BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1044
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 13, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 1044 (Liu) - As Amended: March 19, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Libraries: administration
SUMMARY : Streamlines the administration of public libraries to
reflect newer technology and changes in functions due to budget
constraints. Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals the Library of California Act.
2)Provides that, beginning January 1, 2013, the members of the
California Library Services Board are to be the same people
who are serving on the former Library of California Board as
it existed on December 31, 2012. Those members are to serve
for the duration of their term.
3)Repeals the requirement that each library system establish an
advisory board.
4)Repeals the statutory requirement to provide annual funding
for coordinated reference services.
5)Repeals the authority of library systems to apply to the State
Library Board for funding for Special Service Programs.
6)Corrects a reference to federal law by specifying the Library
Services Technology Act, instead of the Library Services
Construction Act.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Library Services Act and
the Library of California Act. The California Library Services
Act was enacted in 1977 to enhance equal access to library
materials throughout the state's public libraries. The Library
of California Act was established in 1998 to enhance free and
convenient access to all library resources and services. The
goal was for the state to compensate individual libraries for
services provided to patrons of other libraries throughout the
state to make the resources of public libraries, school
libraries and private libraries available to all Californians.
SB 1044
Page 2
The full cost of implementation was estimated at $60 million
annually. Virtually none of these resource and information
sharing programs have been funded or implemented. In addition,
technological advances since the passage of the Library of
California Act have rendered some functions outdated. The
Library of California Act, once fully implemented, was intended
to replace the California Library Services Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This bill implements recommendations of a task force
convened by the California Library Association in January 2012.
According to the author, "In recent months the California State
Librarian held a series of stakeholder meetings to examine the
California Library Services Act. The genesis of these meetings
was to be able to provide some assurances to the legislature and
the Governor's Administration that the program was addressing
only the most basic needs in supporting the infrastructure of
the state's critical public library loaning and lending program.
At the largest of the stakeholder meetings, over 130 public
libraries were represented in the discussions, and the work
product result of those meetings resulted in SB 1044."
The table below provides the author's rationale for each
provision of the bill.
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|Provision |Rationale |
|-----------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|Repeal the |Virtually none of this Act's resource and |
|Library of |information sharing programs have been funded |
|California Act |or implemented. The methods and standards set |
| |forth for resource sharing were written before |
| |the development of new technologies and the |
| |explosion of online content. The California |
| |Library Services Act will remain in effect to |
| |accomplish the general purposes of the Library |
| |of California Act. |
|-----------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|Transfer |This conforms to the repeal of the Library of |
|membership of |California Act. Although two separate boards |
|the Library of |exist in statute, they have never operated |
|California Board |concurrently. |
|to the | |
SB 1044
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|California | |
|Library Services | |
|Board | |
|-----------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|Eliminate |Cooperative library systems are two or more |
|library systems |public library jurisdictions that agree to |
|advisory boards |share library resources. They are governed by |
| |a System Administrative Council, which |
| |consists of the head librarian of each member |
| |public library jurisdiction. The advisory |
| |board is an unnecessary expense and layer of |
| |administration that should be eliminated. |
|-----------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|Repeal annual |Library system reference service use has |
|funding |declined dramatically in recent years with the |
|requirement for |increase in Internet use and the corresponding |
|coordinated |increasing availability of online information |
|reference |resources, which have all but eliminated the |
|services |need for this type of service. |
|-----------------+-----------------------------------------------|
|Repeal authority |Special Services Programs are projects |
|to apply to the |establishing or improving service to |
|State Library |underserved populations. They have been |
|Board for |funded with federal funds; no state funding is |
|funding for |available. |
|Special Services | |
|Programs | |
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Library Association (sponsor)
County of Los Angeles
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087