1. The State Library, Archives and Public Records Administrator shall establish a program to provide grants of money to the public libraries of this State for the purchase or acquisition of books, library materials and computer databases. The money must be provided by legislative appropriation, accounted for separately and administered by the State Library, Archives and Public Records Administrator.

2. The State Library, Archives and Public Records Administrator shall, within the limits of legislative appropriation, provide such grants based on the following:

(a) If the requesting library has a budget for materials which is $10,000 or less, the requesting library is eligible to receive a base grant of $1,000, plus a matching grant in an amount that is not more than 75 percent of its budget for materials.

(b) If the requesting library has a budget for materials which is more than $10,000 but less than $75,000, the requesting library is eligible to receive a base grant of $5,000, plus a matching grant in an amount that is not more than 50 percent of its budget for materials.

(c) If the requesting library has a budget for materials which is $75,000 or more but less than $150,000, the requesting library is eligible to receive a base grant of $10,000, plus a matching grant in an amount that is not more than 33 1/3 percent of its budget for materials.

(d) If the requesting library has a budget for materials which is $150,000 or more but less than $500,000, the requesting library is eligible to receive a base grant of $15,000, plus a matching grant in an amount that is not more than 25 percent of its budget for materials.

(e) If the requesting library has a budget for materials which is $500,000 or more, the requesting library is eligible to receive a base grant of $25,000, plus a matching grant in the first year it receives a grant pursuant to this paragraph in an amount that is not more than 10 percent of its budget for materials. The amount of the matching grant provided in any year may be increased by 10 percent in each succeeding year, except that in no event may the matching grant provided in any year exceed 25 percent of the library’s budget for materials in that year.

3. The State Library, Archives and Public Records Administrator shall adopt such regulations as are necessary to:

(a) Establish a procedure pursuant to which a public library may apply to receive a grant pursuant to this section;

(b) Determine the eligibility of a public library to receive such a grant; and

(c) Determine the exact amount of a grant to be awarded to a public library.

4. Money granted pursuant to this section must not supplant or cause to be reduced any other source of funding for a public library and must be used exclusively by the public library to purchase or acquire books, library materials and computer databases.

5. For the purposes of this section, “public library” does not include a library operated within the Nevada System of Higher Education.

(Added to NRS by 1997, 3252; A 1999, 663)