When fifty electors of any municipality present a petition to the clerk of such municipality, asking that an annual tax be levied for the establishment or operation of a free public library and reading room in such municipality, and specify in their petition a rate of taxation, not to exceed three mills on the dollar, such clerk shall, in the next legal notice of the regular municipal election in such municipality, give notice that at such election the question of an annual tax for the establishment or operation of a library is to be voted upon in the manner prescribed in section 9-369. The designation of such question on the voting tabulator ballot shall be “Shall a .... mill tax be levied to establish a free public library and reading room?” or “Shall a .... mill tax be levied to operate a free public library and reading room?”. Such notice and such designation of the question on the voting tabulator ballot shall specify the rate of taxation mentioned in such petition. If, upon the official determination of the result of such vote, it appears that a majority of all the votes upon such question are in approval of such question, the tax specified in such notice shall be levied and collected in the same manner as other general taxes of such municipality and shall be known as the “library fund”. All moneys collected and received by the levy of such tax shall be placed in the treasury of such municipality, to the credit of its library fund, and shall be kept separate from other moneys of the municipality and shall be drawn upon by the proper officers of the municipality, upon duly authenticated vouchers of the library's trustees. Such tax may afterwards be lessened or increased within the three-mill limit, or made to cease, in case the electors of any such municipality so determine by a majority vote at any regular municipal election held therein, in the manner hereinbefore prescribed for voting upon such question. When a free public library and reading room is established pursuant to this section, the corporate authorities of such municipality may exercise the same powers relative to such free public library and reading room as are conferred upon the corporate authorities of municipalities pursuant to section 11-33.

(1949 Rev., S. 1674; 1953, S. 1026d; P.A. 86-170, S. 10, 13; P.A. 10-108, S. 35; P.A. 11-20, S. 1; 11-28, S. 17.)

History: P.A. 86-170 required that designation on ballot label be in form of question; P.A. 10-108 replaced references to “town or borough” with “municipality”, replaced references to “maintenance” with references to “or operation” or “establishment or operation”, added ballot label question re operation of free public library and reading room, added provision re deposit of moneys collected and received by tax into library fund, and reworded provision re powers of corporate authorities of municipality re free library and reading room, effective June 1, 2010; pursuant to P.A. 11-20, “machine” and “ballot label” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “tabulator” and “ballot”, respectively, effective May 24, 2011; P.A. 11-28 made a technical change, effective June 3, 2011.