Chap. 322.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 170 of
the Acts of Assembly of 1946, approved March 12, 1946, relating to libraries
and library systems, particularly in rural communities. {H 344]

Approved March 17, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1, That sections one and two of chapter one hundred seventy
of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred forty-six, approved
March twelve, nineteen hundred forty-six, be amended and re-
enacted as follows:

Section 1. In order to provide State aid in the development
of public library service throughout the State, particularly in rural
communities, the State Library Board (hereinafter sometimes called
the Board) shall grant from such appropriations as are made
for this purpose funds to provide books to county and regional
free library systems, established pursuant to the provisions of
section three hundred sixty-five of the Code.

Original grants shall be limited to seventy-five cents per
capita of the inhabitants of the county or region as shown by the
last preceding United States census, excluding therefrom the
number of inhabitants of municipalities having a population of
five thousand or more and shall not exceed six thousand, two
hundred and fifty dollars to any county free library system and shall
not exceed twelve thousand five hundred dollars to any regional
free library system. Not more than one library in a county or
regional free library system shall receive aid under this act, and
such library shall serve as an administrative center for county or
regional free library service to the whole county or region; provided
that in the case of a contract with an adjacent library for county or
regional free library service as provided in section three hundred
sixty-five of the Code, such aid shall be given to the library con-
tracting to give such service, which library shall then be the ad-
ministrative center for a county or regional free library system.
Such grants shall be expended only for books and bookmobiles.

Section 2. In order to encourage the maintenance and develop-
ment of proper standards, including the standards of the American
Library Association for books per capita (one to three volumes
in inverse ratio to population of library service units), and the
combination of library systems or libraries into larger and more
economical units of service, grants of State aid may be made by
the Board to any qualifying library system or qualifying library,
established in any prior State fiscal year, which lacks the pre-
scribed ratio of books per capita. Such grants for books and book-
mobiles shall be limited to matching at the ratio of one dollar
twenty-five cents of State aid to one dollar of local funds expended
or to be expended, exclusive of State aid funds, by any such library
system or library in its current fiscal year for books, or a book-
mobile, or additional personnel, or increased salaries, as approved
by the Board, but not to exceed in any State fiscal year, six
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to any one regional library
system, one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars to any one
county library system, six hundred and twenty-five dollars to
any one library of a municipality with a population of five thousand
Or more, and one hundred and twenty-five dollars to a library of
a municipality with a population of less than five thousand in a
county where no county or regional free library system exists.
Any such previously established library system or library, contract-
ing for library service as provided in sections three hundred sixty-
four and three hundred sixty-five of the Code, may qualify separ-
ately for State aid as provided herein.