(a) The State Library Board shall consist of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or his designee, the Chief Court Administrator or his designee, the Commissioner of Education or his designee and five electors to be appointed by the Governor for terms of five years from July first in the year of their appointment. The terms of all members appointed prior to July 1, 1987, shall terminate on June 30, 1987. Commencing on July 1, 1987, appointments to the board shall be made as follows: Five members shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be an experienced librarian, one of whom shall be an experienced archivist and one of whom shall be an experienced museum professional; and one member each shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the minority leader of the House. The term of each member of the board commencing on or after July 1, 1987, shall be coterminous with the term of the appointing authority. The appointing authority shall fill any vacancy in the office of an appointed member for the unexpired portion of the term.

(b) The board may elect annually a chairman from its members to serve a term of one year from his election or until his successor is elected. The chairman shall represent the board in certifying such actions as the board may approve. The board shall provide for the supervision of the State Library by a State Librarian who shall serve as the chief administrative officer of the board and shall have administrative authority over the State Library and responsibility for its supervision.

(c) The board shall meet at least once during each calendar quarter and at such other times as the chairman deems necessary or upon the request of a majority of members in office. A majority of the members in office, but not less than four, shall constitute a quorum. Any appointed member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from office.

(d) The State Library Board shall appoint the State Librarian. Except when specifically prohibited by the conditions, if any, upon which a gift was created or by a conditional sales agreement, the board is authorized to sell, trade or otherwise dispose of any unwanted duplicate, out-of-date or irrelevant materials within the collections of the State Library, provided that the monetary proceeds of such a transaction, if any, shall be deemed to be funds from private sources. The State Library Board is authorized to establish a nonprofit foundation for the purpose of raising funds from private sources to enhance the collections and programs of the library and the Raymond E. Baldwin Museum of Connecticut History and Heritage. All funds from private sources shall be held in the manner prescribed by sections 4-37e to 4-37j, inclusive, for use in furthering any purpose the board considers to be in harmony with the original purpose of the gift or purchase of such materials. The board shall engage in planning for state-wide library service, other than for school libraries, and for the establishment of a research center to facilitate the most effective use of materials in public, university, professional and industrial libraries and may take such action as is necessary to secure maximum state participation in federal aid for public libraries, for scholarships for students of library science and for cooperative library projects. The board may, by regulation, establish standards for principal public libraries and procedures for naming such libraries and periodically review the same. To carry out its duties under the general statutes, the board may make contracts, subject to the approval of the Attorney General and to any appropriations made for such purpose or the availability of other public or private funds.

(e) The State Library Board shall be within the Department of Education for administrative purposes only.

(f) (1) The State Library Board shall appoint an advisory council for library planning and development. The council shall assist the board with the development of state and federal library plans, advise the board on state policies and activities for library development, cooperation among different types of libraries and use of automated communication systems to support cooperative information services and assist the board in evaluating the usefulness of such activities to residents of the state.

(2) The council shall consist of the following persons: Three public library representatives, one of whom shall be from a tax-supported public library serving a population of less than ten thousand, one of whom shall be from such a library serving a population of ten thousand or more and less than one hundred thousand and one of whom shall be from such a library serving a population of one hundred thousand or more; one representative of a cooperating library service unit; one representative of libraries which participate in shared automated library systems; one representative of the Connecticut Library Association; one special library representative; one representative from the academic library community; one representative from the school library community; one representative of institution libraries; one representative of a library serving the handicapped; one representative from the Department of Education; one representative from the Board of Regents for Higher Education; and six users of libraries represented on the council. The State Librarian shall represent the board and shall be an ex-officio, nonvoting member. The council shall designate one of its members to serve as a liaison to the board.

(3) Except for members of the council who represent state agencies, nine of the members first appointed shall serve for a term of one year, eight of such members shall serve for a term of two years and thereafter members shall serve for a term of two years. The State Library Board shall determine which of the members first appointed shall serve for a term of one year and which of such members shall serve for a term of two years. Members may serve up to two consecutive terms. After serving such terms, a member may be reappointed after a minimum of one year without service on the council. The members of the council shall receive no compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for any necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

(4) To achieve its purposes, the council may form task forces to address specific library issues. The task forces shall include representatives from the library community and users of libraries who possess expertise in the subject areas addressed by the task forces.

(1949 Rev., S. 1630; February, 1965, P.A. 133, S. 1; 490, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 590, S. 1; 891; 1969, P.A. 245, S. 1; P.A. 75-316, S. 1; 75-559; P.A. 76-436, S. 473, 681; P.A. 77-614, S. 302, 308, 610; P.A. 79-610, S. 44; P.A. 84-109, S. 2; 84-255, S. 17, 21; 84-414, S. 1, 14; P.A. 86-109, S. 1; P.A. 87-428, S. 1, 3; P.A. 88-216, S. 3, 7; P.A. 99-116, S. 1, 2; P.A. 07-227, S. 1; P.A. 11-48, S. 285; P.A. 14-207, S. 3.)

History: 1965 acts required appointment of state historian, changed committee membership from four gubernatorial appointees plus governor to five gubernatorial appointees plus chief justice and secretary of state board of education, included provisions re appointment, terms, filling of vacancies, etc., deleted reference to appointment of assistant state librarian, and required committee to plan for state-wide library services, establishment of research center and securing federal aid; 1967 acts added powers to recommend library standards and to make contracts and included chief court administrator as committee member; 1969 act made former provisions Subsecs. (a) and (c), inserted (b) re chairman and administrative officer and added provisions re obtaining federal aid for library science scholarships and cooperative library projects and re procedures for naming libraries; P.A. 75-316 substituted state library board for committee and added provisions re interagency library planning committee; P.A. 75-559 amended Subsec. (c) to include provisions governing board's disposal of unwanted duplicate, out-of-date or irrelevant materials; P.A. 76-436 substituted chief administrative judge for chief court administrator, effective July 1, 1978 (not enacted); P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education and added Subsec. (d) placing library board within education department for administrative purposes, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-610 amended Subsec. (a) to allow chief justice and chief court administrator to be represented on board by designee; P.A. 84-109 would have amended Subsec. (c) to replace the provision that the board shall “have charge” of the state library and supreme court building and grounds with the provision that the board “and the chief justice of the supreme court shall exercise overall policy direction” of such building and grounds and made technical changes, however primary amendment in Subsec. (c) did not take effect, P.A. 84-414 having precedence; P.A. 84-255 added provision to Subsec. (a) permitting the commissioner of education to appoint a designee to the board; P.A. 84-414 amended Subsec. (a) terminating all appointments to the board as of July 1, 1987, the new members to be appointed by the governor and the leadership of the general assembly, added a new Subsec. (c) re meeting requirements, quorums at meetings and vacancies on the board, relettered former Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d) and deleted provisions re state library board having charge of the state library and supreme court building and appointing a state historian, relettered former Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e) and added a new Subsec. (f) re biennial report to the general assembly; P.A. 86-109 replaced provision empowering board to designate state librarian as administrative officer with authority to sign contracts with provision designating state librarian as chief administrative officer of board and expanding his powers accordingly; P.A. 87-428 in Subsec. (a) changed the termination date of the terms of the members appointed prior to July 1, 1987, from June 30, 1987, to July 1, 1987, and added an experienced museum professional to the board and in Subsec. (d) authorized the board to establish a nonprofit foundation to raise funds from private sources; P.A. 88-216 deleted the interagency library planning committee in Subsec. (d) and added Subsec. (g) re an advisory council for library planning and development; P.A. 99-116 required funds from private sources to be held in manner prescribed by Secs. 4-37e to 4-37j, inclusive, instead of Sec. 4-31a, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 07-227 deleted former Subsec. (f) re report, redesignated existing Subsec. (g) as Subsec. (f) and amended Subdiv. (3) therein to remove language limiting members of board to one reappointment and to add language allowing members to serve up to two consecutive terms and to be reappointed after one year without service on council, effective July 1, 2007; pursuant to P.A. 11-48, “Department of Higher Education” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Board of Regents for Higher Education” in Subsec. (f)(2), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 14-207 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re Chief Justice may designate any judge of the Supreme Court to serve in his place, effective July 1, 2014.

See Sec. 4-38f for definition of “administrative purposes only”.

See Sec. 4b-11 re State Library Board's responsibility for building and grounds of State Library and Supreme Court.