§ 65-4-101. Authority for establishment.

Counties, cities and towns are hereby authorized and empowered to join in creation, development, operation and maintenance of public libraries to serve multicounty systems, and to appropriate and allocate funds for the support of such systems.  Such systems shall provide equitable library services to all persons in the district.

To insure the effective development of library service in all rural and urban areas, the creation and organization of library systems and the district to be served shall be subject to approval by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries Board in accordance with the provisions of Article X, Section 10A of the Oklahoma Constitution. After establishment, library systems shall be subject to accreditation by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries Board.

Parts of an adjacent county may be added to or included in multicounty systems if these additions are determined by agreement of the system board, the petitioning parties, and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries Board to be the most feasible way to provide public library services to such part of a county.

Special levies of any and all taxes authorized to be levied by counties, cities and towns under this and other Oklahoma Statutes as amended and the Oklahoma Constitution as amended are hereby authorized to be levied for support of library systems.

When any multicounty system is established under provisions of this act, existing public libraries in the district may be incorporated into the system under a unified administration by act of local governing bodies or vote of the people as provided in the procedure for establishment.  Existing public libraries not incorporated into the system shall have the same relationship to the system as similar public libraries outside the district have to the local system and to other systems.

Added by Laws 1967, c. 45, § 4-101, emerg. eff. April 6, 1967.  Amended by Laws 1992, c. 322, § 7, eff. July 1, 1992.