Chapter 10. PUBLIC LIBRARIES, PUBLIC RECREATION, MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS.

§1. Public Library Defined.—The term “public library” as used in this article shall include public library and reading room.(1915, c. 64, §1; Code 1923, c. 47, §50.)

§2. Authority of Governmental Divisions to Establish and Maintain Libraries; Levy.—Any incorporated city or town and any county, school district or independent school district may establish, equip and maintain a public library, or take over and maintain and support any public library already established therein, for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of such governmental division, and for that purpose may levy an annual tax of not more than one and onehalf cents on each one hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of all the taxable property therein listed for taxation. Such tax shall be levied and collected in like manner as the general taxes of such governmental division, and shall be kept in a separate fund to be known as the “library fund”: Provided, That when any county, school district or independent school district proposing to establish a public library includes an incorporated city or town in which there is already a public library, and such city or town does not join in the proposed library, the county, school district or independent school district, as the case may be, shall omit from the levy of the library tax all property within the limits of such municipality. Before establishing any public library, or levying any tax therefor, the governing authority of such governmental division shall submit to the voters thereof, in the manner provided in the following section, the question of the establishment and maintenance of a public library therein.(1915, c. 64, §2; Code 1923, c. 47, §51.)

§3. Referendum on Question of Establishment.—Whenever a petition signed by legal voters of any such governmental division, equal to twenty per cent of the votes polled therein at the last general election, if in a county, for governor, in a city or town, for mayor or council, or in a school district, for members of the board of education, as the case may be, shall be filed in the office of the clerk or other recording officer at least thirty days prior to any general or special election, the governing authority shall submit to the voters at such election the question of the establishment and maintenance of a public library. Such petition shall request the governing authority to establish and maintain a public library, if there be no such library, or to maintain an existing public library, and to levy a specified tax, annually, for the maintenance thereof, as provided in section two of this article. The aforesaid question may also be submitted at any such election by such local authority on its own motion, its resolution or order specifying the tax to be voted on. The election when ordered shall be conducted in all respects as other elections; and the ballot shall have printed thereon under the heading ‘‘public library question” the words:

The governing authority shall give notice of the election by publishing notice thereof once each week for two successive weeks in one or more newspapers published in such governmental division; or, if none is published therein, by a like notice posted for a like period at each of the voting places therein, and at five other public places for a like period, before such election, giving the date and purpose of the election.(1915, c. 64, §2; Code 1923, c. 47, §51.)

§4. Establishment; Alteration or Repeal of Tax.—When such proposition is adopted by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon, the governing authority shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a public library, and for the levy and collection of such tax. Any governmental division may alter or repeal this special tax in the same manner in which it created it.(1915, c. 64, §2; Code 1923, c. 47, §51.)

§5. Board of Library Directors; Qualifications; Term of Office; No Compensation.—Whenever such public library is established under this article, the governing authority shall appoint a board of six directors, chosen from the citizens at large of such governmental division, with reference to their fitness for such office. Such directors shall hold office for three years from the first day of July following their appointment, and until their successors are appointed; but upon their first appointment they shall, at their first meeting, divide themselves into three classes, so that one-third of the number shall hold office for a period of one year, one-third for two years, and one-third for three years. No person shall be ineligible to serve on such board by reason of sex. Vacancies in the board shall be reported to the governing authority and filled by appointment in like manner as original appointments for the unexpired term. The governing authority may remove any director for misconduct or neglect of duty. No compensation shall be paid or allowed any director. The chief school officer of each governmental division establishing a public library shall be ex officio a member of its library board in addition to the six directors provided for herein.(1915, c. 64, §3; Code 1923, c. 47, §52.)

§6. Powers and Duties of Library Directors.—The directors of each public library established under this article shall, immediately after their appointment, meet and organize by electing one of their number as president and one as secretary. A majority of all the members of any board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. They shall make and adopt such by-laws, rules and regulations for their own guidance and for the government of the library as may be expedient and not inconsistent with this article. They shall have exclusive control of the expenditure of all money collected for the library fund and for the construction of any library building or repairs thereto, and the supervision, care and custody of the grounds, rooms or building constructed, leased or set apart for the purpose. All money received for public library purposes shall be deposited in the treasury of such governmental division to the credit of the library fund, and shall be paid out by the proper officer upon proper authenticated orders drawn by the library board upon such fund. The public library board may, with the approval of the governing authority, lease and occupy or purchase or erect an appropriate building for the use of such library. It shall have power to appoint a suitable librarian and assistants, and prescribe rules for their conduct, and fix their compensation; and shall have power to remove such appointees, and, in general, to carry out the spirit and intention of this article in establishing and maintaining a free public library for such governmental division.(1915, c. 64, §4; Code 1923, c. 47, §53.)

§7. Use of Library.—Each library established under this article shall be free for the use of the inhabitants of the governmental division where located, subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the library board may adopt and publish, in order to render the use of such library of greatest benefit to the greatest number; and the board may exclude from the use of such library any and all persons who shall willfully violate such rules. The board may extend the privilege and use of the library to nonresidents of the governmental division upon such terms and conditions as the board may prescribe.(1915, c. 64, §5; Code 1923, c. 47, §54.)

§8. Report of Directors.—Each library board shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, make report to the authority appointing it, stating the condition of the library property, the various sums of money received from the library fund, and all other sources, and how such money was expended, the number of books and periodicals on hand, the number added by purchase and gift, the number lost or mislaid, the number of books lent and the general character of such books, together with an itemized budget estimate of expense of the library for the ensuing year, with such other statistical information and suggestions as it may deem of general interest or that may be required by such governing authority.(1915, c. 64, §6; Code 1923, c. 47, §55.)

§9. Donations for Library.—All persons desiring to make donations of cash or other personal property or real estate for the benefit of such library shall have the right to vest the title thereof in the library board created under this article, to be held in trust and controlled by such board according to the terms and for the purposes set out in the deed, gift, devise or bequest.(1915, c. 64, §7; Code 1923, c. 47, §56.)

§10. Injury to Library Property; Penalty.—Any one who shall willfully deface or injure any building or furniture, or deface, injure or destroy any picture, plate, engraving, map, newspaper, magazine or book, or any object of art belonging to a public library, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months. The fine in each case shall be paid to the proper officer or custodian of the library fund to be used by such library as other money paid into its treasury.(1915, c. 64, §8; Code 1923, c. 47, §57.)

§11. Liability for Detaining Books.—Any person who, after notice in writing from the librarian, shall willfully detain any book, newspaper, magazine, pamphlet or manuscript be longing to such library, or to any incorporated library, for thirty days after the expiration of the time such book, newspaper, magazine, pamphlet or manuscript may be kept according to the rules and regulations of such library, shall be liable for damages to be recovered by the library board, by appropriate proceeding before a justice of the peace, the recovery in each case to be paid to the proper officer or custodian of its funds: Provided, That the notice required hereby shall include a copy of this section.(1915, c. 64, §9; Code 1923, c. 47, §58.)

§12. State Library Commission.—There shall be a state library commission, known as the “West Virginia Library Commission,” which shall consist of five members who shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, each for a term of four years. At least two members of the commission shall be women. No member of the commission shall receive compensation for services rendered, nor be engaged or interested in the publishing business. The members of the commission in office on the date this Code takes effect shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and their successors have been appointed and have qualified. On or before the expiration of the terms for which said members are appointed, the governor shall appoint their successors.(1929, c. 5, §1.)

§13. Same; Officers.—The officers of the commission shall be a chairman, elected from the members thereof, for a term of one year, and a secretary, who shall be a person trained in modern library methods, not a member of the commission. The secretary shall be appointed by the commission and shall serve at the will of the commission. The commission may establish headquarters or maintain its office at such point in the State as it may determine.

The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the commission, have charge of its work in organizing new libraries and improving those already established, supervise the work of the traveling libraries, and in general per form such duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the commission.(1929, c. 5, §2.)

§14. Same; Powers and Duties.—The commission shall give assistance, advice and counsel to all school, state-institutional, free and public libraries, and to all communities in the State which may propose to establish libraries, as to the best means of establishing and administering them, selecting and cataloging books, and other details of library management, and may send any of its members to aid in organizing such libraries or assist in the improvement of those already established.

It may also receive gifts of money, books, or other property which may be used or held for the purpose or purposes given; and may purchase and operate traveling libraries under such conditions and rules as the commission deems necessary to protect the interests of the State and best increase the efficiency of the service it is expected to render the public.

It may purchase suitable books for traveling libraries and distribute them as needed to those persons and places in the State without adequate public library service. It may collect books and other suitable library matter and distribute the same among state institutions desiring the same.

The commission may issue printed material, such as lists and circulars of information, and in the publication thereof may cooperate with other state library commissions and libraries, in order to secure the more economical administration of the work for which it was formed. It may conduct courses of library instruction and hold librarians’ institutes in various parts of the State.

The commission shall perform such other service in behalf of public libraries as it may consider for the best interests of the State.(1929, c. 5, §3.)

§15. Same; Disposition of Monetary Gifts.—If any sums of money are received by the commission as gifts, they shall be paid into the state treasury and used exclusively for carrying out the provisions of this article, and paying expenses of the commissioners. The commission shall expend no sums unless they are available by gift, appropriation or otherwise.(1929, c. 5, §4.)

§1. Authority to Establish and Conduct Public Recreation and Playgrounds; Levy.—Any city, town, county, school district or in dependent school district may establish and conduct a system of public recreation and playgrounds; may set apart for such use any land or buildings owned or leased by it; may acquire land, buildings, and other recreational facilities by gift, purchase, lease, condemnation, bond issue, or otherwise, and equip and conduct the same; may employ a director of recreation and assistants; may expend funds for such purposes. Any such governmental division may levy annually for such purposes, in the manner provided by law for other levies, and in addition to all such levies, a tax not to exceed three cents on each one hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of all the real and personal property therein listed for taxation. Before establishing any such system of public recreation and playgrounds, or levying any tax therefor, the governing authority of such governmental division shall submit to the voters thereof, in the manner provided in the following section, the question of the establishment and administration of a system of public recreation and playgrounds therein.(1925, c. 76, §§1, 4.)

§2. Referendum on Question of Establishment.—Whenever a petition signed by legal voters of any such governmental division, equal to twenty per cent of the votes polled therein at the last general election, if in a county, for governor, in a city or town, for mayor or council, or in a school district, for members of the board of education, as the case may be, shall be filed in the office of the clerk or other recording officer at least thirty days prior to any general or special election, the governing authority shall submit to the voters at such election the question of the establishment and conduct of a system of public recreation and playgrounds. Such petition shall request the governing authority to establish and conduct a system of public recreation and playgrounds, if there be no such system, or to maintain an existing recreation system, and to levy a specified tax, annually, for the maintenance thereof, as provided in section one of this article. The aforesaid question may also be submitted at any such election by such local authority on its own motion, its resolution specifying the tax to be voted on. The election when ordered shall be conducted in all respects as other elections; and the ballot shall have printed thereon under the heading “public recreation question” the words:

(1925, c. 76, §5.)

§3. Establishment; Alteration or Repeal of Tax.—When such proposition is adopted by a majority of the qualified voters voting there on, the governing authority shall provide for the establishment and administration of a system of recreation and playgrounds, and shall provide for the levy and collection of such tax. Any governmental division may alter or repeal this special tax in the same manner in which it created it.(1925, c. 76, §§6, 7.)

§4. How Conducted; Delegation of Administration; Recreation Board.—The governing authority establishing such system may conduct the same through a department or bureau of recreation, or may delegate the administration thereof to a recreation board created by it or to a school board or to any other appropriate existing board or commission. If it shall decide to delegate the administration to a recreation board, the board shall consist of five persons including representation from the school board, and shall be appointed by the governing authority to serve for a term of five years, or until their successors are appointed, except that the members of such board first appointed shall be appointed for such terms that the term of one member shall expire annually thereafter. Vacancies in such board occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments. Members of such board shall serve without pay.(1925, c. 76, §2.)

§5. Joint Establishment and Administration by Two or More Governmental Divisions.—Any two or more cities, towns, counties, school districts or independent school districts may jointly establish and conduct such a system of recreation and playgrounds and may exercise all the powers given by this article.(1925, c. 76, §3.)

§6. Article Not to Affect Powers Granted by Special Acts.—The provisions of this article shall not in any wise repeal, affect or limit the powers and provisions heretofore or hereafter granted to any city, town, district, county, school district or independent school district, under the provisions of any charter or by any special act or acts of the legislature, to establish, maintain and conduct parks and public recreation and playgrounds.(1925, c. 76, §8.)

§1. Monuments for Pioneers.—In order to perpetuate the memory of the pioneers of this State, the county courts of the several counties are hereby authorized, in their discretion, to cause to be erected monuments or tablets in memory of any person or persons engaged in the Indian wars, to mark the sites of the frontier forts and blockhouses constructed and occupied by the early settlers during the Indian wars, and other historic localities, and also the graves of soldiers of the war of the revolution, in their respective counties.(1907, c. 50; Code 1923, c. 39, §23a.)

§2. Memorials to Soldiers and Sailors; Memorial Fund.—The county court of any county shall have the power, upon petition of twenty per cent of the voters of such county, based on the number of votes cast at the last general election, to acquire and establish at the county seat, or adjacent thereto, by purchase or otherwise, ground, park or grove and to erect and maintain thereon a building or buildings, structure or structures, monument or monuments, as a memorial in memory of and in recognition of the virtues and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors from the county in the World War, and may lay a tax for the purpose of acquiring and establishing the same of not more than five cents on the one hundred dollars, on all taxable property in the county, and thereafter a like tax of not more than two cents on the one hundred dollars, such tax to be levied and collected in like manner as the general taxes of the county, which shall be kept separate in a fund to be known as the “Memorial Fund”: Provided, That in any county where such memorial has been established and partly completed the amount of levy for acquiring and establishing the same shall not be more than ten cents on the hundred dollars, and thereafter a like tax of not more than three cents on the hundred dollars of all taxable property in the county.

Whenever such memorial is established under this section, the county court shall appoint a board of directors equal in number to the magisterial districts of the county and select one from each of such districts from the citizens thereof with reference to their fitness for such office. Such directors shall hold office for four years from the first day of July following their appointment, and until their successors are appointed. No person shall be ineligible to appointment by reason of sex. Vacancies in the board shall be reported to the county court and filled by appointment in like manner as original appointments for the unexpired term. The county court may remove any director for misconduct or neglect of duty. No compensation shall be paid or allowed any director.

The board of directors of each memorial established under this section shall, immediately after their appointment, meet and organize by electing one of their number as president and one as secretary; a majority of all the members of any board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. They shall make and adopt such by-laws, rules and regulations from time to time, for their own guidance and for the government and use of the memorial, as may be expedient and not inconsistent with this section. Such board shall have authority to contract, for the construction or purchase of a memorial established under this section and for repairs thereon or maintenance thereof and the supervision, care and custody of the ground, structure or structures: Provided, however, That all contracts shall be approved by the county court and that the expenditures of all funds shall be subject to the approval of the county court, and all moneys belonging to the memorial fund shall be deposited in the treasury of such county to the credit of the memorial fund and shall be drawn therefrom on orders issued by the county court. Such orders shall not be drawn except upon requisition of the memorial board attached to proper authenticated vouchers. Ground, park or a grove for a memorial established under this section may be acquired by condemnation by such board in the same manner as the county court may acquire other real estate for public uses and purposes, and the title of all such property shall be and vest in the county court. The board shall have power to appoint a suitable custodian and assistants and prescribe rules for their conduct, fix their duties and compensation, and shall have power to remove such appointees and, in general, to carry out the spirit and intention of this section.

Each memorial established under this section shall be free for the use of the inhabitants of the county, subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the board may adopt, in order to render the use of such building or structure of the greatest benefit to the greatest number; and the board may exclude from the use of the building any and all persons who shall willfully violate such rules. The board of directors may extend the use and privileges of the building and structure to nonresidents of the county upon such terms and conditions as the board may prescribe.

The board of directors shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, make a report to the county court, stating the condition of the property, the various sums of money received from the memorial fund, and from all other sources, how much money was expended and for what expended; also an itemized budget estimate of expense of the property for the ensuing year, with such other information and suggestions as they deem of general interest, or that may be required by the county court.

Any person or persons, including corporations, who desire to make donations of cash or other personal property or real estate for the benefit of the memorial, shall have the right to do so, and shall have the right to vest the title thereof in the county court, to be held in trust and controlled by such board, the same as the other property owned or acquired, and according to the terms and for the purposes set out in the deed, gift, devise or bequest.(1919, c. 49; 1921, c. 185; Code 1923, c. 18, §121.)

§1. Preparation by Adjutant General.—The adjutant general of West Virginia is hereby authorized to prepare and secure the publication in book form of a complete roster of all West Virginia soldiers, sailors and marines who entered the service of the United States in the war with Spain in eighteen hundred and ninety eight and in the war with the central powers in Europe between nineteen hundred and seventeen and nineteen hundred and nineteen. The preparation and publication of such roster shall be under the direction and supervision of the adjutant general who shall employ such assistants and incur such expenses as may be necessary, and the compensation of such assistants and such expenses shall be paid out of funds appropriated for that purpose on the warrant of the auditor upon presentation of vouchers signed by the adjutant general.(1929, c. 81, §1.)

§2. Contents.—Such roster shall contain the principal items of the record of each soldier, sailor or marine as shown by the rolls in the office of the adjutant general of this State and in the war and navy departments of the United States, and shall include a notation of all decorations bestowed upon any soldier, sailor or marine by the United States or any foreign governments. In the preparation of such roster all names shall be arranged in alphabetical order, if possible, or in such a manner as to render all information therein readily accessible. Preparation of the roster shall begin as soon as possible and continue until the work is completed.(1929, c. 81, §2.)

§3. Contract for Printing.—The contract for the printing of the roster shall be let to the lowest and best bidder and such contract may be let for the entire roster or bids may be taken for the printing of each volume as completed. Not more than one thousand copies or sets of such roster shall be printed, and when completed shall be delivered to the adjutant general.(1929, c. 81, §3.)

§4. Distribution.—The distribution of such volumes shall be under the direction of the adjutant general and shall be as follows:

To each member of the legislature of the year nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, two copies or sets;

To each elective state officer, to be kept as a part of the official records of his office, one copy or set;

To the department of archives and history, one hundred copies or sets for distribution or exchange;

To the adjutant general, two copies or sets to be retained permanently;

To each public library of the State, one copy or set;

To each college or university library, one copy or set;

To the county clerk of each county of the State, to be kept by his office and transferred to his successor as other public records, one copy or set;

To the adjutant general of each state, one copy or set;

To the state headquarters of each active, independent veterans’ organization or society having two or more subordinate posts, camps or societies within the State, one copy or set.

The remainder of such copies after such distribution shall be delivered by the adjutant general to the superintendent of public printing of the State and shall be placed on sale by the superintendent of public printing at a price not greater than the cost of publication. The superintendent of public printing shall keep a record of such sales and shall pay into the state treasury weekly all the amounts received by him as the result of sale of such roster.(1929, c. 81, §4.)