STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 5367

August 29, 1978

LIBRARIES:

Cooperative libraries

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:

Cooperative libraries

Pursuant to 1977 PA 89, the State Board of Education is authorized to establish geographic areas for cooperative libraries.

A local library board has discretion to determine whether to become a member of a cooperative library.

There is no express provision in 1977 PA 89 requiring cooperative libraries to serve contiguous geographical areas; however, the State Board of Education must assure that service areas contain a minimum population and recognized the geosocioeconomic conditions within the area.

The State Board of Education is the forum to resolve disputes between a constituent local public library board and a cooperative library board.

Dr. John W. Porter

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Department of Education

124 West Allegan Street

Lansing, Michigan 48933

Honorable James DeSana

State Senator

The Capitol

Lansing, Michigan 48909

The State Aid to Public Libraries Act, 1977 PA 89, MCLA 397.551 et seq; MSA 15.1791(151) et seq, authorizes the formation of cooperative libraries to provide services to local public libraries which become members of the cooperative. A cooperative library serves a specific geographic area, which area must meet the criteria set forth by the legislature in 1977 PA 89, supra, Sec. 6.

With respect to this act you have asked:

Your questions will be addressed seriatim.

1. Does 1977 PA 89 vest authority in the State Board of Education to establish geographic areas for library cooperative service?

1977 PA 89, supra, Sec. 3, provides:

1977 PA 89, supra, Sec. 6, which is alluded to in section 3, provides in part:

(Emphasis added)

A reading of sections 3 and 6 together discloses the legislative intent that the State Board of Education and not the local public library is responsible for establishing service areas for cooperative libraries. Section 3 of the act requires the State Board to determine the number of cooperative boards in accordance with section 6. Section 6 sets forth specific factors relating to the size or area of a cooperative library. Since the State Board has specifically been directed to consider those factors by the legislature, it follows that the legislature must have intended that the State Board define the geographical extent of the cooperative library. Otherwise, there would have been no need to direct the consideration of the State Board to such factors as population, geosocioeconomic conditions or established governmental regions.

Furthermore, the second sentence of subsection 6(f) states that if a local library board is placed in a cooperative library and is dissatisfied with its placement, it may petition the State Board to be placed in a different cooperative library or joined with other local boards to form another cooperative library. The fact that the legislature has determined that the State Board is to be petitioned in such a circumstance indicates legislative intent that the State Board is the public agency that establishes the service area of the cooperative library in the first instance.

If the boundaries of the service area of a cooperating library service were defined by local member public libraries, rather than the State Board, the second sentence of subsection 6(f), underlined above, would be superfluous. The fact that the legislature included in subsection 6(f) a separate procedure to petition the State Board regarding placement within a certain cooperative area thus indicates the legislative intent that the State Board is the body initially defining the area of the cooperative.

Subsection 6(g) of the act further supports the conclusion that library service areas are designated by the State Board. That subsection states that an existing library system which serves over 1,000,000 population may petition the State Board for designation as a cooperative and the State Board shall designate the petitioning system board as the cooperative board. The section goes on to say in its final sentence:

The fact that this directive is made to the State Board rather than to each library systems board indicates a legislative intent that the geographic areas would, in the normal course, be set by the State Board.

Another factor to be considered is that the legislature did not specifically provide that local boards may define boundaries of a cooperative library service despite the fact that the legislature enumerated many other powers of those boards. For example, section 4 of the act provides that local libraries desiring to establish a cooperative board draft a preliminary plan. The service area, however, is not listed as one of the items to be set forth in a preliminary plan. Nor is such power to be found in the other sections of the act dealing with the powers of the cooperative library board. The enumeration of specific powers in a statute creating an entity implies the absence of all other powers. Sebewaing Industries, Inc v Village of Sebewaing, 337 Mich 530; 60 NW2d 444 (1953).

Also, the absence of a specific grant of authority to the local board is in contrast to the predecessor, 1965 PA 286, which was repealed by the present act. 1965 PA 286, Sec. 2(c) provided that the geographic area to be served by a library system (the predecessor entity which local libraries could create to provide cooperative services under the former act) was to be established by that library system.

It is therefore my opinion that the State Board of Education establishes geographic service areas for library cooperative service under 1977 PA 89.

2. May the State Board of Education place a local library in a given cooperative area when the local public library board has taken action to be part of a different cooperative library area in which it has been placed by the State Board of Education?

It is my opinion that the decision of the State Board of Education is controlling. A local library may not unilaterally decide to become a member of a cooperative library other than the one in which it is placed by the State Board although, pursuant to subsection 6(g), it may petition the State Board to be placed in a different cooperative library than that in which it has been placed by the Board. In addition, as the last sentence of subsection 6(f) provides, a local board which serves an area adjoining more than one cooperative library may determine in which of those cooperative libraries, if any, it will participate; this option, however, may only be exercised after the boundaries of the cooperative system are finally determined by the State Board inasmuch as it would be illogical for a local board to make a choice before the available alternatives are known to it.

3. Does a local library board have discretion to determine whether to become a member of a cooperative library?

1977 PA 89, supra, Sec. 12 provides:

Thus, it is clear that it is within the sole discretion of a local library board to determine whether to join a cooperative library.

4. Must a library cooperative serve contiguous geographic areas?

There is no express provision in 1977 PA 89, supra, requiring cooperative libraries to serve contiguous geographical areas. In interpreting a statute, it is not proper to attach provisions or requirements which were not attached by the legislature. Detroit v Twp of Redford, 253 Mich 453; 235 NW 217 (1931). This is especially true where the legislature has attached such a provision in similar legislation but has not attached it to the statute in question. People v Vaines, 310 Mich 500; 17 NW2d 729 (1945). Other statutes providing for the establishment of regional organizations of local governmental units expressly require that the units forming the organization be contiguous. See, e.g., MCLA 125.1231; MSA 5.1193(1) (regional economic development commissions); MCLA 46.352; MSA 5.570(102) (regional parks and recreation commission); MCLA 124.404; MSA 5.3475(104) (regional transportation authorities).

Although nothing in the act requires service areas for cooperative libraries to be contiguous, there is also nothing in the act which prohibits the State Board of Education from defining service areas which are contiguous. Under MCLA 397.556; MSA 15.1791(156), the State Board must assure that the service areas contain certain minimum populations and recognize the geosocioeconomic conditions within that area.

5. Under the provisions of Public Act 89, what is the definition of a dispute? Is a dispute a situation or circumstance in which a local library board cannot, under its own authority, make a determination on the library cooperative with which it seeks to affiliate? Is a dispute a situation under which the State Library or the State Department of Education disagrees with the decision of a local library or its cooperative affiliation?

Section 22 of the act provides:

This section is concerned with disputes between a local public library board and a cooperative library board and provides for a hearing before the State Board of Education to resolve such dispute. For example, a dispute may arise over the refusal of a cooperative library board to accept a local library's petition for membership made pursuant to section 12 of 1977 PA 89, supra. Also, disputes may arise over whether a cooperative library board is providing the proper quality of service to the local board or is in some way discriminating against a particular board. While, hopefully, there will be full cooperation between the cooperative library and the local boards that comprise it, the legislature has wisely provided a forum to resolve disagreements should any arise.

Frank J. Kelley