75 ILCS 5/4-7

(75 ILCS 5/4-7) (from Ch. 81, par. 4-7)

Sec. 4-7. Each board of library trustees of a city, incorporated town, village or township shall carry out the spirit and intent of this Act in establishing, supporting and maintaining a public library or libraries for providing library service and, in addition to but without limiting other powers conferred by this Act, shall have the following powers:

1. To make and adopt such bylaws, rules and regulations, for their own guidance and for the government of the library as may be expedient, not inconsistent with this Act;

2. To have the exclusive control of the expenditure of all moneys collected for the library and deposited to the credit of the library fund;

3. To have the exclusive control of the construction of any library building and of the supervision, care and custody of the grounds, rooms or buildings constructed, leased or set apart for that purpose;

4. To purchase or lease real or personal property, and to construct an appropriate building or buildings for the use of a library established hereunder, using, at the board's option, contracts providing for all or part of the consideration to be paid through installments at stated intervals during a certain period not to exceed 20 years with interest on the unpaid balance at any lawful rate for municipal corporations in this State, except that contracts for installment purchases of real estate shall provide for not more than 75% of the total consideration to be repaid by installments, and to refund at any time any installment contract entered into pursuant to this paragraph by means of a refunding loan agreement, which may provide for installment payments of principal and interest to be made at stated intervals during a certain period not to exceed 20 years from the date of such refunding loan agreement, with interest on the unpaid principal balance at any lawful rate for municipal corporations in this State, except that no installment contract or refunding loan agreement for the same property or construction project may exceed an aggregate of 20 years;

5. To remodel or reconstruct a building erected or purchased by the board, when such building is not adapted to its purposes or needs;

6. To sell or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property that it deems no longer necessary or useful for library purposes, and to lease to others any real property not immediately useful but for which plans for ultimate use have been or will be adopted but the corporate authorities shall have the first right to purchase or lease except that in the case of the City of Chicago, this power shall be governed and limited by the Chicago Public Library Act;

7. To appoint and to fix the compensation of a qualified librarian, who shall have the authority to hire such other employees as may be necessary, to fix their compensation, and to remove such appointees, subject to the approval of the board, but these powers are subject to Division 1 of Article 10 of the Illinois Municipal Code in municipalities in which that Division is in force. The board may also retain counsel and professional consultants as needed;

8. To contract with any public or private corporation or entity for the purpose of providing or receiving library service or of performing any and all other acts necessary and proper to carry out the responsibilities, the spirit, and the provisions of this Act. This contractual power includes, but is not limited to, participating in interstate library compacts and library systems, contracting to supply library services, and expending of any federal or State funds made available to any county, municipality, township or to the State of Illinois for library purposes. However, if a contract is for the supply of library services for residents without a public library established under the provisions of this Act, the terms of that contract will recognize the principle of equity or cost of services to non-residents expressed in this Section of this Act, and will provide for the assumption by the contracting party receiving the services of financial responsibility for the loss of or damage to any library materials provided to non-residents under the contract;

9. To join with the board or boards of any one or more libraries in this State in maintaining libraries, or for the maintenance of a common library or common library services for participants, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by and between the boards;

10. To enter into contracts and to take title to any property acquired by it for library purposes by the name and style of "The Board of Library Trustees of the (city, village, incorporated town or township) of ...." and by that name to sue and be sued;

11. To exclude from the use of the library any person who wilfully violates the rules prescribed by the board;

12. To extend the privileges and use of the library, including the borrowing of materials on an individual basis by persons residing outside of the city, incorporated town, village or township. If the board exercises this power, the privilege of library use shall be upon such terms and conditions as the board shall from time to time by its regulations prescribe, and for such privileges and use, the board shall charge a nonresident fee at least equal to the cost paid by residents of the city, incorporated town, village or township, with the cost to be determined according to the formula established by the Illinois State Library. A person residing outside of a public library service area must apply for a non-resident library card at the public library located closest to the person's principal residence. The nonresident cards shall allow for borrowing privileges at all participating public libraries in the regional library system. The nonresident fee shall not apply to: privilege and use provided under the terms of the library's membership in a library system operating under the provisions of the Illinois Library System Act, under the terms of any reciprocal agreement with a public or private corporation or entity providing a library service; a nonresident who as an individual or as a partner, principal stockholder, or other joint owner owns or leases property that is taxed for library service or is a senior administrative officer of a firm, business, or other corporation owning taxable property within the city, incorporated town, village or township upon the presentation of the most recent tax bill upon that taxable property or a copy of the commercial lease of that taxable property; or a nonresident in an unincorporated area in Illinois who is a student whose household falls at or below the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Income Eligibility Guidelines. The board may adopt regulations waiving the nonresident fee for persons under the age of 18;

13. To exercise the power of eminent domain subject to the prior approval of the corporate authorities under Sections 5-1 and 5-2 of this Act;

14. To join the public library as a member and to join the library trustees as members in the Illinois Library Association and the American Library Association, non-profit, non-political, 501(c)(3) associations, as designated by the federal Internal Revenue Service, having the purpose of library development and librarianship; to provide for the payment of annual membership dues, fees and assessments and act by, through and in the name of such instrumentality by providing and disseminating information and research services, employing personnel and doing any and all other acts for the purpose of improving library development;

15. To invest funds pursuant to the Public Funds Investment Act; and

16. To accumulate and set apart as reserve funds portions of the unexpended balances of the proceeds received annually from taxes or other sources, for the purpose of providing self-insurance against liabilities relating to the public library.

(Source: P.A. 101-632, eff. 6-5-20; 102-843, eff. 5-13-22.)