HOUSE BILL No. 4088 January 28, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Cherry, Tesanovich, Kelly, Dennis, LaForge, Martinez, Spade, Schauer, Prusi, Kilpatrick, Minore and DeHart and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. A bill to provide for the development, promotion, and main- tenance of children's summer reading programs in public librar- ies; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state agencies and officials; and to provide an appropriation. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the 2 "summer reading program act". 3 Sec. 2. As used in this act: 4 (a) "Legislative council" means the legislative council cre- 5 ated by the legislative council act, 1986 PA 268, MCL 4.1101 to 6 4.1901. 7 (b) "Public library" means a library recognized by the leg- 8 islative council as lawfully established for purposes of 9 receiving state aid and penal fines. 00605'99 DAM 2 1 (c) "State librarian" means the librarian appointed pursuant 2 to section 5 of the library of Michigan act, 1982 PA 540, 3 MCL 397.15. 4 (d) "Summer reading program" means a program designed to 5 encourage children to develop and increase their reading skills, 6 operated by public libraries in the state. 7 Sec. 3. The state librarian shall develop, promote, and 8 maintain summer reading programs through participating public 9 libraries. The summer reading programs shall coordinate services 10 and share information with communities and local public schools 11 in order to raise the awareness of the importance of learning to 12 read. The summer reading programs shall target elementary 13 school-aged children and shall be designed to assist children in 14 maintaining and developing strong reading skills throughout the 15 summer. 16 Sec. 4. (1) There is appropriated to the state library from 17 the general fund of the state for the fiscal year ending 18 September 30, 2000, $500,000.00 for the following purposes: 19 (a) To expand and improve existing summer reading programs. 20 (b) To develop and distribute material that raises awareness 21 in the community about the importance of reading. 22 (c) To foster communication between public libraries and 23 surrounding communities, schools, and community organizations 24 about the summer reading programs. 25 (d) To foster cooperation and communication between the 26 state library and other public libraries in order to coordinate 00605'99 3 1 summer reading programs and share information concerning 2 successful summer reading programs. 3 (e) To pay for the administrative costs of the state library 4 under this act. However, not more than 5% of the money expended 5 under this section shall be expended for administrative costs. 6 (2) Money appropriated under this section shall not be used 7 to purchase material or equipment that is not directly related to 8 the summer reading program. 9 Sec. 5. In September of each year, the state librarian 10 shall report to the legislative council regarding the number of 11 public libraries participating in the summer reading programs and 12 the number of school-aged children participating in summer read- 13 ing programs conducted during the immediately preceding June 14 through August. 00605'99 Final page. DAM