75-2550. Same; system board; membership; powers. (a) The system board shall consist of one or more representatives selected by each of the boards participating in the regional system, and one or more representatives appointed by the board of county commissioners of each county that is a part of the regional system to represent territory not within the district of [the] participating library board but within the territory of the regional system of cooperating libraries. The petition provided for in K.S.A. 75-2549, and amendments thereto, may propose the number of representatives of each such board, but the determination thereof shall be made by the state board when approving such petition. The state board shall consider any petition presented to it as provided in this act and if it approves such petition it shall adopt a resolution officially designating such particular regional system of cooperating libraries and describing the territory thereof which shall include one or more counties but shall exclude the territory of any taxing district which regularly levies 0.25 or more mills of tax for the support of a public library upon the request of the governing body of the district making such levy. Any district so excluded may later petition to be added to and included in the regional system of cooperating libraries from which it was excluded and such petition shall be prepared and processed as other petitions provided for by this act. Additional counties may be added to the territory of any regional system of cooperating libraries upon petition by a library board located in such county and such a petition shall be prepared and processed as is provided in this act for initial petitions; except that the prior approval in writing of a petition under this sentence shall be obtained by the petitioning board from the regional board and attached to the petition when submitted to the state board. Within two weeks after receiving notice of approval of a petition provided for under this act the board of each participating library and the board of county commissioners of the county of residence of such appointee, shall select the number of representatives determined by the state board and shall certify the names and addresses of such representatives to the state librarian. The term of each such representative may be proposed in the petition provided under K.S.A. 75-2549, and amendments thereto, but shall not exceed four years, and the final determination of duration of terms shall be made by the state board at the time of approval of the petition.

(b) Any taxing district which regularly levies 0.25 mill or more of tax for the support of a public library, and which taxing district has been included in a regional system, may petition to be excluded from the regional system. Such petition shall be made and presented to the state board. The state board shall consider any such petition and if such taxing district meets the requirement for making such a petition and if excluding such taxing district from the regional system will do no manifest harm thereto, the state board may enter its order excluding and detaching such taxing district from the regional system and making such adjustment to the organization of such regional system as may be appropriate to continue the operation of the regional system without interruption.

(c) The system board shall have the authority and power to:

(1) Operate a system of library service to and for participating libraries;

(2) the system board may purchase service from a participating library for the benefit of the regional system of cooperating libraries;

(3) the system board may contribute to or receive contribution from any participating library, and may receive and utilize any gift of funds or property donated to the regional system of cooperating libraries;

(4) the system board may contract with any one or more participating libraries and the board of each participating library is hereby authorized to contract with the system board or with any one or more other boards, but any such contract shall provide that the same shall not take effect until approved by the state librarian;

(5) the system board may contract with any other system board or any board, but any such contract shall provide that the same shall not take effect until approved by the state librarian; and

(6) employ a system librarian and such other persons as the regional board may find convenient or necessary.

History: L. 1965, ch. 105, § 4; L. 2007, ch. 114, § 6; L. 2017, ch. 82, § 2; July 1.