South Carolina - Acts on Education Topics

An Act to Create the Office of State Librarian, to Fix the Salary and Prescribe the Duties Thereof, to Constitute a Board of Trustees for the State Library and to Designate the Powers and Duties Thereof, to Appropriate Money for the Use of the State Library and to Make Certain Offenses Herein Specified a Misdemeanor.

February 21, 1898

Acts and Joint Resolutions of the General Assembly of South Carolina 1898, Pages 764-767.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, That the General Assembly shall elect a State Librarian, whose term of office shall be for two years and until a successor shall be elected and qualified.

Section 2. That the State Librarian shall have the charge and responsibility for the safe keeping of the property of the State committed into the care of the said officer, and shall perform the duties required by, and shall otherwise act under the direction of the Board of Trustees as hereinafter constituted.

Section 3. That the salary of said officer shall be six hundred dollars, and it shall be due and paid as the salaries of other State officers are due and paid.

Section 4. That the State Librarian, before entering upon the duties of the office, shall take and subscribe the oath prescribed in Section 20 of Article III of the Constitution, and shall also enter into a bond with the State, to be approved by and filed with the State Treasurer, in the sum of two thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed.

Section 5. That the Governor, the Secretary of State and the Superintendent of Education, and their successors in office, ex officio, shall constitute a board, to be designated and known as the Board of Trustees for the State Library, and shall be vested with the duties and powers hereinafter conferred to conduct, care for and foster the State Library so as to enhance its usefulness to the citizens of the State.

Section 6. That the said board shall have the power of expending any moneys appropriated for the increase of the State Library in the purchase of suitable books and other matter of a literary and scientific nature and works of art appropriate to a complete library, as in the exercise of discretion may seem to be for the interest of the State Library. The board shall also have the power to make convenient rules for its care and management, which shall be printed and publicly displayed within the library hall, and so regulate the conduct of the State Library as may best advantage the citizens of the State and increase its usefulness.

Section 7. That the said Board of Trustees shall be empowered to accept and retain donations of books and other property adding to the value of a public library, whether the donation be absolute or in trust, temporary or indefinitely, and shall likewise receive and disburse any funds obtained by gift, will or otherwise for the use of the State Library.

Section 8. That it shall be the duty of the said Board of Trustees to be caused to be bound any unbound volumes deposited in the State Library that in its judgment may be necessary, and shall cause the same to be stamped as the property of the State. The cost of binding, which may not exceed the price charged by contract with the State at the time of such work, shall be paid out of the State Treasury upon the warrant of the said Board of Trustees.

Section 9. That the said Board of Trustees are hereby empowered to sell any books of any kind, in the nature of public documents, or surplus books of other kinds, whether bound or unbound, in the State Library, at a fixed and reasonable price, and the proceeds of sales of the same shall be invested from time to time by the said board in books for the increase of usefulness of the State Library: Provided, That sufficient copies be retained for the use of the General Assembly and for free distribution among public libraries and the governments of other States and of the United States.

Section 10. That the Board of Trustees for the State Library are required annually to make a report of the proceedings of the board and the condition of the library in its charge to the General Assembly, with any recommendations that may seem for the advancement of the interests of the library.

Section 11. That any person wilfully embezzling, stealing, defacing, damaging or in any manner mutilating or destroying while in his possession or in the custody of the State Librarian any book, document, or other property, confided to the safe keeping of the State Librarian, or any person wilfully violating any of the rules and regulations prescribed by the Board of Trustees for the management of the State Library, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days.

Section 12. That the said Board of Trustees are hereby charged with the enforcement of Section 11. All fines when collected shall be paid into the State Library fund and shall be expended for the increase of the State Library.

Section 13. That all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Section 14. That this Act shall be of force from and after the convening of the next General Assembly.

Approved: February 21st, A.D. 1898.

William H. Ellerbee, Governor.
Miles B. McSweeney, Lt. Governor and President of the Senate.
Frank Boyd Gary, Speaker of the House of Representatives.



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