or be

wise, for the purposes of the library, shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the library fund of the district wherein said tax was collected, subject only to the order of the library trustees of said district. If such payment into the treasury should be inconsistent with the terms or conditions of any such gift, devise quest, the board of library trustees shall provide for the safety and preservation of the same, and the application thereof to the use of the library, in accordance with the terms and conditions of such gift, devise or bequest.

§ 15. Library to be free. Every library established under the provisions of this act shall be forever free to the inhabitants and nonresident taxpapers of the library district, subject always to such rules, regulations, and by-laws as may be made by the board of library trustees; also provided, that for violations of the same a person may be fined or excluded from the privileges of the library.

§ 16. Loan of books. Boards of library trustees and the boards of trustees of neighboring library districts, or the legislative bodies of neighboring municipalities, or boards of supervisors of the counties in which public libraries are situated, may contract to lend the books of such libraries to residents of such counties or neighboring municipalities, or library districts, upon a reasonable compensation to be paid by such counties, neighboring municipalities, or library districts.

§ 17. Title to library property. The title to all property acquired for the purposes of such libraries, when not inconsistent with the terms of is acquisition, or not otherwise designated, shall vest in the district in which such libraries are, or are to be situated. Every library district must be designated by the name and style of library district (using the name of the district), of

County (using

the name of the county in which said district is situated); and in that name the trustees may sue and be sued, and may hold and convey property for the use and benefit of such district. A number must not be used as a part of the designation of any library district.

§ 18. Election for trustees. An election for library trustees must be held in each library district, annually, at the public library, if there is one, and if there is none, at the place to be designated by the board of trustees; for the election of one library trustee, who shall hold office for three years dating from the first day of July next succeeding his election, or until his successor shall be elected, or appointed and qualified.

§ 19. Number of trustees. The number of library trustees for any library district established under the provisions of this act, shall be three.

§ 20. Notice of election. Not less than ten days before the election required in section eighteen of this act, the trustees must post notices in three public places in the district, one of which places shall be the public library; which notices must specify the time and place of election, and the hours during which the polls will be kept open; if within five days of holding the election the trustees have failed to post the notices required under this section, then any three electors of the district may give notice.

§ 21. Conduct of election. Boards of trustees must appoint one inspector and two judges to conduct the said election; if none are so appointed, or, if those appointed are not present at the opening of the polls, the electors present may appoint them, and they shall conduct the election. Any member of the board of library trustees is hereby qualified to administer the oath and swear in the election officers.

§ 22. Polls, opening and closing. In library districts with a population of ten thousand or over, the polls must be open at eight o'clock A. M., and kept open until seven o'clock P. M.; in districts where the population is less than ten thousand the polls must not be opened before one o'clock P. M., and must be kept open not less than six hours.

§ 23. Electors, qualifications of. Every elector, resident of the library district, who is a qualified elector of the county, and who is registered in the district where the election is held at least thirty days before the election, may vote thereat.

§ 24. Voting. Voting must be by ballot (without reference to the general election law in regard to nominations, form of ballot, or manner of voting), which shall be handed by the elector voting to the inspector, who shall then, in his presence, deposit the same in the ballot-box, and the judges shall enter the elector's name on the polllist.

§ 25. Challenges. Any person offering to vote may be challenged by any elector of the district, and the judges of election must thereupon administer to the person challenged an oath, in substance as follows: "You do swear that you are a citizen of the United States, that you are twenty-one years of age, that you have resided in this state one year, in this county ninety days, and in this library district thirty days preceding this election, and that your name is on the great register of this county and was on the great register of a precinct of this library district at least thirty days before this election, and that you have not before voted this day." If he takes the oath prescribed in this section, his vote must be received, otherwise his vote must be rejected.

§ 26. Poll-lists. A poll and tally list must be kept and must be returned to the board of library trustees.

§ 27. Canvass of votes. The officers of election must publicly canvass the votes immediately after closing the polls, and make, sign, and deliver certificates of election to the person elected, which must, with the oath of office of the person so elected attached, be forwarded to the county clerk and filed in his office.

§ 28. Bonds, election for. The board of trustees of any library district may, when in their judgment it is deemed advisable, and must, upon a petition of fifty or more taxpayers and residents of said. library district, call an election and submit to the electors of the district, whether the bonds of such district shall be issued and sold for the purpose of raising money for the purchase of suitable lots, of procuring plans and specifications and of erecting a suitable

building, of furnishing and equipping the same, and of fencing and ornamenting the grounds, for the accommodation of the public library, or for any or all of the said purposes, or for any or all of the purposes of this act; for liquidating any indebtedness incurred for said purposes, and for refunding any outstanding valid indebtedness, evidenced by bonds or warrants of the district.

§ 29. Notice of bond election. Such election must be called by posting notices, signed by the board, in three of the most public places in the district, for not less than twenty days before the election; and if there is a newspaper published in the district, or if not, a newspaper published in the county, by publishing such notice therein not less than once a week for three successive weeks.

§ 30. What notice must contain. Such notice must contain:

1. Time and place of holding such election;

2. The names of inspectors and judges to conduct the same;

3. The hours during the day in which the polls will be open;

4. The amount and denomination of the bonds, the rate of interest and the number of years, not exceeding forty, the whole or any part of said bonds are to run.

§ 31. Conduct of election. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of sections twenty-one, twenty-two, twentythree, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, of this act, in so far as they are applicable to the election for bonds.

§ 32. Voting. Voting must be by ballot (without reference to the general election law in regard to form of ballot, or manner of voting), except that the words to appear on the ballot shall be, "BondsYes," and "Bonds-No," and except further, that persons voting at such bond election shall put a cross (X) upon their ballots, with pencil or ink, after the words "Bonds-Yes," or "Bonds-No" (as the case may be), to indicate whether they have voted for or against the issuance of the bonds; which said ballot shall be handed by the elector voting to the inspector, who shall then, in his presence, deposit the same in the ballot box, and the judges shall enter the elector's name on the poll-list.

§ 33. Canvass, bond election of library districts. Amount of bonds. On the seventh day after said election, at eight o'clock P. M., the returns having been made to the board of trustees, the board must meet and canvass said returns, and if it appears that two-thirds of the votes cast at said election were cast in favor of issuing such bonds, then the board shall cause an entry of such fact to be made upon its minutes and shall certify to the board of supervisors of the county, all the proceedings had in the premises, and thereupon said board of supervisors shall be and they are hereby authorized and directed to issue the bonds of said district, to the number and amount provided in such proceedings, payable out of the building fund of said district, naming the same, and that the money shall be raised by taxation upon the taxable property in said district, for the redemption of said bonds and the payment of the interest thereon; provided, that the total amount of bonds so issued shall not exceed five per cent of the taxable property of said district, as shown by the last

equalized assessment-book of the county. [Amendment approved March 13, 1911. Stats. 1911, p. 343.]

§ 34. Form of bonds. The board of supervisors by an order entered upon its minutes shall prescribe the form of said bonds and of the interest coupons attached thereto, and must fix the time when the whole or any part of the principal of said bonds shall be payable, which shall not be more than forty years from the date thereof.

§ 35. Interest. Said bonds must not bear a greater amount of interest than six per cent, said interest to be payable annually or semi-annually; and said bonds must be sold in the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors, but for not less than par, and the proceeds of the sale thereof must be deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the building fund of said library district, and be drawn out for the purposes aforesaid as other library moneys are drawn out.

§ 36. Tax levy, for interest and redemption. The board of supervisors, at the time of making the levy of taxes for county purposes, must levy a tax for that year upon the taxable property in such district, at the equalized assessed value thereof for that year, for the interest and redemption of said bonds, and such tax must not be less than sufficient to pay the interest of said bonds for that year, and such portion of the principal as is to become due during such year, and in any event must be high enough to raise, annually, for the first half of the term said bonds have to run, a sufficient sum to pay the interest thereon, and during the balance of the term, high enough to pay such annual interest and to pay, annually, a proportion of the principal of said bonds equal to a sum produced by taking the whole amount of said bonds outstanding and dividing it by the number of years said bonds then have to run, and all moneys so levied, when collected, shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the said library district, and be used for the payment of principal and interest on said bonds, and for no other purpose. The principal and interest on said bonds shall be paid by the county treasurer, upon the warrant of the county auditor, out of the fund provided therefor; and it shall be the duty of the county auditor to cancel and file with the county treasurer the bonds and coupons as rapidly as they are paid.

§ 37. Unsold bonds, disposition of. Whenever any bonds issued under the provisions of this act shall remain unsold for the period of six months after having been offered for sale in the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors, the board of trustees of the library district for or on account of which said bonds were issued, or of any library district composed wholly or partly of territory which, at the time of holding the election authorizing the issuance of such bonds, was embraced within the district for or on account of which such bonds were issued, may petition the board of supervisors to cause such unsold bonds to be withdrawn from market and canceled. Upon receiving such petition, signed by a majority of the members of said board of trustees, the supervisors shall fix a time for hearing the same, which shall be not more than thirty days thereafter, and shall cause a notice, stating the time and place of hearing,

and the object of the petition in general terms, to be published for ten days prior to the day of hearing, in some newspaper published in said library district, if there is one, and if there is no newspaper published in said library district, then in a newspaper published at the county seat of the county in which said library district or part thereof is situated. At the time and place designated in the notice for hearing said petition, or at any subsequent time to which said hearing may be postponed, the supervisors shall hear any reasons that may be submitted for or against the granting of the petition, and if they shall deem it for the best interests of the library district named in the petition that such unsold bonds be canceled, they shall make and enter an order in the minutes of their proceedings that said unsold bonds be canceled, and thereupon said bonds, and the vote by which they were authorized to be issued, shall cease to be of any validity whatever.

§ 38. Dissolution of district. The district may at any time be dissolved upon the vote of two-thirds of the qualified electors thereof, upon an election called by the library trustees of such district, upon the question of dissolution. Such election shall be called and conducted in the same manner as other elections of the district. Upon such dissolution, the property of the district shall vest in any incorporated town or city that may at such time be in occupation of a major portion of the territory of such library district and including within its town or city limits the property and buildings wherein the library is situated; and if there be no such incorporated town or city, then the property shall be vested in the board of supervisors of the county until the formation of such a town or city; provided, however, that if, at the time of such election to dissolve such district, there be any outstanding bonded indebtedness of such district, the vote to dissolve such district shall dissolve the same for all purposes excepting only the levy and collection of taxes for the payment of such indebtedness; and from the time such district is thus dissolved until such bonded indebtedness, with the interest thereon, is fully paid, satisfied and discharged, the legislative authority of such incorporated town or city, or the board of supervisors, if there be no such incorporated town or city, is hereby constituted ex officio the library board of such district. And it is hereby made obligatory upon such board to levy such taxes and perform such other acts as may be necessary in order to raise money for the payment of such indebtedness, and the interest thereon, as herein provided.

§ 39. Conflicting acts repealed. All acts or parts of acts conflicting with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

§ 40. In effect when. This act shall take effect immediately.

ACT 2752.

An act to authorize the deposit of certain newspaper files kept in recorders' offices in free public libraries. [Approved March 19, 1909. Stats. 1909, p. 436.]

§ 1.

Amended 1919, p. 278.

Deposit of newspapers in public libraries.

§ 2. Agreement required.

§ 3. Files may be transferred to state library.