(75 ILCS 10/8.4) (from Ch. 81, par. 118.4)

Sec. 8.4. School library grants. Beginning July 1, 1989, the State Librarian shall make grants annually under this Section to all school districts in the State for the establishment and operation of qualified school libraries, or the additional support of existing qualified school libraries, from funds appropriated by the General Assembly. Such grants shall be in the amount of $0.885 per student as determined by the official enrollment as of the previous September 30 of the respective school having a qualified school library. If the moneys appropriated for grants under this Section are not sufficient, the State Librarian shall reduce the amount of the grants as necessary; in making these reductions, the State Librarian shall endeavor to provide each school district that has a qualifying school library (i) at least the same amount per student as the district received under this Section in the preceding fiscal year, and (ii) a total grant of at least $850, which, in the event of an insufficient appropriation, shall not be reduced to a total grant of less than $100.

To qualify for grants under this Section, a school library must:

(1) Be an entity which serves the basic information and library needs of the school's employees and students through a bibliographically organized collection of library materials, has at least one employee whose primary duty is to serve as a librarian, and has a collection permanently supported financially, accessible centrally, and occupying identifiable quarters in one principal location.

(2) Meet the requirements for membership in a library system under the provisions of this Act.

(3) Have applied for membership in the library system of jurisdiction if the system is a multitype library system under this Act.

(4) Provide, as mutually determined by the Illinois State Librarian and the Illinois State Board of Education, library services which either meet or show progress toward meeting the Illinois school library standards as most recently adopted by the Illinois School Library Media Association.

(5) Submit a statement certifying that the financial support for the school library or libraries of the applying school district has been maintained undiminished, or if diminished, the percentage of diminution of financial support is no more than the percentage of diminution of the applying school's total financial support for educational and operations purposes since the submission of the last previous application of the school district for the school library per student grant that was funded.

Grants under this Section shall be made only upon application of the school district for its qualified school library or school libraries.

(Source: P.A. 102-39, eff. 6-25-21.)