§ 125-2. Powers and duties of Department of Cultural Resources. - North Carolina Statutes - USA Laws Searching

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§ 125-2. Powers and duties of Department of Cultural Resources.

§125‑2.  Powers and duties of Department of Cultural Resources.

The Department of CulturalResources shall have the following powers and duties:

(1)        To adopt a seal foruse in official business.

(2)        To make to theGovernor a biennial report of its activities and needs, includingrecommendations for improving its services to the State, to be transmitted bythe Governor to the General Assembly.

(3)        To accept gifts,bequests and endowments for the purposes which fall within the general legalpowers and duties of the Department of Cultural Resources. Unless otherwisespecified by the donor or legator, the Department of Cultural Resources mayeither expend both the principal and interest of any gift or bequest or mayinvest such sums in whole or in part, by and with the consent of the StateTreasurer, in securities in which sinking funds may be invested under theprovisions of G.S. 142‑34.

(4)        To purchase andmaintain collections of books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, films,audiovisual and other materials; to subscribe to computerized databases; toprovide other resources, services and programs; and to serve as an informationdistribution center for State government and the people of the State as a meansfor the promotion of knowledge, education, commerce and business in the State. The scope of the library's collections, resources and services should bedetermined by the Secretary of Cultural Resources upon consideration of therecommendations of the State Library Commission; and in making these decisions,the Secretary shall take into account the collections, resources and servicesof other libraries throughout the State and the availability of suchcollections, resources and services to the general public.  All materials ownedby the State Library shall be available for free circulation to libraries andto all citizens of the State under rules and regulations fixed by thelibrarian, except that the librarian may restrict the circulation of books andother materials which, because they are rare or are used intensively in thelibrary for reference purposes or for other good reasons, should be retained inthe library at all times.  The public schools shall be given equal priority inborrowing all films which are available for circulation.

(5)        To give assistance,advice and counsel to other State agencies maintaining special referencecollections as to the best means of establishing and administering suchlibraries and collections.

(5a)      To provide for theestablishment and maintenance of union catalogs.

(6)        To fix reasonablepenalties for damage to or failure to return any book, periodical or othermaterial owned by the Department of Cultural Resources, or for violation of anyrule or regulation concerning the use of books, periodicals, and othermaterials in the custody of the Department of Cultural Resources.

(7)        Repealed by SessionLaws 1987, c. 199, s. 4.

(8)        To give assistance,advice and counsel to all libraries in the State, to all communities which maypropose to establish libraries, and to all persons interested in publiclibraries, as to the best means of establishing and administering suchlibraries, as to the selection of books, cataloguing, maintenance and otherdetails of library management.

(9)        To provide libraryservices to blind and physically handicapped readers of North Carolina bymaking available to them books and other reading materials in braille, or soundrecordings or any other medium used by the blind and physically handicapped; toenter into contracts and agreements with appropriate libraries and otherorganizations for the purposes of serving the blind and physically handicapped;to enter into contracts with library agencies of other states for providinglibrary service to the blind and physically handicapped of those states,provided adequate compensation is paid for such service and such contract isotherwise advantageous to this State.

(10)      To plan andcoordinate cooperative programs between the various types of libraries withinthe State of North Carolina, and to coordinate State development with regionaland national cooperative library programs; and to assist nonprofit corporationsin organization and operation for the purposes of cooperative programs. (1955,c. 505, s. 3; 1961, c. 1161; 1973, c. 476, s. 84; 1977, c. 645, s. 1; 1981, c.918, s. 4; 1983, c. 819; 1987, c. 199, ss. 1‑6.)