It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 29-3.1-2.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 29-3.1 entitled "Department of State Library Services" is hereby amended to read as follows:

29-3.1-2.2. Library board of Rhode Island established -- (a) There is hereby created the library board of Rhode Island, sometimes hereinafter referred to as the "library board". The library board shall be protected from sudden changes in membership and reversal of policy by having staggered terms for its public members, and is hereby made successor to all powers, rights, duties, and privileges pertaining to public library services and interlibrary cooperation and resource sharing.

(b) (1) The library board shall consist of seventeen (17) members. The governor shall appoint fifteen (15) members, four (4) five (5) of whom shall be representative of general library users. The remainder of the governor's appointments shall be representative of the following:

(i) Users of the talking books plus, economically disadvantaged, and corporate or special librarians; school library media specialists;

(ii) Librarians serving people who are institutionalized;

(iii) Public library trustees and statewide library advocacy group; and

(iv) Librarians from small public libraries, librarians from large or medium public libraries, and academic librarians.

(2) The chair of the senate finance committee or a designee and the chair of the house finance committee or a designee shall also serve on the library board. The commissioner for elementary and secondary education or a designee and the commissioner for higher education or a designee shall serve as nonvoting ex officio members. The governor shall appoint from the library board's public members a chairperson.

(3) Board members shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be allowed travel expenses related to attendance at board meetings.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.