§ 260 — Trustees

§ 260. Trustees. 1. Public libraries authorized to be established by\naction of the voters or their representatives shall be managed by\ntrustees who shall have all the powers of trustees of other educational\ninstitutions of the university as defined in this chapter; provided that\nthe number of trustees of county public libraries and Indian libraries\nshall not be less than five nor more than fifteen and that the number of\ntrustees of other public libraries shall not be less than five nor more\nthan fifteen. The number of trustees of joint public libraries\nauthorized to be established by two or more municipalities or districts\nor any combination thereof shall be not less than five nor more than\ntwenty-five, as determined by agreement of the voting bodies empowered\nto authorize the establishment of such libraries pursuant to subdivision\none of section two hundred fifty-five of this chapter and shall be set\nforth in the resolution authorizing the establishment of such joint\npublic library. Such resolution shall also set forth the number of such\ntrustees which each of the participating municipalities or districts\nshall be entitled to elect or appoint, and the terms of office of the\ntrustees as determined in accordance with subdivision three of this\nsection.\n 2. The trustees of public libraries authorized to be established by\ncities shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the common\ncouncil, in counties they shall be appointed by the county board of\nsupervisors or other governing elective body, in villages they shall be\nappointed by the village board of trustees, in towns they shall be\nappointed by the town board, in school districts they shall be elected\nby the legal voters in the same manner as trustees are elected in the\nschool district which established said library, and on Indian\nreservations they shall be elected at a general tribal election or\notherwise designated by the chiefs or head men of an Indian tribe; that\nnotwithstanding the fact that county, town or local school district\nlines do not penetrate the reservation boundary, Indians residing on\nreservations shall be eligible to serve as trustees of public libraries\nestablished in school districts to the same extent as they are qualified\nvoters pursuant to subdivision three of section twenty hundred twelve of\nthis chapter; that the first trustees shall determine by lot the year in\nwhich the term of office of each trustee shall expire and that a new\ntrustee shall be elected or appointed annually to serve for three or\nfive years to be determined by the entity establishing the public\nlibrary. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subdivision,\nin any case where a town is a contributor to the support of any such\npublic library in a village located within the town the appointment of\ntrustees of such library who reside outside the village but within such\ntown shall be subject to the approval of the town board of such town.\nThe charter of any public library granted prior to April thirtieth,\nnineteen hundred twenty-one, which provides for trustees, their terms of\noffice and method of election or appointment in a manner differing from\nthat hereinbefore provided, shall remain in full force and effect until\nthe regents, upon application of the library trustees, shall amend the\ncharter to conform to the provisions of law in effect when such\namendment is made.\n 3. The trustees of a joint public library authorized to be established\nby two or more municipalities or districts or any combination thereof\nshall be appointed or elected by the body authorized by subdivision two\nof this section to elect or appoint trustees of public libraries\nauthorized to be established by such municipality or district. The\nnumber of such trustees to be elected or appointed by each of the\nparticipating municipalities or districts shall be determined as\nprovided in subdivision one of this section. The term of office of such\ntrustees shall be three or five years except that the terms of the first\ntrustees shall be so arranged that the terms of as nearly as possible to\none-third or one-fifth of the members shall expire annually.\n 4. No person who is a member of any municipal council or board\nauthorized by this section to appoint public library trustees in any\nmunicipality shall be eligible for the office of such public library\ntrustee in such municipality.\n 5. The boards of trustees of public, free association and Indian\nlibraries shall hold regular meetings at least quarterly, and such\nboards shall fix the day and hour for holding such meetings.\n 6. The board of trustees of a library system or a public or free\nassociation library chartered by the regents of the state of New York\nmay determine to contribute annually a sum of money to assist the New\nYork State Association of Library Boards in fostering, encouraging and\npromoting the further development of library activities throughout the\nstate and financing programs in this state which will assist in the\ndissemination of information leading to the improvement and extension of\nlibrary services.\n 7. The board of trustees of a public library established and supported\nby a school district shall, in addition to powers conferred by this or\nany other chapter, be authorized in its discretion to call, give notice\nof and conduct a special district meeting for the purpose of electing\nlibrary trustees and of submitting initially a resolution in accordance\nwith the provisions of subdivision one of section two hundred fifty-nine\nof this chapter. Such meeting shall be held prior to the first day of\nJuly but subsequent to the first day of April. Should the board of\ntrustees of the library determine, in its discretion, not to notice and\nconduct such a meeting, then the election and budget vote will be\nnoticed and conducted by the board of education of the school district\nas part of its annual meeting.\n 8. Candidates for the office of trustee of a public library\nestablished and supported by a school district shall be nominated by\npetition which shall meet the requirements of subdivision a of section\ntwo thousand eighteen of this chapter, except that such candidates shall\nbe elected in the manner specified in subdivision b of such section\nexcept that the nominating petition filed pursuant to subdivision a or b\nof such section shall be signed by a least twenty-five qualified voters\nof the library district, or two percent of the voters who voted in the\nlast previous annual election of members of the library board of\ntrustees, whichever is greater. The provisions of this subdivision shall\nnot apply to a charter granted prior to April thirtieth, nineteen\nhundred seventy-one that provides for a different procedure.\n 9. The board of trustees of a public library established and supported\nby a school district, in addition to any other powers conferred by this\nchapter, may, in its discretion, call, give notice of and conduct a\nspecial district meeting of the qualified voters of the school district\nfor any proper library purpose, including the re-submission of a\ndefeated library appropriation, at a time and place designated by said\nboard of trustees, except as to those purposes set forth in subdivision\nseven of this section.\n 10. The board of trustees of a public library established and\nsupported by a school district, in addition to any other powers\nconferred in this chapter, shall have the power to determine the\nnecessity for construction of library facilities, to select a library\nsite or sites, to select the architect, and to require that the board of\neducation call, give notice of and conduct a special district meeting in\naccordance with the provisions of subdivision nine of this section for\nthe purpose of designating and acquiring a site or sites and authorizing\nthe issuance of obligations of the school district for acquisition and\nconstruction of library facilities, or either.\n 11. Whenever the board of trustees of a public library shall call,\ngive notice of and conduct a special district meeting under subdivision\nseven or nine of this section, such meeting shall be established,\nnoticed and conducted in the same manner and to the same extent as such\nmeetings were theretofore established, noticed and conducted by the\nboard of education of the school district, the board of trustees of the\nlibraries making all the determinations and taking all action in respect\nthereto otherwise required of the board of education of the school\ndistrict, except that the meeting need not, in the discretion of the\nboard of trustees of the library, be held in separate election districts\nin those school districts where election districts have been established\nby the board of education. The board of registration shall meet as\nprovided in section two thousand fourteen of this chapter and notice of\nthe meeting shall be given in accordance with the provisions of sections\ntwo thousand four and two thousand seven of this chapter. The cost of\nall such meetings and registrations shall be a charge to the library.\n 12. The board of trustees of a public, free association or Indian\nlibrary which provides public access to the internet shall establish a\npolicy governing patron use of computer terminals which access the\ninternet. Verification of such policy shall be included in the annual\nreport submitted to the department.\n Notwithstanding any other provision of law, prior to the discarding of\nused or surplus books or other such reading materials by trustees of a\nchartered public, cooperative or free association library which receives\nover ten thousand dollars in state aid, such trustees shall offer to\ndonate such books or materials to a not-for-profit corporation or\npolitical subdivision located within the area of the library system or\noffer to sell such books or materials to the general public. The\ntrustees shall retain any proceeds received from the sale of such books\nand materials for the purpose of maintaining and improving library\nservice within the system.\n