Bill Text: WV HCR41 | 2018 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

West Virginia House Concurrent Resolution 41 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating to a study of a statewide virtual library

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-02-26 - To Education [HCR41 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2018-HCR41-Comm_Sub.html

WEST virginia legislature

2018 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Concurrent Resolution 41

(By Delegates Higginbotham, Espinosa, Kelly, Atkinson, Wilson, Statler, Rohrbach, Cooper, Westfall, Hamrick and Kessinger)

Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study and make recommendations regarding the development of a statewide virtual library.

Whereas, A number of states in the United States have established statewide virtual libraries composed of high-quality electronic resources and online services; and

Whereas, Public libraries, elementary and secondary school libraries, and the academic libraries of postsecondary education institutions have some resources available online, but not all resources are available to all groups nor to all counties in the state, thus creating an inequality of opportunity; and

Whereas, The availability of greater educational resources online provides the opportunity to lower costs for students and the public in purchasing educational materials; and

Whereas, Many college students face textbook costs of more than $1,000 per year, making education less affordable;

Whereas, Open educational resources, representing the development of shared online accessible textbook collections, can bring educational costs down considerably while making efficient use of tax dollars; and

Whereas, A robust statewide virtual library would provide the opportunity for all West Virginia residents to access reliable online resources and allow research to be more than simply a web search of sources with unknown reliability; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is hereby requested to conduct an interim study on development of a statewide virtual library; and be it

Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance include the following stakeholders and perspectives in this interim study: public elementary and secondary education, higher education, the West Virginia Library Commission, and the West Virginia Library Association; and be it

Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance report to the Legislature, on the first day of the regular session 2019, on its findings, conclusions and recommendations together with drafts of any legislation to effectuate its recommendations; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.