OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable hanoia H. fienahaw 

Sts te Librarian 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-7132 

Your rsquest r 

raoeived and considered 

reads as follows: 

torlaal~ como *discontinue 

ich microrilm 

five to thirty-five years and become unusufrble 

and irmplaoeable. 

. . 599 
Honorable Franois 8. HenshaW, Page 2 

“3. Microfilm saves more than nlnetg 

percept storage apaoe and is easily and fnexpensively maintained and used -- bound newapapers require large areas for storage and 

are e~~peneive to maintain and ditfioultto use. 

“4. :.fiororilming is lea8 expensive, oonsidering total coats, than binding. 

“In other words, mlorofilming and binding 

are essentially the same in purpose -- preservation of valuable material -- but mlarofihing 

is the uore desirable process. 

Tunds to oarry out the authorizstlon 

should some fro@ either or both of the two 

f ollowlng socounts : 

-1. Our aocount titled fBd.nding, repairs, 

preparation for binding’. Beside payment for 

actual binding, this fund has been and ia being 

used for payment of salary of a book repairer 

who also prepares newspapers for binding. 

“2. Our account titled ‘Gathering historioal data’. Besides payment ror historlaal 

material inoluding nlcrofilm, this fund has 

been and is being use& to purohase equipment 

neceaeaaary to uae said miorotilm. 

“Would It be permissible to use either or 

‘both of the above funds for the following 

purposes : 

“1. Furchase or miOr0rih oopies 0P newspa,pers from publishers now microfilming their 

own lssuaa. 

“2. Purohase’ of equ.ipment neoessary to 

nlaror.1l.m newspapers not now filmed by their 

pub.llshers. 

“3. Salary of an operator to do suoh 

tiltnlng. 
F&norable Pranals II. Henehaw, Peg 3 

84ror0 we oaq anhwer your epsairla queetlone, 

It 1s neceasery firet. tc ooneider tha authcrity of the 

Teres Library eEd HlatcXifM bumiaeloo. 'ha Com$asfon 

Is oreated and its owdrs rnd dutlre dCi.wd b Title 

89 of the Statutes P Actloles 54% - 5U6, ina. r The 

purpose df tha Couualssion Is stntrd la Art&lo 5435. to 

be to Vcntrol end ad~~ialotsr the State Library, adopt 

end rnfcroe roaeonabls rulss end reffulatione govnrning 

its adninintratlon and control, . . . pruaarve, olaasify and ,publish the ~mmtm~ript arohivsa and such other 

;latters a8 it may desn prop8r." ;Irtlals 5440 authorlzss the Ucmisalon Co sleet a State Librarian, whom 

dutlss are defined by ArtLots $Ul. Those duties, 

aacordiJi& to the statut*, are 60 be exesoined *under 

the direatlon ot said &l?adsaiOA1'~. &I addition to the 

entsxerebad d!tlss, he la rrqulrsd to parfom *mbh 

other dn.ties 45 add Commission tray aeoign hlmwr ;Seotlcxi 3 of this statute &mvldsfi ins part as follcwrst 

"3. EM shall endeavor to oolleat all 

msmscript rsoords'ralati?lg to @ha history 

or. Textw. . . . He shall andsavor to COPpleta the tilea of the early Texas ,newi3- 

paperst~~h;~tsta Library; 

OaUSB nt$+ the ourrent 4nd flies -P 0 not 

hss I&n ten or the leadl.7e. ztewegap%rs or the 

State and the current files of not lass than 

four lending nmapapem of other atetee, and 

of aa many county pepers, grofesslonal journals, 

denominational papers, e6riaultural. papas, 

trade jcurrmle and other gubliaetlons of thle 

Stete a5 my seaa neoosoary to preaerva in 

the ::tattJ ~Llbrarp ,on accurate record of t&a 

history ~of Texas.** (Sphaais ouru). 

It is ths optnion of this EaFRrtnent that tha 

words %IUD~ to be bound” rneen “bind&q,* in the aonventions1 SsRno , snd will not p3mit the eubot:tution or 

alorofltalng. Seation 3 of Artlole 5Ul was enscted in 
Honorable Franois H. Iienshaw, Page 4 

1909 (Aots 1909, p. 122, Ch. 70) and the words used 

muat.be given the meaning as then used an8 understood. 

bdi0r0rilmin~ ia a prooess of most reoent origin and 

obviously oould not have besn oontemplated by the 

Legislature at the time of enaotlng this seotion. 

Furthermore, the Commission, sin06 the time of enaotmsnt, has oonstrued this provision to ,mean binding 

in book Sorm, and under the familiar rule of' law, 

long-oontinued contemporaneous and practioal lnterpretatlon of a statute by the offloers oharged with 

its adminletration will be given great weight in datsrminincJ the meaning of a statute. 2 Horack's 

Sutherland Statutory Construotion 512, Sea, 5103. 

This opinion is strengthsned by the faot 

that the Legielature has oonsidared legislation neoessary~ to permit microfilming as a substitute for the 

maintananoa of the originals of oartaln reoords of 

the State Highway Department. (Acts 3.945, p. 57, Ch.39) 

For ths reasons stated, it is our opinion 

that ths Commission has ex&eded its rule-making power 

in direotine, the disoontinuanoa of "binding" of the 

nswspapers required by Article 5441 to be kept and 

bound. The rule-making power does not include the 

making of rules In direot contravention of a statute. 

It is our further opinion thst neither your 

account entitled nBinding,,repairs, preparation for 

binding" nor the one entitled "Gathering hlstorioal 

data" oan be used ror any of the purposes Inquired 

about. 

Yours vsry' truly 

Assiatent 

AL&films