Title 39, Libraries, Arts, Archives and History

(1) The trustees of the administrative board designated pursuant to Section 39-3-13(4), immediately after their appointment or election, shall meet and organize by the election of such officers as they deem necessary. They shall (a) adopt such bylaws, rules and regulations for th…

At the close of each year the administrative board of trustees of every public library system shall make a report to the governing body in the county or counties or municipality or municipalities wherein the board serves, showing the condition of the trust during the year, the su…

(1) Professional library staff members of a public library shall be eligible for sabbatical leave for the purpose of professional improvement, for not more than one (1) year immediately following any six (6) or more consecutive years of active service in the libraries of this sta…

Except as otherwise provided for in this section, every public library or public library system established or maintained under this article shall be free for the use of the residents of the territory included within the library service area, subject to such reasonable rules and …

This article shall not be construed to abrogate the force of charter provisions or any local act governing existing public libraries. This article shall be construed as additional and supplemental to subsection (j) of Section 19-5-93, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(1) The state, or any of its agencies, or a public library (hereafter, “the contracting party”) may offer digital or online resources or databases to minors only if the vendor or other person or entity providing the resources verifies that all the resources will comply with the p…

Where any public library or public library system is established under this article, either by the county board of supervisors or the governing body of a municipality, the cost of purchasing land, erecting buildings and equipping and maintaining such public library or public libr…

(1) Any county which supports a public library or public library system may, by order of the board of supervisors of such county, in their discretion, levy a four (4) mill tax on all taxable property within the county to be used for the support, upkeep and maintenance of any publ…

(1) Any municipality which supports a public library or public library system may, by order of the governing authorities of such municipality, in their discretion, levy a three (3) mill tax on all taxable property within the municipality to be used for the support, upkeep and mai…

The board of trustees of any municipal public library, or any group of municipal public libraries, and the board of trustees of any county public library system, may, with the consent of the governing body of said municipality, or municipalities, and with the consent of the board…

Two (2) or more counties by action of their boards of supervisors may join in establishing and maintaining a regional public library system under the terms of a contract to which all of the participating counties agree. The expenses of the regional public library systems shall be…

There is hereby created a board of commissioners of the Mississippi Library Commission to be composed of five members appointed by the governor with overlapping terms, the members of the first board to be appointed one for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one for…

Within thirty days after the selection and appointment of the first board of commissioners the members shall meet at the headquarters of the Mississippi Library Commission in Jackson, Mississippi, and organize, setting up such policies as are deemed necessary and not inconsistent…

(1) The board of library commissioners shall elect a director whose term of office shall be for a period of four years, unless, for good cause shown, the board of library commissioners removes said director. (2) The director shall be chosen outside the membership of the board of …

The Mississippi Library Commission, upon request, shall give advice to all schools, public and other libraries, and to all communities which may propose to establish them, as to the best means of establishing and maintaining such libraries, the selection of books, cataloging and …

The board of commissioners of the Mississippi Library Commission may from time to time as needed draw an order signed by the director and the chairman in favor of any party to whom money is due stating in such order what the money is to be used for, and, upon presentation of such…

The board of commissioners of the Mississippi Library Commission may accept in the name of the state gifts of money, real estate, books, periodicals, or other property for the purpose of promoting the work of the Mississippi Library Commission, and may accept and administer any f…

The Interstate Library Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into by this state with all states legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows: Because the desire for the services provided by libraries transcends governmental boundaries and can most effecti…

No county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state shall be party to a library agreement which provides for the construction or maintenance of a library pursuant to Article III, subdivision (c) 7 of the compact, nor pledge its credit in support of such a librar…

As used in the compact, “state library agency” with reference to this state, means the Mississippi Library Commission.

An interstate library district lying partly within this state may claim and be entitled to receive state aid in support of any of its functions to the same extent and in the same manner as such functions are eligible for support when carried on by entities wholly within this stat…

The director of the Mississippi Library Commission shall be the compact administrator pursuant to Article X of the compact. The director of the Mississippi Library Commission may appoint one or more deputy compact administrators pursuant to said article.

In the event of withdrawal from the compact the governor shall send and receive any notices required by Article XI(b) of the compact.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Mississippi Library Materials Security Law.”

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to remove library materials, without authorization, from the premises wherein such materials are maintained or to retain possession of library materials without authorization. (2) It shall be unlawful for any person to wilfully mutilate lib…

(a) As used in this article the term:(a) “Without authorization” means contrary to rules which set forth policies governing access to library materials and include eligibility for library patronage and lending procedures.(b) “Library materials” means books, manuscripts, letters, …

The provisions of this article shall apply to all libraries, museums, archives and other depositories operated by an agency, board, commission, department or officer of the State of Mississippi, by private persons, societies or organizations, or by agencies or officers of municip…

Any person who violates the provisions of section 39-3-303 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The provisions of this article are supplemental to other criminal statutes. An acquittal or conviction obtained under this article shall not be a bar to civil proceedings or actions arising from the same incident.

Any person employed by a library or any person charged with the supervision thereof with reason to believe that any person has committed or has attempted to commit any offense defined in section 39-3-303 of this article or if any person is believed to have concealed upon his pers…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Mississippi Statewide Library Development System Act of 1988.”

(a) For purposes of this article:(a) “Administrative board” shall mean that board of trustees within a public library system designated pursuant to Section 39-3-13(4), Mississippi Code of 1972, with the administrative responsibilities prescribed under Section 39-3-17, Mississippi…

The Mississippi Library Commission shall be responsible for developing a system of public service incentives within a public library accreditation program on the recommendation of a committee of qualified public library professionals and trustees. The committee of fifteen (15) me…

Each accredited public library system shall receive an annual allocation of state funds to supplement the local appropriation and other income. Library cooperatives which include accredited public library systems may receive state aid. The state aid shall be used only to support …

The commission shall be the primary resource library for Mississippi public libraries and shall develop its collection accordingly. The commission shall provide services to libraries within the funds available and in keeping with the goal of efficient use of library resources in …

The commission may employ consultants and other staff to implement the development system by working with cooperatives and public library systems.

The commission shall develop a statewide master plan for public libraries, including plans for levels of library services and resources, which is developed through a continuing process of planning. The master plan must be designed to extend five (5) years into the future and must…

Records maintained by any library funded in whole or in part by public funds, which contain information relating to the identity of a library user, relative to the user’s use of books or other materials at the library, shall be confidential. Such records may only be released with…

Aggregate statistics shown from registration and circulation records, with all personal identification removed, may be released or used by a library for research, planning and reporting purposes.

No provision of this article shall be construed to prohibit any library, or any business operating jointly with a library, from disclosing information for the purpose of collecting overdue books, documents, films or other items or materials owned or otherwise belonging to such li…