Bill Text: NY A09895 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a public hearing to be held prior to the closure of a library.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-25 - referred to libraries and education technology [A09895 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A09895-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9895

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 25, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. NOLAN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Libraries and Education Technology

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  requiring  a  public
          hearing to be held prior to the closure of a library

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1.  Section 268 of the education law, as  amended  by  chapter
     2  476 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 268. Abolition.  1.  Any  library  established by public vote of any
     4  municipality or district, or by vote of the common council of any  city,
     5  or  by  vote  of  the  board of trustees of any village, or by action of
     6  school authorities, or by vote of the tribal  government  of  an  Indian
     7  reservation,  or  under section two hundred fifty-five of this [chapter]
     8  part, may be abolished by majority vote at an election, or at a  meeting
     9  of  the  electors  duly  held,  provided  that  due public notice of the
    10  proposed action [shall have been] is given and a public hearing  regard-
    11  ing  the proposed action is held  at least ninety days prior to the date
    12  of the proposed vote, or by vote of such tribal government. If any  such
    13  library  is abolished, its property shall be used first to return to the
    14  regents, for the benefit of other free association or public  or  school
    15  libraries  in  that locality, the equivalent of such sums as it may have
    16  received from the state or from other sources as gifts for  public  use.
    17  After  such return any remaining property may be used as directed in the
    18  vote abolishing the library, but if the entire library property does not
    19  exceed in value the amount of such gifts, it may be transferred  to  the
    20  regents  for  public  use, and the trustees shall thereupon be free from
    21  further responsibility.   No abolition of  a  public  library  shall  be
    22  lawful  until  the regents grant a certificate that its assets have been
    23  properly distributed and its abolition completed in accordance with law.
    24    2. Any public library, free library, or association library as defined
    25  in subdivision two of section two hundred fifty-three of this  part  may
    26  close  a  branch  by  a  majority  vote of the board of trustees of such
    27  library, provided that due public notice of the proposed action is given
    28  and a public hearing regarding the proposed action is held by the  board
    29  of  trustees  of  such library at least ninety days prior to the date of
    30  the proposed vote.
    31    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15380-01-0