BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 711
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 711
(Wolk) - As Amended July 9, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes a county law library to impose charges for
special services, including electronic delivery, other delivery
services, educational programs, special events, and the
provision of supplies or food services. The bill also narrowly
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defines the term "public library" as used by the State Library,
to include county law libraries in order to provide them access
to additional grant and other funding opportunities.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor and absorbable costs to the California State Library.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "County law libraries have
greatly expanded the types of services they provide, but
modern services are not referenced in the statute nor is there
provision for generating revenue by charging for extra
services. County law libraries continue to experience
diminishing operations revenues. In fact, over the past five
years, there has been nearly a 32% decrease in revenue.
Authorizing additional charges to be imposed will not solve
the funding shortfall county law libraries are currently
experiencing, but it will enable county law libraries to
generate some revenue from the ancillary services they
provide."
2)County Law Libraries. Existing law establishes county law
libraries and provides for their governance by a board of
trustees. Existing law provides funding for county law
libraries through a portion of civil filing fees, with each
library receiving a designed amount from such fees. County
law libraries are not supported by state or local tax dollars.
While statute requires that access to a county law library be
free to the public, many county law libraries charge fees or
levy fines to help cover the cost of special services. The
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fees may be charged for copying materials, having materials
faxed or mailed, or for audio or video rentals. The fees help
defray the cost of providing these services.
County law libraries provide an array of services beyond those
specifically cited in statute, in order to address the needs
of library users and the broader community. The Council of
California County Law Librarians reports that nearly all
county law libraries provide access to digital resources and
other services not specifically referenced in law.
This bill modernizes the list of services for which county law
libraries can charge a fee to reflect the full range of
services they provide. It is important to note that basic
services currently provided to the public, such as access to
the collection in print and digitally, reference assistance,
etc. would continue to be provided at no charge.
3)Public Libraries. The Library Services Act defines "public
libraries" as those run by a single jurisdiction and serves
its residents free of charge. They typically include county,
city and special district libraries. They are primarily funded
through property tax or other local revenue and receive some
state General Fund money, although that has dwindled
substantially over the last 15 to 20 years.
The State Library maintains a list of "public libraries" that
is used by grant awarding and other state agencies to
determine eligibility for various grants and other funds. The
State Library historically has not included county law
libraries on the list because they are not defined as
traditional public libraries in existing law, nor would they
meet all the criteria.
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This bill crafts a narrow definition of a public library for
the purpose of providing county law libraries access, through
the State Library, to additional grant and other funding
opportunities, while preventing county law libraries from
infringing on state funding provided to traditional public
libraries defined under the Library Services Act.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081