A political subdivision that has been designated by a county or municipality as the single library administrative unit is eligible to receive from the state an annual operating grant of not more than 25 percent of all local funds expended by that political subdivision during the second preceding fiscal year for the operation and maintenance of a library, under the following conditions:

(1) Eligible political subdivisions include:

(a) A county that establishes or maintains a library or that gives or receives free library service by contract with a municipality or nonprofit library corporation or association within such county;

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 257.17

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) A county that joins with one or more counties to establish or maintain a library or contracts with another county, a special district, a special tax district, or one or more municipalities in another county to receive free library service;
(c) A special district or special tax district that establishes or maintains a library and provides free library service; or
(d) A municipality that establishes or maintains a library or that gives or receives free library service by contract with a nonprofit library corporation or association within the municipality.
(2) The library established or maintained by such political subdivision shall:

(a) Be operated under a single administrative head who is an employee of the single library administrative unit and who has completed a library education program accredited by the American Library Association. The single administrative head shall have at least 2 years of full-time paid professional experience, after completing the library education program, in a public library that is open to the public for a minimum of 40 hours per week.
(b) Expend its funds centrally.
(c) Provide reciprocal borrowing, and other library services pursuant to interlocal agreement, to residents of all political subdivisions within the county which receive operating grants from the state.
(d) Have at least one library or branch library open for 40 or more hours per week.
(e) Have a long-range plan, an annual plan of service, and an annual budget.
(f) Engage in joint planning for coordination of library services within the county or counties that receive operating grants from the state.
(3) Any political subdivision establishing public library service for the first time shall submit a certified copy of its appropriation for library service, and its eligibility to receive an operating grant shall be based upon such appropriation.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 257 Contents