24 Pa.C.S. § 9335 Incentive For Excellence Aid

• Library: Pennsylvania Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.A. Acts 2023-66
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 24 Pa.C.S. § 9335

(a) Regular financial effort required.--To qualify for incentive for excellence aid, a local library or library system shall make a financial effort greater than $5 per capita for each person residing in the municipalities that will be part of the direct service area in which the library is applying for aid.

(b) Standards.--To receive aid under this section, a local library or library system shall meet the following minimum standards:

(1) The local library or library system shall qualify for quality libraries aid under section 9334 (relating to quality libraries aid).

(2) The local library or library system shall annually spend not less than 12% of its operating budget on collections , excluding costs of an unusual, emergency or nonrecurring nature. A local library or library system that spends more than 12% in the year in which it qualified for incentive for excellence aid shall increase the total amount spent on collections each succeeding year by the lesser of:

(i) five percent of its operating budget; or

(ii) the percentage increase in the appropriation for improvement of library services.

(3) Unless the State Librarian promulgates rules and regulations after the effective date of this section that require different hours of operation, the local library or a member library within a library system shall be open for full services for the following minimum number of hours:

(i) At least 45 hours per week during those times best suited to the needs of residents of its service area, including at least seven hours during the weekend period beginning on Saturday and ending on Sunday.

(ii) Weekend hours may be reduced to four hours during time periods as community-use patterns warrant, for a maximum of ten weeks per year.

(iii) A local library or member library within a library system may reduce total weekly hours by three hours per week during the ten-week period of reduced Saturday and Sunday hours if approved by the State Librarian.