TITLE 4 CULTURAL
RESOURCES
CHAPTER 5 STATE LIBRARY
PART 8 DISTRIBUTION OF GENERAL
OBLIGATION STATE OF NEW MEXICO BOND
FUNDS TO PUBLIC
LIBRARIES
4.5.8.1 ISSUING AGENCY: Cultural Affairs Department - State Library
Division.
[4.5.8.1 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.2 SCOPE: Local public libraries.
[4.5.8.2 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Section 18-2-4 I NMSA
1978 directs the state librarian to make rules and regulations necessary to
administer the division and as provided by law.
Section 18-2-4 B NMSA 1978 directs the state
librarian to administer grants-in-aid and encourage local library services and
generally promote an effective statewide library system.
[4.5.8.3 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[4.5.8.4 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: February 14, 2008 unless a later date is
cited at the end of a section.
[4.5.8.5 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective of this rule is to describe the
state of New Mexico general obligation bond funds distribution to public
libraries program (hereinafter “the library bond program”) and to establish
criteria and procedures for distribution of the funds. The purpose of the library bond program is to
provide supplemental funds for library resources when such funds are approved
by the legislature and the voters in statewide elections. The library bond program funds library
resources and equipment for public libraries statewide, including the rural
library services of the state library.
[4.5.8.6 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Annual report” means the report
required annually by the state library from a public library.
B. “Authorized expenditure period” means
the period from when a purchase order is approved by the cultural affairs
department until ninety (90) days prior to the ending date specified in the
authorizing legislation.
C. “Basic public library services” means
services provided by a local public library that include circulating library
collections, basic reference service, and educational programs.
D. “Equipment” means computers, software
and related peripherals; servers; thin client terminals; networks, including
wireless networks; telecommunications; automation
systems; and other equipment used to assist in meeting the information needs of
a library’s clients.
E. “Fiscal year” means July 1 through June
30.
F. “Legal service area” means the
geographic area for which a public library has been established to offer
services and from which the library derives income. This includes the
entire service area of the local public library or library system and does
not include merely the general service area of any one branch. The most recent U.S. census determines the
population of the legal service area if the population figures are given
separately for that area. If the census
does not have a discreet population figure for the legal service area, then the
state library and the library whose population is at issue shall work together
to arrive at a mutually acceptable population figure. If this is not possible, the state library in
its sole discretion shall determine the population for the library’s legal
service area.
G. “Library resources” means library
holdings intended for public use and the tools required to
make the resources usable by the public.
Library resources can include books, videos, DVDs, sound recordings,
electronic and digital media, and information materials accessed via the
internet.
H. “Library system” means the agency that
is legally established to provide public library service to the legal service
area population. A library system may
have a single outlet or more than one outlet.
I. “Local funding authority” means local
or sovereign governments recognized by the department of finance and
administration.
J. “Local public library” means a New Mexico
organization that offers basic public library services within its legal service
area and is open to the public at least fifteen (15) hours per week and a
minimum of two (2)
days each week.
K. “Rural library services” means those
services provided by the state library to persons in the state who do not have
access to a local public library. These
services include bookmobiles and the books-by-mail service.
L. “Supplemental funds” means funds that
are provided from sources other than the regular library budget derived from
the local funding authority.
Supplemental funds are not intended to replace any part, or all, of the
library’s regular budget.
[4.5.8.7 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.8 DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS: Money from the library bond program shall be
distributed in the following manner:
A. Notification: When the library bond program funds are
approved by the voters, the state library shall send a letter of notification
and acceptance agreement to all public libraries informing them of their eligibility
to receive the funds and the amount of funds they are eligible to receive. The agreement must be signed and returned to
the state library one-hundred twenty (120) days before the start of the
authorized expenditure period. Libraries that do not return the signed
agreement within the required time period shall not be eligible to receive
funds. Upon receipt of the agreements,
the state library shall calculate the final allocation and the libraries shall
be notified of any changes within ninety (90) days before the authorized
expenditure period.
B. Allocation: The amount allocated to eligible public
libraries is dependant upon the amount of bond funds approved by the state
legislature and approved by the voters in a bond election. The state library may
publish and make publicly available a list showing the bond fund allocations
for each eligible library.
C. Criteria
for allocation of funds: The state
librarian shall establish the amount of funds to be allocated to each eligible
library system using the following criteria.
(1)
Library shall be a local public library.
(2)
Library shall have filed an approved annual report with the state
library.
(3)
Library shall return a signed agreement accepting the funds and agreeing
to abide by the terms and conditions of this rule.
(4)
Non-profit libraries shall have an agreement with a local funding
authority to act as their fiscal agent for these funds.
(5) The library’s and the local funding
authority’s accounting records shall be sufficient to document expenditures of
library bond program money. At the sole
discretion of the state library, such records may be audited annually or as
needed by the state library or its designated representative.
(6)
County population and the library’s legal service area shall be used to
determine the amount of library bond program funds that shall be allocated to
each eligible library.
D. Distribution
of funds: Money from the library
bond program funds shall be distributed in the following order:
(1)
library system allocation: each eligible local public library system,
including rural library services facilities, shall receive a fixed allocation
dependent upon the total library bond funds available;
(2)
per capita allocation: remaining
library bond funds shall be distributed to each county on a per capita basis
using the latest U. S. census bureau estimates, as follows: (a) each library shall receive funds based
upon the legal service area population and proportional credit for the
unassigned population in each county; and, (b) local public libraries that are
the only local public library in their county shall receive the entire per
capita allocation for the county.
E. Maintenance
of effort:
(1)
Library’s book or materials budget shall not be reduced by the local
funding authority as a result of eligibility for library bond program funds.
(2)
Upon demonstrated evidence that such a reduction has occurred, the
library shall be ineligible to receive funds in the next library bond program.
[4.5.8.8 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.9 SOURCE OF FUNDS: The
state legislature is the sole authority for authorizing bond funding to support
acquisition of library resources and equipment, including authorizing the
placement of general obligation bonds on an election ballot. These library bond program funds must be
approved by the voters before they are made available to libraries.
[4.5.8.9 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.10 LIMITATION ON FUNDS:
A. Library
bond program funds may be approved by the state legislature only during
legislative sessions convened in even numbered years. The amount of bond funds received for
distribution by the state library may vary depending on the amounts approved by
the state legislature and subsequently approved by the voters.
B. Notwithstanding
language elsewhere in this rule, the state library may, in its sole discretion,
alter the distribution amounts to reflect the actual amount of approved bond
funds.
C. Funds
shall be expended in the fiscal year in which they are made available, unless
otherwise stated in the authorizing legislation.
[4.5.8.10 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.11 ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS:
A. The
state library shall administer the library bond program.
B. Allocated
funds shall be sent on a reimbursement basis from the state library by check or
electronic fund transfers to the library or local funding authority. Libraries must submit a reimbursement request
form and expenditure documentation receipts for eligible expenditures prior to
being reimbursed. Upon verification of
the expenditure documentation receipts, the state library shall approve
reimbursement.
C. Reimbursements
shall be submitted in the fiscal year in which the funds were expended.
D. All
requests for reimbursement shall be submitted within the authorized expenditure
period.
[4.5.8.11 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
4.5.8.12 APPEALS:
A. In
the event that library bond program funds are denied to a local library under
the provisions of Subsection E of 4.5.8.8 NMAC, an appeal may be made by the
local library or the local funding authority.
B. Such
appeal shall be made in writing to the state librarian within ten (10) days of
notification of denial of funds. The appeal should state all facts and
conditions relating to the appeal.
C. The
appeal shall be considered and ruled upon by the state library commission at
its next regularly scheduled meeting.
[4.5.8.12 NMAC - N, 2/14/2008]
HISTORY OF 4.5.8
NMAC: [RESERVED]
