1. (1) Chartered and registered library means public, free association and Indian libraries, as defined in section 253 of the Education Law, which are chartered by the Regents or incorporated under a general or special act of the Legislature, registered by the department in accordance with the provisions of section 254 of the Education Law and sections 90.1, 90.2 and 90.8 of this Part, and members of public library systems. Library also means each public or free association library serving a city with a population of 100,000 or more which merged with the public library system on or before January 1, 1976. Libraries serving cities with populations over one million are not chartered and registered libraries within the meaning of this section.
2. (2) Library system means an approved public library system as defined in section 272(1) of the Education Law, and does not include library systems serving cities with populations over one million.
3. (3) Chartered service area means the geographic area served by a library as stated on charter documents approved by the Board of Regents and on file at the department. For the purposes of this section, the phrase “and environs” or its equivalent as contained in any charter document will not be recognized by the commissioner as a valid part of a library's chartered service area. For the purpose of this section, areas served by the library under contract will not be recognized by the commissioner as a valid part of a library's chartered service area.

4. (4) The population of the chartered service area shall be deemed to be that shown by the latest Federal census for the political subdivisions in the chartered service area. Such population shall be certified in the same manner as provided by section 54 of the State Finance Law except that such population shall include the reservation and school Indian population and inmates of State institutions under the direction, supervision or control of the Department of Correctional Services, the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, and the Department of Social Services. In the event that any political subdivisions lie within larger political subdivisions in a chartered service area, only the population of the larger subdivision shall be used for the purpose of computing State aid.

   (b) Criteria for eligibility.

   To be approved for local library services aid, a library shall:

5. (1) be chartered by the Regents or incorporated under a general or special act of the Legislature;
6. (2) be registered by the department in accordance with the provisions of section 254 of the Education Law and sections 90.1, 90.2 and 90.8 of this Part;
7. (3) be included in the membership of a public library system, as recorded in the system's plan of service which has been approved pursuant to section 272 of the Education Law; and

8. (4) have filed with the department an annual report pursuant to sections 215 and 263 of the Education Law by March 1st. Any library whose annual report for the preceding fiscal year is not received within 90 days after the end of a calendar year shall not participate in any apportionments of local library services aid for the ensuing State fiscal year unless such neglect is duly excused by the commissioner.

   (c) Determination of payment amounts.

   The determination of the payment amount for a library for local library services aid is based on the provisions of section 273(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law and the provisions of this section. A library will be approved for payment of local library services aid based on the population of its chartered service area as on file at the department.

9. (1) Changes in chartered service area. A library may request a change in chartered service area through a formal petition to the Board of Regents for an amendment to its charter, or, in the event the library was created by special act of the Legislature and has not been chartered by the Regents or admitted to the University of the State of New York, through an amendment to the special act.

   1. (i) A library will be approved for a payment of local library services aid based on the population of an amended chartered service area in the calendar year following the year in which the charter amendment was approved by the Regents.
   2. (ii) No change in chartered service area will be approved by the Board of Regents if the proposed chartered service area contains partly or wholly within its boundaries the chartered service areas of one or more other libraries.

10. (2) Population of chartered service area. A library will be approved for a payment of local library services aid based on the population of chartered service area as defined in this section. In the event that the chartered service area is not coterminous with a political subdivision, the population of which is shown in the latest Federal census, such population shall be determined for the purpose of computation of State aid pursuant to section 273(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law by at least one of the following means:

    1. (i) applying to the population of such political subdivision the ratio which exists between the assessed valuation of the portion of such political subdivision included within the chartered service area and the total assessed valuation of such political subdivision;
    2. (ii) using a population figure for the chartered service area as cited in a published source acceptable to the commissioner;
    3. (iii) using a population figure for the chartered service area as attested to in writing by a Federal, State, regional, or local government official acceptable to the commissioner;

    4. (iv) in a case where there is no other reliable source for a population figure, using a population figure for the chartered service area as agreed to by the commissioner, the library board and the director of the public library system.

       (d) Disbursement procedures.

11. (1) Public library systems shall submit an application for local library services aid for their members on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The local library services aid payment to a public library system will be disbursed when the annual reports of all its member libraries have been received and approved by the commissioner.

12. (2) The commissioner will not make direct payments to any individual library.

    (e) Waivers.

    In any year in which the commissioner has apportioned a reduction adjustment, any public or association library may apply for a waiver in whole or in part of the standards of service set forth in section 90.2 of this Part. The application for such waiver shall be submitted for such public or association library by the public library system of which such library is a member. Such application shall be an addendum to the application prescribed in subdivision (d) of this section. Such a waiver shall be granted by the department for the period of one year provided that a public or association library demonstrates that standards of service, in part or in whole, cannot be met because local funding has been reduced or is insufficient or because of circumstances beyond such library's control, such as a natural disaster. No waiver granted pursuant to this subdivision shall be deemed to relieve a public or association library of any obligation imposed by any other provision of Federal or State law.

A public, free association or Indian library may be approved for State aid, pursuant to the provisions of section 273(1)(f)(5) of the Education Law, provided that it meets the criteria for eligibility set forth in such paragraph of the Education Law and this section.

(a) Definitions.

As used in this section and in Education Law, section 273(1)(f)(5):