I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1525

To increase the authorization of funds under the Library Services and Technology Act, to provide funds for construction of libraries under such

Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. FRANK, Mr. FILNER, Mrs.

TAUSCHER, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. FROST, and Mr.

MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To increase the authorization of funds under the Library

Services and Technology Act, to provide funds for construction of libraries under such Act, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Libraries En5 hancement Act of 2001.’’
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 213 of the Library Services and Technology

3 Act (20 U.S.C. 9122) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following new paragraphs:

5 ‘‘(7) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘construction’

6 includes construction of new buildings and acquisi7 tion, expansion, remodeling, and alteration of exist8 ing buildings, and for the purchase, lease, and in9 stallation of equipment of any such buildings, or any

10 combination of such activities (including architects’

11 fees and the cost of acquisition of land). Such term

12 includes remodeling to meet standards under the Act

13 of August 12, 1968, commonly known as the ‘Archi14 tectural Barriers Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et

15 seq.), remodeling designed to ensure safe working

16 environments and to conserve energy, renovation or

17 remodeling to accommodate new technologies, and

18 the purchase of existing historic buildings for con19 version to public libraries. For the purposes of this

20 paragraph, the term ‘‘equipment’’ includes informa21 tion and building technologies, video and tele22 communications equipment, machinery, utilities, and

23 built-in equipment and any necessary enclosures or

24 structures to house them; and such term includes all

25 other items necessary for the functioning of a par-
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1 ticular facility as a facility for the provision of li2 brary services.

3 ‘‘(8) REFERENCE MATERIALS.—The term ‘ref4 erence materials’ includes any books, videotapes and

5 audiotapes, magazines, newspapers, software, and

6 other library and media materials, regardless of for7 mat, that are made available for public reference.

8 ‘‘(9) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ when

9 used with respect to the location of any library

10 means that the library is located in a non-metropoli11 tan county, as designated by the Bureau of the Cen12 sus using the metropolitan statistical area method,

13 except that a portion of an urban metropolitan coun14 ty may be classified as rural area for such purpose

15 if its census block or tract number is identified by

16 the ‘Goldsmith Modification’ methodology as a rural

17 ‘pocket’ areas within a larger urban metropolitan

18 county.’’.

19 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA20 TIONS.

21 Section 214(a) of the Library Services and Tech22 nology Act (20 U.S.C. 9123(a)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘or (2)’’

24 after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’;
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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (3); and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION; ACQUISITION; OPER6 ATIONS.—In addition to the amounts authorized to

7 be appropriated by paragraph (1), there are author8 ized to be appropriated $300,000,000 for fiscal year

9 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for each

10 of the fiscal years 2003 through 2006 to carry out

11 section 232 of this subtitle.’’.

12 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO USE FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION,

13 ACQUISITION, AND OPERATION.

14 Chapter 2 of the Library Services and Technology

15 Act is amended—

16 (1) in section 231(a) (20 U.S.C. 9141(a))—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para18 graph (1);

19 (B) by striking the period at the end of

20 paragraph (2) and inserting a semicolon; and

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new

22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(3) conducting library construction, acquiring

24 reference materials, and operating public libraries
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1 during hours of library service to the public, in ac2 cordance with section 232.’’;

3 (2) in section 231(b)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) and (2)’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘(1), (2) and (3)’’; and

6 (B) by inserting before the period at the

7 end the following: ‘‘, subject to the limitations

8 in section 232(a)’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec10 tion:

11 ‘‘SEC. 232. USE OF FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, ACQUISI12 TION, AND OPERATION.

13 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION OF AMOUNTS AVAILABLE FOR

14 CONSTRUCTION.—From the amount allotted to any State

15 under section 221, the Secretary shall identify the portion

16 of the allotment that is attributable to appropriations pur17 suant to section 214(a)(2). A State may, in accordance

18 with this section, use not more than that portion of such

19 allotment for the Federal share of the cost of any one or

20 more of the following purposes:

21 ‘‘(1) library construction;

22 ‘‘(2) acquisition of reference materials; and

23 ‘‘(3) operation of public libraries during hours

24 of library service to the public.
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1 Any amounts of that portion that are not used for such

2 purposes shall be used for purposes described in para3 graph (1) or (2) of section 231(a).

4 ‘‘(b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—For the purposes

5 of subsection (a), the Federal share of the cost of any ac6 tivity under subsection (a) shall not exceed, as a percent7 age the total cost of the activity, the percentage specified

8 in section 223(b)(1).

9 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF FUNDS FOR CON10 STRUCTION.—Any State that intends to use a portion of

11 its allotment for the purposes of construction shall revise

12 its State plan under section 224—

13 ‘‘(1) to revise the goals and priorities specified

14 pursuant to section 224(b)(1) consistent with the

15 purposes of this section;

16 ‘‘(2) to describe, consistent with the require17 ments of section 224(b)(2), the activities that the

18 agency will carry out under this section; and

19 ‘‘(3) to specify the procedures by which the

20 State library administrative agency will competitively

21 award grants for library construction under this sec22 tion.

23 Such revisions shall be subject to approval or disapproval

24 by the Director.
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1 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AWARDS.—Of the

2 amount of funds provided under this section that are used

3 by any State for library construction, acquisition of ref4 erence materials, or library operation in any fiscal year—

5 ‘‘(1) not less than 35 percent shall be used in

6 rural areas; and

7 ‘‘(2) not more than $1,000,000 may be used for

8 the construction or benefit of any single library facil9 ity.

10 ‘‘(e) LABOR STANDARDS.—It shall be a condition of

11 the receipt of any grant under this section that the State

12 library administrative agency and any recipient of any

13 grant under this section for purposes of construction fur14 nish adequate assurances to the Secretary of Labor that

15 all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or

16 subcontractors on construction projects assisted under

17 this section shall be paid wages at rates not less than those

18 prevailing on similar construction in the locality as deter19 mined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the

20 Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.).

21 The Secretary of Labor shall have with respect to the

22 labor standards specified in this subsection the authority

23 and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered

24 14 of 1950 and section 2 of the Davis-Bacon Act (40

25 U.S.C. 276c).
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1 ‘‘(f) CONTINUED USE FOR LIBRARY PURPOSES.—If,

2 within 20 years after completion of construction of any

3 library facility which has been constructed in part with

4 funds made available under this title—

5 ‘‘(1) the recipient (or its successor in title or

6 possession) ceases or fails to be a public or nonprofit

7 institution, or

8 ‘‘(2) the facility ceases to be used as a library

9 facility, unless the Secretary determines that there is

10 good cause for releasing the institution from its obli11 gation,

12 the United States shall be entitled to recover from such

13 recipient (or successor) an amount which bears the same

14 ratio to the value of the facility at that time (or part there15 of constituting an approved project or projects) as the

16 amount of the Federal grant bore to the cost of such facil17 ity (or part thereof). The value shall be determined by the

18 parties or by action brought in the United States district

19 court for the district in which the facility is located.’’.

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