BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3669

By: Dean

State Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that public junior college libraries cannot easily give away old books or other library materials of nominal value because of restrictions in place under state law governing the disposal of state surplus property. As a result, certain librarians report that it is easier to destroy or throw away old books and other materials than it is to give them away, even if there are community members who would happily accept the donations. C.S.H.B. 3669 seeks to allow public junior college libraries to donate library materials to any person or organization, so long as the library materials have little to no monetary value and are either duplicative or no longer appropriate for the library's collection.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3669 amends the Education Code to authorize a public junior college library to donate periodicals, books, e-books, tapes, and other media that have little or no monetary value to any person or organization if the library materials, as determined by library staff, duplicate library materials that are a part of the library's collection or are no longer appropriate for inclusion in the collection due to age, condition, or obsolete content.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3669 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute changes the manner in which the bill provides for the disposition of library materials. Whereas the original exempted the disposition of surplus property by state-funded academic libraries from surplus and salvage property provisions of the State Purchasing and General Services Act, the substitute authorizes a public junior college library to donate library materials that meet certain criteria to any person or organization.