LIBRARY DEPARTMENT

Los Angeles City Charter tit. I, art. V, pt. LIBRARY DEPARTMENT

in effect

Los Angeles City Charter § 530 Powers and Duties of the Department.

Sec. 530. Powers and Duties of the Department. The Library Department shall have the power and duty to: (a) establish, manage, control, and operate a central library and branch libraries within the City, and to acquire and take by purchase, lease, condemnation, gift, in trust, or otherwise, and to hold for the City, any and all property necessary or convenient for those purposes; and (b) design, construct, alter, and maintain all buildings, structures and grounds devoted to purposes of the department, from any funds under its control and available for those purposes, notwithstanding other provisions of the Charter.

Los Angeles City Charter § 531 Financial Support.

Sec. 531. Financial Support. (a) For the financial support of the Library Department, there shall be appropriated an annual sum equal to a percentage of assessed value of all property in the City as assessed for City taxes, as follows: Fiscal Years Prior to 2011-2012: 0.0175%. Fiscal Year 2011-2012: 0.0206%. Fiscal Year 2012-2013: 0.0237%. Fiscal Year 2013-2014: 0.0269%. Fiscal Year 2014-2015 and thereafter: 0.0300%. (b) Additional appropriations may be made from the General Fund. (c) All money derived from (a) or (b) plus sums received by the Library Department from fines, sales, gifts or otherwise in connection with the operation of the library, shall be placed to the credit of the Library Department in a fund to be known as the Library Fund. (d) Except as provided in Section 342 with regard to funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Library Fund pursuant to subsection (b), money in the Library Fund shall be used only for the financial support of the Library Department, its operations and its facilities, including all Library Department direct and indirect costs. For fiscal years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, the Council shall, by ordinance, establish a minimum level of funding from the incremental increases in appropriations based on assessed property value for restoration of Library services and programs, and the remainder of those annual increases shall be used to pay for indirect costs. Provided, however, that in each of those fiscal years the amount of the increased appropriation dedicated for restoration of Library services and programs shall not be less than 45% of the increase in appropriation over the sum appropriated based on assessed property value in the base year of 2010-2011. Beginning in fiscal year 2014-15 and thereafter, the Library Department shall be responsible for payment of all of its direct and indirect costs, which shall include, but not be limited to, health, dental, pension, building services and utility costs. SECTION HISTORY Amended by: Charter Amendment L § 1, approved March 8, 2011, effective April 8, 2011.

Los Angeles City Charter § 532 Board of Library Commissioners.

Sec. 532. Board of Library Commissioners. The Board of Library Commissioners shall control, appropriate and expend all money coming into the Library Fund for the purposes of the department. The board may authorize the Treasurer to invest any surplus funds under its control in accordance with Section 303(b).

Los Angeles City Charter § 533 City Librarian.

Sec. 533. City Librarian. The chief administrative officer of the Library Department shall be known as the City Librarian and shall be appointed and removed as provided in Section 508.

Los Angeles City Charter § 534 Library Property.

Sec. 534. Library Property. Acquisition of real property by the City for library sites shall first be approved by the Board of Library Commissioners. The board shall have full control over all library sites and none of these sites shall be devoted to any other purpose in whole or in part without permission from the board.

Los Angeles City Charter § 535 Subsurface Parking Structures.

Sec. 535. Subsurface Parking Structures. The Board of Library Commissioners may lease subsurface property under its control in accordance with requirements and proceedings similar to Section 596. Any revenue from these leases shall be credited to the Library Fund. The board may design, construct and operate subsurface parking structures under lands within its control, subject to similar requirements as found in Section 596(a)(1) and (2).

Source: City of Los Angeles, Charter and Codes (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/laac/0-0-0-2356Fetched: 10/24/2026