STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8786
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT, R. CARROLL -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Libraries and Education Technology
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to correcting language
relating to indigenous libraries from Indian libraries
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2 of the education law is amended by adding two new
2 subdivisions 25 and 26 to read as follows:
3 25. Indigenous. The term "indigenous" shall have the same meaning as
4 the term "Indian" where such term is used in law.
5 26. Indigenous library. The term "indigenous library" shall have the
6 same meaning as the term "Indian library" and shall be construed to mean
7 a public library established by the tribal government of the Saint Regis
8 Mohawk tribe, the Seneca Nations of Indians or the Tonawanda Seneca
9 tribe and located on their respective reservations, to serve Indigenous
10 community members residing on such reservations and any other persons
11 designated by its board of trustees.
12 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 253 of the education law, as added by
13 chapter 476 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
14 3. The term "[Indian] indigenous library" shall be construed to mean a
15 public library established by the tribal government of the Saint Regis
16 Mohawk tribe, the Seneca Nations of Indians or the Tonawanda Seneca
17 tribe and located on their respective reservations, to serve [Indians]
18 indigenous community members residing on such reservations and any other
19 persons designated by its board of trustees.
20 § 3. Section 254 of the education law, as amended by chapter 718 of
21 the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
22 § 254. Standards of library service. The regents shall have power to
23 fix standards of library service for every free association, public and
24 hospital library or, with the advice of the appropriate tribal govern-
25 ment and library board of trustees, [Indian] indigenous library which
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13202-01-5
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1 receives any portion of the moneys appropriated by the state to aid such
2 libraries, or which is supported in whole or in part by tax levied by
3 any municipality or district. In the case of a hospital library or a
4 library serving a hospital, such standards shall be established in
5 consultation with the commissioner of health. If any such library shall
6 fail to comply with the regents requirements, such library shall not
7 receive any portion of the moneys appropriated by the state for free,
8 hospital or [Indian] indigenous libraries nor shall any tax be levied by
9 any municipality or district for the support in whole or in part of such
10 library.
11 § 4. Subdivisions 4 and 5 of section 255 of the education law, subdi-
12 vision 4 as added by chapter 476 of the laws of 1977 and subdivision 5
13 as amended by chapter 787 of the laws of 1978, are amended to read as
14 follows:
15 4. By a majority vote of the tribal government of [an Indian] a reser-
16 vation, or upon the request of the tribal government of [an Indian] a
17 reservation, an [Indian] indigenous library may be established, with or
18 without branches, and may make application to the state or other source
19 for money to equip and maintain such library or libraries or to provide
20 a building or rooms for its uses. Notwithstanding the provisions of
21 section seven of the Indian law, the board of trustees of such library,
22 on behalf of the tribal government, may acquire real or personal proper-
23 ty for use by an [Indian] indigenous library by gift, grant, devise,
24 bequest and may take, buy, sell, hold and transfer either real or
25 personal property for the purposes of such library. No more than one
26 [Indian] indigenous library may be established on a reservation and such
27 library shall serve all inhabitants of that reservation. No such library
28 shall be established on any reservation that has fewer than three
29 hundred permanent residents and one thousand acres of land.
30 5. The boards of trustees of any two, or more, public libraries,
31 [Indian] indigenous libraries, reference and research library resources
32 systems, cooperative library systems, or association libraries, as
33 defined in this article, may pool surplus funds to be used for the
34 purchase of certificates of deposit in any bank or trust company,
35 provided that such certificate of deposit be secured by a pledge of
36 obligations of the United States of America, or any obligation fully
37 guaranteed or insured as to interest and principal by the United States
38 of America acting through an agency, subdivision, department or division
39 thereof, or obligations of the state of New York. Each participating
40 public library, [Indian] indigenous library, reference and research
41 library resources system, cooperative library system or association
42 library shall be entitled to its pro-rata share of interest earned on
43 such certificates in proportion to its contribution to the purchase
44 price of such certificates.
45 § 5. Subdivisions 1, 2, 5 and 12 of section 260 of the education law,
46 subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended by chapter 513 of the laws of 1998,
47 subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 787 of the laws of 1978, and subdi-
48 vision 12 as added by chapter 357 of the laws of 2000, are amended to
49 read as follows:
50 1. Public libraries authorized to be established by action of the
51 voters or their representatives shall be managed by trustees who shall
52 have all the powers of trustees of other educational institutions of the
53 university as defined in this chapter; provided that the number of trus-
54 tees of county public libraries and [Indian] indigenous libraries shall
55 not be less than five nor more than fifteen and that the number of trus-
56 tees of other public libraries shall not be less than five nor more than
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1 fifteen. The number of trustees of joint public libraries authorized to
2 be established by two or more municipalities or districts or any combi-
3 nation thereof shall be not less than five nor more than twenty-five, as
4 determined by agreement of the voting bodies empowered to authorize the
5 establishment of such libraries pursuant to subdivision one of section
6 two hundred fifty-five of this [chapter] part and shall be set forth in
7 the resolution authorizing the establishment of such joint public
8 library. Such resolution shall also set forth the number of such trus-
9 tees which each of the participating municipalities or districts shall
10 be entitled to elect or appoint, and the terms of office of the trustees
11 as determined in accordance with subdivision three of this section.
12 2. The trustees of public libraries authorized to be established by
13 cities shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the common coun-
14 cil, in counties they shall be appointed by the county board of supervi-
15 sors or other governing elective body, in villages they shall be
16 appointed by the village board of trustees, in towns they shall be
17 appointed by the town board, in school districts they shall be elected
18 by the legal voters in the same manner as trustees are elected in the
19 school district which established said library, and on [Indian] reserva-
20 tions they shall be elected at a general tribal election or otherwise
21 designated by the chiefs or head [men] persons of an [Indian] indigenous
22 tribe; that notwithstanding the fact that county, town or local school
23 district lines do not penetrate the reservation boundary, [Indians]
24 indigenous community members residing on reservations shall be eligible
25 to serve as trustees of public libraries established in school districts
26 to the same extent as they are qualified voters pursuant to subdivision
27 three of section twenty hundred twelve of this chapter; that the first
28 trustees shall determine by lot the year in which the term of office of
29 each trustee shall expire and that a new trustee shall be elected or
30 appointed annually to serve for three or five years to be determined by
31 the entity establishing the public library. Notwithstanding the forego-
32 ing provisions of this subdivision, in any case where a town is a
33 contributor to the support of any such public library in a village
34 located within the town the appointment of trustees of such library who
35 reside outside the village but within such town shall be subject to the
36 approval of the town board of such town. The charter of any public
37 library granted prior to April thirtieth, nineteen hundred twenty-one,
38 which provides for trustees, their terms of office and method of
39 election or appointment in a manner differing from that hereinbefore
40 provided, shall remain in full force and effect until the regents, upon
41 application of the library trustees, shall amend the charter to conform
42 to the provisions of law in effect when such amendment is made.
43 5. The boards of trustees of public, free association and [Indian]
44 indigenous libraries shall hold regular meetings at least quarterly, and
45 such boards shall fix the day and hour for holding such meetings.
46 12. The board of trustees of a public, free association or [Indian]
47 indigenous library which provides public access to the internet shall
48 establish a policy governing patron use of computer terminals which
49 access the internet. Verification of such policy shall be included in
50 the annual report submitted to the department.
51 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 260-d of the education law, as added by
52 chapter 468 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
53 1. Beginning January first, two thousand twenty-three, each member,
54 elected or appointed, of a board of trustees of a public, free associ-
55 ation or [Indian] indigenous library shall be required to complete a
56 minimum of two hours of trustee education annually, from a provider
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1 approved by the commissioner on the financial oversight, accountability,
2 fiduciary responsibilities and the general powers and duties of a
3 library trustee. Such trustee education may be delivered online or in
4 person, and may include lectures, workshops, regional or national
5 library association programs, or any other format approved by the
6 commissioner.
7 § 7. Section 261 of the education law, as amended by chapter 476 of
8 the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
9 § 261. Incorporation. Within one month after taking office, the first
10 board of trustees of any such public library or [Indian] indigenous
11 library shall apply to the regents for a charter in accordance with the
12 vote establishing the library.
13 § 8. Section 262 of the education law, as amended by chapter 476 of
14 the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
15 § 262. Use of public and [Indian] indigenous libraries. Every library
16 established under section two hundred fifty-five of this [chapter] part
17 shall be forever free to the inhabitants of the municipality or district
18 or [Indian] reservation, which establishes it, subject always to rules
19 of the library trustees who shall have authority to exclude any person
20 who wilfully violates such rules; and the trustees may, under such
21 conditions as they think expedient, extend the privileges of the library
22 to persons living outside such municipality or district or [Indian]
23 reservation.
24 § 9. Section 270 of the education law, as amended by chapter 476 of
25 the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
26 § 270. Acceptance of surplus library books or property. The state
27 education department is hereby authorized to cooperate with the United
28 States commissioner of education, the war assets administration, and/or
29 other federal officers and officials in the administration of any stat-
30 ute heretofore or hereafter enacted for the disposal of surplus library
31 books or property, and to accept for and on behalf of the state of New
32 York or its political subdivisions surplus library books or other prop-
33 erty suitable and necessary to the operation of public and free
34 libraries and [Indian] indigenous libraries and for the improvement and
35 extension of library service for New York state, and any funds, which
36 may be made available to the state of New York by the federal government
37 for these and related public and [Indian] indigenous library services.
38 § 10. Section 271 of the education law, as amended by section 1 of
39 part O of chapter 57 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
40 § 271. Apportionment of state aid to [Indian] indigenous libraries.
41 Any [Indian] indigenous library chartered by the regents or in the
42 absence of such library any tribal government contracting for service
43 from a chartered and registered library or approved library system,
44 shall be entitled to receive state aid during each calendar year
45 consisting of the following amounts:
46 1. Eighteen thousand dollars, and
47 2. The sum of eighteen dollars and twenty cents per capita for persons
48 residing on the reservation served by the [Indian] indigenous library or
49 contract as shown by the latest federal census or certified by the New
50 York state director of Indian services, and
51 3. The sum of one dollar and fifty cents per acre of area served by
52 the [Indian] indigenous library or contract.
53 Such sums shall be paid annually to the [Indian] indigenous library
54 board of trustees for the use of the [Indian] indigenous library, or in
55 the absence of such a board, to the tribal government for a contract for
56 library service. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
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1 diminish the funds, services or supplies provided to any [Indian]
2 indigenous library by a library system as defined in section two hundred
3 seventy-two of this [article] part. Increases in appropriations for such
4 purposes during a calendar year shall be pro rated.
5 § 11. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day
6 after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,
7 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
8 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
9 made and completed on or before such effective date.
