§ 274. Use and care of school library. The school library shall be a part of the school equipment and shall be kept in the school building at all times. Such library shall be devoted to the exclusive use of the school, except as otherwise provided by the rules of the commissioner of education and except in a district where there is no free library, in which case such school library shall be a circulating library for the use of the residents of the district.

The commissioner of education shall prescribe rules regulating

1. The purchase, recording, safekeeping and loaning of books in school libraries, and the use of such books by pupils and teachers in the public schools.

2. The conditions under which books in a school library may be used by the public in a district in which a free library is situated.

3. The management of school libraries and their use as circulating libraries by the residents of the district in which they are situated.

4. The contents and submission of reports of school librarians, teachers and other school authorities as to school libraries.