A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for public libraries to provide online ORIENTATION and support programs for the public.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources the sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year to be allocated to the Aid to Public Libraries Fund established in G.S. 125‑7. These funds shall be used to provide directed grants to public libraries for training and support to the general public on Internet usage and safety, with particular emphasis on training and orientation for populations less familiar with the online Internet usage that is necessary to meet social distancing requirements and respond to the impacts from the coronavirus disease 2019. Public libraries shall use grants funds to engage in partnerships and use the resources available from community college campuses, NCWorks Online, and the Department of Information Technology to provide the online orientation and training programs to the general public. Notwithstanding any provision of the Department's rules for the Aid to Public Libraries Fund to the contrary, no local match will be required for the grants funded by this allocation.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2020.