| Chapter 144 |
| 2023 -- S 0445 Enacted 06/20/2023 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO LIBRARIES -- HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARIES |
Introduced By: Senators Mack, Britto, Acosta, Ujifusa, Gu, Lauria, Valverde, Kallman, Lawson, and DiMario |
| Date Introduced: February 16, 2023 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Sections 29-2-4 and 29-2-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 29-2 entitled |
| "Historical Society Libraries" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 29-2-4. Use of historical society libraries. |
| All books, periodicals, and papers in the keeping of the Rhode Island Historical Society, |
| the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and the Newport Historical Society, shall at all reasonable |
| times be open to the use of all the citizens of the state, under the same conditions pertaining to the |
| members of the society as long as funds are provided under §§ 29-2-1, 29-2-2, 29-2-2.1, and 29-2- |
| 3. |
| 29-2-5. Reports on expenditures. |
| (a) The Rhode Island Historical Society, the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and the |
| Newport Historical Society, respectively, shall place on file with the state librarian annual reports |
| as to the manner in which the funds are expended, as long as funds are appropriated in accordance |
| with §§ 29-2-1, 29-2-2, and 29-2-3. |
| (b) The Rhode Island Historical Society, the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and the |
| Newport Historical Society, respectively, shall submit to the general assembly and the state |
| librarian annually a plan for the preservation initiatives for the collections in its care. The report |
| shall be submitted as part of the annual report of each agency. |
| (c) The Rhode Island Historical Society, the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and the |
| Newport Historical Society, respectively, shall submit to the state librarian a disaster preparedness |
| plan for the collection in its care on or before January 1, 1993. The plan will be maintained on file |
| at the state library and will be updated annually. |
| SECTION 2. Chapter 29-2 of the General Laws entitled "Historical Society Libraries" is |
| hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: |
| 29-2-2.1. Appropriations for the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society. |
| The general assembly shall annually appropriate such a sum as it may deem necessary, out |
| of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended by the state librarian for |
| the purpose of caring for, preserving, and cataloguing the property of the state in the keeping of the |
| Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and for the purchase and binding of books relating to the |
| history of the state, and for copying and preserving the records of the several towns of the state, |
| and the state librarian, with the approval of the secretary of state, may pay this sum to the Rhode |
| Island Black Heritage Society for this purpose. |
| SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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