Article 2. Program Provisions of California Education Code >> Division 1. >> Title 1. >> Part 11. >> Chapter 12. >> Article 2.

The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the California Public Library Construction and Renovation Fund, which is hereby established.

All moneys deposited in the fund, except as provided in Section 20011, are continuously appropriated to the State Librarian, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, and shall be available for grants to any city, county, city and county, or district that is authorized at the time of the project application to own and maintain a public library facility for the purposes set forth in Section 19989.

The grant funds authorized pursuant to Section 19988, and the matching funds provided pursuant to Section 19995, shall be used by the recipient for any of the following purposes:
  (a) Acquisition or construction of new facilities or additions to existing public library facilities.
  (b) Acquisition of land necessary for the purposes of subdivision (a).
  (c) Remodeling or rehabilitation of existing public library facilities or of other facilities for the purpose of their conversion to public library facilities. All remodeling and rehabilitation projects funded with grants authorized pursuant to this chapter shall include any necessary upgrading of electrical and telecommunications systems to accommodate Internet and similar computer technology.
  (d) Procurement or installation, or both, of furnishings and equipment required to make a facility fully operable, if the procurement or installation is part of a construction or remodeling project funded pursuant to this section.
  (e) Payment of fees charged by architects, engineers, and other professionals, whose services are required to plan or execute a project authorized pursuant to this chapter.

Any grant funds authorized pursuant to Section 19988, or matching funds provided pursuant to Section 19995, may not be used by a recipient for any of the following purposes:
  (a) Books and other library materials.
  (b) Administrative costs of the project, including, but not limited to, the costs of any of the following:
  (1) Preparation of the grant application.
  (2) Procurement of matching funds.
  (3) Conduct of an election for obtaining voter approval of the project.
  (c) Interest or other carrying charges for financing the project, including, but not limited to, costs of loans or lease-purchase agreements in excess of the direct costs of any of the authorized purposes specified in Section 19989.
  (d) Any ongoing operating expenses for the facility, its personnel, supplies, or any other library operations.

All construction contracts for projects funded in part through grants awarded pursuant to this chapter shall be awarded through competitive bidding pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 20100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.

This chapter shall be administered by the State Librarian. The board shall adopt rules, regulations, and policies for the implementation of this chapter.

A city, county, city and county, or district may apply to the State Librarian for a grant pursuant to this chapter, as follows:
  (a) Each application shall be for a project for a purpose authorized by Section 19989.
  (b) An application may not be submitted for a project for which construction bids already have been advertised.
  (c) The applicant shall request not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per project.

(a) The State Librarian shall consider applications for construction of new public library facilities submitted pursuant to Section 19993 in the following priority order:
  (1) First priority shall be given to joint use projects in which the agency that operates the library and one or more school districts have a cooperative agreement.
  (2) Second priority shall be given to all other public library projects.
  (b) The State Librarian shall consider applications for remodeling or rehabilitation of existing public library facilities pursuant to Section 19993 in the following priority order:
  (1) First priority shall be given to public library projects in the attendance areas of public schools that are determined, pursuant to regulations adopted by the board, to have inadequate infrastructure to support access to computers and other educational technology.
  (2) Second priority shall be given to all other projects.

(a) Each grant recipient shall provide matching funds from any available source in an amount equal to 35 percent of the costs of the project. The remaining 65 percent of the costs of the project, up to a maximum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) per project, shall be provided through allocations from the fund.
  (b) Qualifying matching funds shall be cash expenditures in the categories specified in Section 19989 which are made not earlier than three years prior to the submission of the application to the State Librarian. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), in-kind expenditures do not qualify as matching funds.
  (c) Land donated or otherwise acquired for use as a site for the facility, including, but not limited to, land purchased more than three years prior to the submission of the application to the State Librarian, may be credited towards the 35 percent matching funds requirement at its appraised value as of the date of the application. This subdivision shall not apply to land acquired with funds authorized pursuant to Part 68 (commencing with Section 100400).
  (d) Architect fees for plans and drawings for library renovation and new construction, including, but not limited to, plans and drawings purchased more than three years prior to the submission of the application to the State Librarian, may be credited towards the 35 percent matching funds requirement.

(a) The estimated costs of a project for which an application is submitted shall be consistent with normal public construction costs in the applicant's area.
  (b) An applicant wishing to construct a project having costs that exceed normal public construction costs in the area may apply for a grant in an amount not to exceed 65 percent of the normal costs up to a maximum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) per project if the applicant certifies that it is capable of financing the remainder of the project costs from other sources.

Once an application has been approved by the board and included in the State Librarian's request to the committee, the amount of the funding to be provided to the applicant may not be increased. Any actual changes in project costs are the full responsibility of the applicant. If the amount of funding that is provided is greater than the cost of the project, the applicant shall return that portion of the funding that exceeds the cost of the project to the fund. If an applicant has been awarded funding by the board, but chooses not to proceed with the project, the applicant shall return all of the funding to the fund.

(a) In reviewing applications, as part of establishing the priorities set forth in Section 19994 the board shall consider all of the following factors:
  (1) Needs of urban and rural areas.
  (2) Population growth.
  (3) Age and condition of the existing library facility.
  (4) The degree to which the existing library facility is inadequate in meeting the needs of the residents in the library service area and the degree to which the proposed project responds to the needs of those residents.
  (5) The degree to which the library's plan of service integrates appropriate electronic technologies into the proposed project.
  (6) The degree to which the proposed site is appropriate for the proposed project and its intended use.
  (7) The financial capacity of the local agency submitting the application to open and maintain operation of the proposed library for applications for the construction of new public libraries.
  (b) If, after an application has been submitted, material changes occur that would alter the evaluation of an application, the State Librarian may accept an additional written statement from the applicant for consideration by the board.

(a) A facility, or the part thereof, acquired, constructed, or remodeled, or rehabilitated with grants received pursuant to this chapter shall be dedicated to public library direct service use for a period of not less than 20 years following completion of the project.
  (b) The interest of the state in land or a facility, or both, pursuant to the funding of a project under this chapter, as described in subdivision (a), may be transferred by the State Librarian from the land or facility, or both, for which that funding was granted to a replacement site and facility acquired or constructed for the purpose of providing public library direct service.
  (c) If the facility, or any part thereof, acquired, constructed, remodeled, or habilitated with grants received pursuant to this chapter ceases to be used for public library direct service prior to the expiration of the period specified in subdivision (a), the board is entitled to recover, from the grant recipient or the recipient's successor in the maintenance of the facility, an amount that bears the same ratio to the value of the facility, or the appropriate part thereof, at the time it ceased to be used for public library direct service as the amount of the grant bore to the cost of the facility or the appropriate part thereof. For purposes of this subdivision, the value of the facility, or the appropriate part thereof, is determined by the mutual agreement of the board and the grant recipient or successor, or through an action brought for that purpose in the superior court.
  (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 16724 of the Government Code, any money recovered pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be deposited in the fund, and shall be available for the purpose of awarding grants for other projects.