The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The public library is a supplement to the formal system of free public education, a source of information and inspiration to persons of all ages, cultural backgrounds, and economic statuses, and a resource for continuing education and reeducation beyond the years of formal education, and therefore deserves adequate financial support from government at all levels.

(b) It is in the interest of the people and of the state that there be a general diffusion of information and knowledge through the continued operation of free public libraries. This diffusion is a matter of general concern inasmuch as it is the duty of the state to provide encouragement to the voluntary lifelong learning of the people of the state.

(c) Many existing public library facilities are not safe, efficient, or accessible for use, adequate for the size of the communities they serve, or otherwise capable of providing the public library services needed by the communities they serve.

(d) Many communities that are populous enough to require a public library facility do not have one.

(e) Local public library authorities do not have sufficient funds to construct or rehabilitate necessary public library facilities.

(f) Funding to meet the need for public library facilities, which is beyond the ability of local government to supply, is most appropriately met by a partnership of state and local governments.

(Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 49, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 85 at the November 8, 1988, election.)