New York Laws
Part 2 - Libraries
273 - Apportionment of State Aid to Libraries and Library Systems.

(1) Ten thousand dollars where the library system serves less than one
county, or
(2) Twenty thousand dollars where the library system serves one entire
county, or
(3) Where the library system serves more than one county the system
shall be entitled to receive twenty-five thousand dollars for each
entire county served and/or ten thousand dollars for each county, any
part of which is served by the library system. If an entire county is
served by two or more library systems, each of which serves a part
thereof, each of such library systems shall be entitled to receive a
grant of ten thousand dollars and in addition, a pro rata share of an
additional sum of ten thousand dollars, such share to be computed in
accordance with the ratio which the population of the area of the county
served by such library system bears to the total population of the
county, as determined under subdivision one of section two hundred
seventy-two of this article.
b. In a library system which submits a plan for further development of
and access to central library services, which plan shall be approved by
the commissioner pursuant to the commissioner's regulations, the amount
of central library services aid shall be:
(1) thirty-two cents per capita of the population within the chartered
area of service of such library system with a minimum amount of one
hundred five thousand dollars, and
(2) an additional seventy-one thousand five hundred dollars.
(3) Ownership of library materials and equipment purchased with such
central library services aid provided by this paragraph shall be vested
in the public library system.
c. The sum of one dollar and sixty-two cents per capita of population
of the area served.
d. Each public library system with an automation program to support
bibliographic control and interlibrary sharing of information resources
of member libraries, and to coordinate and integrate the automated
system or systems of such member libraries consistent with regulations
of the commissioner, shall be eligible to receive an amount equal to two
and nine hundred thirty-eight thousandths percent of the amount earned
in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, or seventy-six thousand five
hundred dollars, whichever is more.
e. The sum of fifty-two dollars per square mile of area served by the
library system in the case of library systems serving one county or
less. Such sum shall be increased by five dollars for each additional
entire county served, provided, however, that no apportionment pursuant
to this paragraph shall exceed seventy-two dollars per square mile of
area served. If an entire county is served by two or more library
systems, each of which serves a part thereof, each of such library
systems shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the aid computed in
accordance with the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, a pro rata
share of an increase of five dollars to be computed as follows: the sum
resulting from the computation of five dollars per square mile of area
served by the one of such library systems which would receive the
largest amount of aid pursuant to this paragraph shall be pro rated
among the library systems serving such county in accordance with the
ratio which the population of the area served by each of such library

systems bears to the population of the county as determined under
subdivision one of section two hundred seventy-two of this article.
f. (1) Local library services aid. Except in cities with a population
in excess of one million inhabitants, each chartered and registered
public and free association library meeting standards of service
promulgated by the commissioner, and each public or free association
library serving a city with a population of one hundred thousand or more
which merged with the public library system on or before January first,
nineteen hundred seventy-six and which meets standards of service
promulgated by the commissioner, shall be eligible to receive annually
thirty-one cents per capita of the population of the library's chartered
service area as on file with the commissioner on January first of the
calendar year for which aid is payable, or, thirty-one cents per capita
of the population of the city with a population of one hundred thousand
or more whose public or free association library merged with the public
library system on or before January first, nineteen hundred seventy-six,
with a minimum amount of one thousand five hundred dollars, except that
no library shall receive less than the amount of local library services
aid received in two thousand one. Regulations of the commissioner shall
provide a method for establishing changes in chartered service areas or
determining populations thereof. Local library services aid shall be
paid to the system for distribution within thirty days of receipt to its
member libraries in accordance with this subdivision. Notwithstanding
any contrary provisions of this subparagraph, the commissioner shall
establish procedures under which a public or free association library
may apply for a waiver of the requirements of the standards of service;
provided, however, that any such waivers may only be granted in the same
year in which the commissioner has apportioned a reduction adjustment.
(2) Local services support aid. Except in cities with a population in
excess of one million inhabitants, each public library system operating
under an approved plan of service shall be eligible to receive annually
local services support aid equal to two-thirds of the total dollar
amount paid in local library services aid to the member libraries of the
system plus thirty-one cents per capita of the system's population who
do not reside within the chartered service area of a member library.
(3) Local consolidated systems aid. In cities with a population in
excess of one million inhabitants, each public library system operating
under an approved plan of service shall be eligible to receive annually
local consolidated system aid equal to the sum of (i) thirty-one cents
per capita of the population served by the system, but not less than the
amount of local library incentive aid received in nineteen hundred
ninety-one as reported on the library's nineteen hundred ninety-one
annual report; and (ii) an additional amount equal to two-thirds of the
total dollar amount computed for the system pursuant to clause (i) of
this subparagraph.
g. In addition to the sums otherwise provided in paragraphs a, b, c,
d, e, f, h and i of this subdivision, the New York Public Library shall
receive six million four hundred sixteen thousand six hundred dollars
for the general support of its research libraries. In addition to any
other sums provided to such library, the sum of two million dollars
shall be payable annually to the New York Public Library for the general
support of library services provided by the New York Public Library to
the students of the City University of New York and the sum of one
million dollars shall be payable annually to the New York Public Library
for the general support of its science, industry and business library.
h. (1) Coordinated outreach services. Each public library system which
provides coordinated outreach services, as defined by regulations to be
promulgated by the commissioner, to persons who are educationally

disadvantaged or who are members of ethnic or minority groups in need of
special library services, or who are unemployed and in need of job
placement assistance, or who live in areas underserved by a library, or
who are blind, physically disabled, have developmental or learning
disabilities, or who are aged or confined in institutions, or who are
at-risk youth from birth to age twenty-one, shall be entitled to receive
annually forty-three thousand dollars and thirteen cents per capita of
the total population of the area served.
(2) In addition, each system serving a population of two million
inhabitants or more shall receive an additional amount of forty-six
thousand three hundred thirty-three dollars and each system serving a
population of four hundred thousand inhabitants and less than two
million inhabitants shall receive an additional amount of twenty-three
thousand dollars and each system serving a population of less than four
hundred thousand inhabitants shall receive an additional amount of
fourteen thousand dollars.
i. In addition to any other sums provided for such purposes, the New
York Public Library shall receive annually the sum of seven hundred
thirty-four thousand dollars for the program of the Schomburg center for
research in black culture, and the additional sum of nine hundred
eighty-four thousand dollars for the program of the library for the
blind and physically handicapped.
j. In addition to any other sums provided to such library, the sum of
two hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be paid annually to the New
York Historical Society for making its library services available to the
public.
k. In addition to any other sums provided to such library the sum of
three hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be payable annually to the
Brooklyn Public Library for its business library for each calendar year.
l. In addition to any other sums provided to such library, the sum of
fifty thousand dollars shall be payable annually to the Buffalo and Erie
County Public Library for a continuity of service project approved by
the commissioner for each calendar year.
m. In addition to any other sums provided to such library system, the
sum of thirty thousand dollars shall be payable annually to the Nassau
library system for a continuity of service project approved by the
commissioner for each calendar year.
n. The minimum annual grant available to a library system under
paragraphs a, c and e of this subdivision shall be six hundred
seventy-five thousand dollars.
2. Within the amounts appropriated therefor moneys paid out pursuant
to this section shall be paid out of the state treasury on vouchers
certified by the commissioner after audit by and upon the warrant of the
comptroller.
3. The commissioner may waive the requirement that a public library
system serve an entire county to earn the maximum annual grant under
subparagraphs two and three of paragraph a of subdivision one of this
section and paragraphs b, c, e and h of subdivision one of this section
where the commissioner deems reasonable effort has been made by the
system to encourage membership by all libraries in the county.
4. Reference and research library resources system. a. (1) Any
reference and research library resources system providing service under
an approved plan during a calendar year shall be entitled to receive
annual state aid consisting of an annual grant of:
(i) Two hundred seventy thousand dollars plus the sum of one dollar
and fifty cents per square mile of area served plus the sum of six cents
per capita of the population of the area served; and
(ii) Two hundred thousand dollars plus the sum of two cents per capita
of the population of the area served.
(2) Each system may annually appropriate funds received under this
subdivision to obtain matching funds from the National Endowment for the
Humanities and other federal programs.
(3) The annual amount payable to each approved system under this
paragraph shall be payable on or before July first, provided that, upon
receipt of annual system activity reports satisfactory to the
commissioner, the commissioner shall determine the amount of any under-
or overpayments and shall apply such adjustment to the next annual
payment due such system.
b. The commissioner is hereby authorized to expend up to five hundred
six thousand dollars annually in each state fiscal year to provide
formula grants to approved reference and research library resources
systems for provision of consumer health and medical information
services for all types of libraries and library systems. Such grants
shall assist libraries in providing access to timely and accurate
medical and health information for medical personnel and for the general
public. In addition to any other sum provided in this subdivision, each
reference and research library resources system providing service under
an approved plan with a consumer health and medical library information
services program for all types of libraries and library systems shall be
eligible to receive an annual formula grant. Such formula grants shall
be determined on the basis of criteria to be prescribed by the
commissioner. The commissioner shall provide the annual amount payable
to each approved system under this paragraph in the following manner:
(1) Funds shall be available to each reference and research library
resources system in such manner as to insure that the ratio of the
amount each system is eligible to receive equals the weighted ratio of
the total number of institutions as defined in subparagraph two of this
paragraph in the region served by the system to the total number of such
institutions in the state.
(2) For the purposes of determining the amount of funds available to
each system, institutions and their weightings are as follows:
(i) not-for-profit hospitals licensed by the New York state health
department, with a weighting of two;
(ii) for-profit teaching hospitals licensed by the New York state
health department, with an additional weighting of one; and
(iii) member institutions of a reference and research library
resources system, excluding public and hospital libraries, with a
weighting of one.
c. (1) The commissioner is hereby authorized to expend up to one
million three hundred ninety-six thousand dollars in each state fiscal
year to provide formula grants to approved reference and research
library resources systems for provision of services to member hospital
libraries in not-for-profit hospitals licensed by the New York state
health department, or to member libraries serving such hospitals. Such
formula grants shall be determined on the basis of criteria to be
developed by the commissioner and shall assist member hospital libraries
or member libraries serving hospitals in meeting the standards
established by the regents in accordance with section two hundred
fifty-four of this article. Such formula grants shall support
integration of member hospital libraries or member libraries serving
hospitals into existing networks.
(2) The commissioner shall provide grants to the reference and
research library resources systems in the following manner:
(a) an amount equal to seventy-five cents per square mile of area
served by the reference and research library resource system in
furtherance of the purposes of this paragraph, and
(b) the remainder for library services to hospitals in accordance with
regulations of the commissioner adopted for such purpose.
5. Coordinated collection development program for public and nonprofit
independent colleges and universities.
a. Libraries of public and nonprofit independent colleges and
universities are entitled to receive annual funding for a coordinated
collection development grant if they meet the following conditions:
(1) Membership in a reference and research library resources system,
(2) Their resources are made available to the public, through full
participation in the interlibrary loan and other resource sharing
programs of the reference and research library resources system of which
they are members, and
(3) They meet the requirements set forth in regulations adopted by the
commissioner including but not confined to
(a) maintenance of effort,
(b) relationships between reference and research library resources
systems' programs and the regional higher education master plan,
(c) submission of interlibrary loan statistics, and such other reports
as may be required by the commissioner.
b. Public and nonprofit independent colleges and universities with
libraries which meet the criteria of paragraph a of this subdivision are
eligible for annual grants as follows:
(1) Four thousand four hundred dollars for each institution, and
(2) One dollar and four cents for each full-time equivalent student
enrolled in each qualifying institution, in the academic year completed
prior to the state fiscal year. For purposes of this section, a
full-time equivalent shall be calculated as follows:
(i) one full-time undergraduate student shall be considered one
full-time equivalent student;
(ii) one part-time undergraduate student shall be considered one-third
of a full-time equivalent student;
(iii) one part-time graduate student shall be considered one full-time
equivalent student; and
(iv) one full-time graduate student shall be considered one and
one-half of a full-time equivalent student.
c. Funds for the support of this program shall be appropriated to the
department, except that funds for the state-operated institutions of the
state university of New York and the senior colleges of the city
university of New York, shall be appropriated to the state university of
New York out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to
the credit of the state purposes fund not otherwise appropriated, and
funds shall be appropriated to the city university of New York out of
any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to the credit of
the local assistance fund not otherwise appropriated, and shall be
subject to the same distribution formula as provided in paragraph b of
this subdivision.
6. Conservation and preservation of library research materials. a. The
commissioner shall award in any state fiscal year, an annual formula
grant of one hundred fifty-eight thousand dollars for a program of
conservation and/or preservation of library research materials to each
of the following comprehensive research libraries: Columbia university
libraries, Cornell university libraries, New York state library, New
York university libraries, university of Rochester libraries, Syracuse
university libraries, the research libraries of the New York public
library, state university of New York at Albany library, state

university of New York at Binghamton library, state university of New
York at Buffalo library, and state university of New York at Stony Brook
library.
b. To be eligible for such formula grants, each such comprehensive
research library must submit both a five-year plan and an annual program
budget. The plan must satisfy criteria to be established by the
commissioner in regulations relating to the identification of library
research materials, the need for their preservation, and the means of
their conservation.
c. Other agencies and libraries, as defined in regulations promulgated
by the commissioner, which are not eligible for funding under paragraph
a of this subdivision, may receive separate grants the sum of which
shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars in any state fiscal year
to support the preservation and/or conservation of unique library
research materials. Such agencies and libraries shall submit project
proposals. Approval of such project proposals, and determination of
funding level, shall be based upon, but not limited to, factors such as:
the research value of materials to be preserved and/or conserved;
appropriateness of conservation and preservation techniques in
accordance with statewide planning and national standards; institutional
capacity for successful completion of the project, including facilities,
experience, and technical expertise; availability of staff with
appropriate training and expertise; contribution of the institution to
the project in matching funds and staff resources; and the volume of
interlibrary lending and access to holdings by the public. Ninety
percent of each such grant shall be payable upon approval by the
department and the remaining ten percent shall be payable upon project
completion.
d. Funds made available under the provisions of this section may be
used by comprehensive research libraries and other agencies eligible for
funding to obtain matching funds from the national endowment for the
humanities preservation program and other federal programs.
e. The commissioner shall establish an office for coordination of
conservation and/or preservation of library research materials to
identify the conservation and/or preservation needs of libraries within
the state, to assess the technology available for such conservation and
preservation, and to coordinate the conservation and preservation
efforts resulting from this legislation.
7. New York state talking book and braille library. The New York state
talking book and braille library shall be entitled to receive annually
an amount equal to the product of the aid ceiling multiplied by the
number of registered borrowers of such materials of such library as of
the November report for the November immediately preceding the state
fiscal year for which the payment will be made. Such amount shall be
used to improve the quality of services provided to such borrowers. For
aid payable in each state fiscal year, the aid ceiling per registered
borrower shall be nineteen dollars. Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, the New York state talking book and braille library shall be the
successor in interest to the New York state library for the blind and
visually handicapped for all purposes, or the library for the blind and
physically handicapped, and the change in name shall not affect the
rights or interests of any party. Except where the context indicates a
contrary intent, any reference in any other general or special law to
the New York state library for the blind and visually handicapped or the
library for the blind and physically handicapped shall be deemed a
reference to the New York state talking book and braille library.
8. State aid for a coordinated program of library and archival
services at The Center for Jewish History, Inc. a. In addition to any

other sums provided to The Center for Jewish History, Inc., the
commissioner shall award in any state fiscal year an annual grant of two
hundred thousand dollars for a coordinated program of library and
archival services that will increase public access to the library and
archival collections of The Center for Jewish History, Inc. and its
member institutions.
b. The Center for Jewish History, Inc. is hereby admitted to the
University of the State of New York and shall, as a condition of
continued receipt of aid, maintain such status in accordance with
regulations of the commissioner. Such regulations may include submission
of a five-year plan and annual program budget.
9. State aid for summer reading programs. The commissioner is hereby
authorized to expend the funds of the love your library fund,
established in section ninety-nine-l of the state finance law, which
shall provide grants for participation in statewide summer reading
programs as coordinated by the state library to public library systems
on the basis of criteria to be developed by the commissioner. Upon a
determination by the commissioner that there is adequate revenue
available for a grant program in the upcoming fiscal year, grants shall
be awarded as follows:
a. sixty percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section
shall be made available to public library systems for use by member
libraries by the commissioner in such manner as to insure that the ratio
of the amount received within each system to the whole of the aid made
available pursuant to this paragraph is no greater than the ratio of the
population served by such system to the population of the state; and
b. forty percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section
shall be made available to library systems for use by their member
libraries within each system by the commissioner in such manner as to
insure that an equal amount is received within each system in the state.
10. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, each
year commencing with the two thousand six calendar year, no library or
library system shall receive less aid pursuant to this section or
section two hundred seventy-one or two hundred seventy-two of this part
than it would have been eligible to receive for the two thousand one
calendar year solely by reason of a decrease in the population of the
area served as a result of the latest approved federal census.
11. The commissioner is hereby authorized to expend funds annually for
formula grants to public library systems, reference and research library
resources systems, and school library systems operating under an
approved plan of service. Such formula grants shall be provided for the
period commencing July first and ending on June thirtieth next
following. Such formula grants will be distributed in the following
manner:
a. Each public library system established pursuant to sections two
hundred fifty-five and two hundred seventy-two of this part and
operating under a plan approved by the commissioner is entitled to
receive annually thirty-nine thousand dollars and an amount equal to ten
and ninety-four hundredths percent of the amount of state aid received
for the current year by such system under paragraphs a, c, d, e and n of
subdivision one of this section;
b. Each reference and research library resources system established
pursuant to section two hundred seventy-two of this part and operating
under a plan approved by the commissioner is entitled to receive
annually thirty-nine thousand dollars and an amount equal to ten and
ninety-four hundredths percent of the amount of state aid received for
the current year under clause (i) of subparagraph one of paragraph a of
subdivision four of this section; and

c. Each school library system established pursuant to section two
hundred eighty-two of this part and operating under a plan approved by
the commissioner is entitled to receive annually thirty-nine thousand
dollars and an amount equal to ten and ninety-four hundredths percent of
the amount of state aid received for the current year by such system
under paragraphs a, b, c, d, e and f of subdivision one of section two
hundred eighty-four of this part.

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