may request a change in chartered service
area through a formal petition to the Board of Regents for an amendment to its
charter, or, in the event the library was created by special act of the
Legislature and has not been chartered by the Regents or admitted to the
University of the State of New York, through an amendment to the special act.
(i) A library will be approved for a payment
of local library services aid based on the population of an amended chartered
service area in the calendar year following the year in which the charter
amendment was approved by the Regents.
(ii) No change in chartered service area will
be approved by the Board of Regents if the proposed chartered service area
contains partly or wholly within its boundaries the chartered service areas of
one or more other libraries.
(2) Population of chartered service area. A
library will be approved for a payment of local library services aid based on
the population of chartered service area as defined in this section. In the
event that the chartered service area is not coterminous with a political
subdivision, the population of which is shown in the latest Federal census,
such population shall be determined for the purpose of computation of State aid
pursuant to section
273
(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law by at least
one of the following means:
(i) applying to
the population of such political subdivision the ratio which exists between the
assessed valuation of the portion of such political subdivision included within
the chartered service area and the total assessed valuation of such political
subdivision;
(ii) using a
population figure for the chartered service area as cited in a published source
acceptable to the commissioner;
(iii) using a population figure for the
chartered service area as attested to in writing by a Federal, State, regional,
or local government official acceptable to the commissioner;
(iv) in a case where there is no other
reliable source for a population figure, using a population figure for the
chartered service area as agreed to by the commissioner, the library board and
the director of the public library system.
(d) Disbursement procedures.
(1) Public library systems shall submit an
application for local library services aid for their members on a form
prescribed by the commissioner. The local library services aid payment to a
public library system will be disbursed when the annual reports of all its
member libraries have been received and approved by the commissioner.
(2) The commissioner will not make direct
payments to any individual library.
(e) Waivers. In any year in which the
commissioner has apportioned a reduction adjustment, any public or association
library may apply for a waiver in whole or in part of the standards of service
set forth in section
90.2 of this Part. The application
for such waiver shall be submitted for such public or association library by
the public library system of which such library is a member. Such application
shall be an addendum to the application prescribed in subdivision (d) of this
section. Such a waiver shall be granted by the department for the period of one
year provided that a public or association library demonstrates that standards
of service, in part or in whole, cannot be met because local funding has been
reduced or is insufficient or because of circumstances beyond such library's
control, such as a natural disaster. No waiver granted pursuant to this
subdivision shall be deemed to relieve a public or association library of any
obligation imposed by any other provision of Federal or State law.
