Committee amends and advances bill to broaden eligibility for state library cards

The House Political Subdivisions Committee amended and advanced House Bill 1254, a bill to change who is eligible to obtain a North Dakota State Library card.

Representative Eric Murphy introduced the bill on behalf of the State Librarian. Murphy said the change would align statute with current practice by allowing any North Dakota resident to apply for a State Library card instead of limiting eligibility to residents who live in areas without adequate public library service. "This is a pretty simple bill brought to me by the state librarian," Murphy said, explaining current law restricts access to patrons in areas without local service.

Mary Susi, State Librarian, told the committee the State Library already issues cards broadly and sought to align the Century Code with practice. Susi said the State Library serves three primary constituencies—public libraries, state agencies and citizens—and described outreach including library vending machines and an eMaterials consortium. She said the library pays postage to mail materials directly to patrons and did not anticipate fiscal impact from the statutory change.

Representative Clamine raised a drafting concern about a clause referencing "rules of the state library" because the agency has no formal administrative rules; Representative Clamine moved to strike that clause. Representative Bosley seconded. The amendment was put to a roll call and passed 12 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting. Representative Hager then proposed changing the word "citizen" to "resident;" that motion failed for lack of a second.

Later the committee voted to advance House Bill 1254 as amended. The committee recorded the final vote on the amended bill as 11 yeas, 1 nay, 1 absent, not voting. Representative Clamine moved the due‑pass recommendation; Representative Lawrie seconded. Committee members discussed funding sources for the State Library; Susi said the library receives general fund appropriations and federal dollars from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which she estimated at about a third of the library’s budget and said she could supply exact numbers on request.

Committee members asked about return rates for mailed materials and the number of public libraries statewide; Susi said there are 82 public libraries and roughly 545 total libraries when including school and special libraries.