I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3391
To provide for public library construction and technology enhancement.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 16, 1999
Mr. HINCHEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide for public library construction and technology
enhancement.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Andrew Carnegie Li-
braries for Lifelong Learning Act’’.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION AND TECH-
NOLOGY ENHANCEMENT.
The Library Services and Technology Act (20 U.S.C.
9121 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by redesignating chapter 3 as chapter 4;
and
(2) by inserting after chapter 2 the following:
‘‘CHAPTER 
3—PUBLIC 
LIBRARY 
CON-
STRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY EN-
HANCEMENT
‘‘SEC. 241. GRANTS TO STATES FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY CON-
STRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY ENHANCE-
MENT.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated
under section 244 the Director shall carry out a program
of awarding grants to States that have a State plan ap-
proved under section 224 for the construction or tech-
nology enhancement of public libraries.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter:
‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘construc-
tion’ means—
‘‘(i) construction of new buildings;
‘‘(ii) the acquisition, expansion, re-
modeling, and alteration of existing build-
ings;
‘‘(iii) the purchase, lease, and installa-
tion of equipment for any new or existing
buildings; or
‘‘(iv) any combination of the activities
described in clauses (i) through (iii), in-
cluding architect’ fees and the cost of ac-
quisition of land.
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Such term includes
remodeling to meet standards under the Act en-
titled ‘An Act to insure that certain buildings
financed with Federal funds are so designed
and constructed as to be accessible to the phys-
ically handicapped’, approved August 12, 1968
(42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.), commonly known as
the ‘Architectural Barriers Act of 1968’, remod-
eling designed to ensure safe working environ-
ments and to conserve energy, renovation or re-
modeling to accommodate new technologies, and
the purchase of historic buildings for conversion
to public libraries.
‘‘(2) 
EQUIPMENT.—The 
term 
‘equipment’
means—
‘‘(A) 
information 
and 
building 
tech-
nologies, video and telecommunications equip-
ment, machinery, utilities, built-in equipment,
and any necessary enclosures or structures to
house the technologies, equipment, machinery
or utilities; and
‘‘(B) all other items necessary for the
functioning of a particular facility as a facility
for the provision of library services.
‘‘(3) PUBLIC
LIBRARY.—The term ‘public li-
brary’ means a library that serves free of charge all
residents of a community, district, or region, and re-
ceives its financial support in whole or in part from
public funds. Such term also includes a research li-
brary, which, for the purposes of this sentence,
means a library, which—
‘‘(A) makes its services available to the
public free of charge;
‘‘(B) has extensive collections of books,
manuscripts, and other materials suitable for
scholarly research which are not available to the
public through public libraries;
‘‘(C) engages in the dissemination of hu-
manistic knowledge through services to readers,
fellowships, educational and cultural programs,
publication of significant research, and other
activities; and
‘‘(D) is not an integral part of an institu-
tion of higher education.
‘‘(4) TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT.—The term
‘technology enhancement’ means the acquisition, in-
stallation, maintenance, or replacement, of substan-
tial technological equipment (including library biblio-
graphic automation equipment) necessary to provide
access to information in electronic and other formats
made possible by new information and communica-
tions technologies.
‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in section
243, the provisions of this subtitle (other than this chap-
ter) shall not apply to this chapter.
‘‘SEC. 242. USES OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use funds appro-
priated under section 244 to pay the Federal share of the
cost of construction or technology enhancement of public
libraries.
‘‘(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of sub-
section (a), the Federal share of the cost of con-
struction or technology enhancement of any project
assisted under this chapter shall not exceed one-half
of the total cost of the project.
‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal
share of the cost of construction or technology en-
hancement of any project assisted under this chapter
may be provided from State, local or private sources,
including for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—If, within 20 years after com-
pletion of construction of any public library facility that
has been constructed in part with grant funds made avail-
able under this chapter—
‘‘(1) the recipient of the grant funds (or its suc-
cessor in title or possession) ceases or fails to be a
public or nonprofit institution, or
‘‘(2) the facility ceases to be used as a library
facility, unless the Director determines that there is
good cause for releasing the institution from its obli-
gation,
the United States shall be entitled to recover from such
recipient (or successor) an amount which bears the same
ratio to the value of the facility at that time (or part there-
of constituting an approved project or projects) as the
amount of the Federal grant bore to the cost of such facil-
ity (or part thereof). The value shall be determined by the
parties or by action brought in the United States district
court for the district in which the facility is located.
‘‘SEC. 243. DESCRIPTION INCLUDED IN STATE PLAN.
‘‘Any State desiring to receive a grant under this
chapter for any fiscal year shall submit, as a part of the
State plan under section 224, a description of the public
library construction or technology enhancement activities
to be assisted under this chapter.
‘‘SEC. 244. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this chapter $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and each
of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.
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