§ 285. State aid for cooperation with correctional facilities. 1. Each
public library system operating under an approved plan of service which
has a state correctional facility or facilities within its area of
service shall be awarded an annual grant of nine dollars twenty-five
cents per capita for the incarcerated individual population of such
facility or facilities to make available to the incarcerated individual
population of such facility or facilities, in direct coordination with
the correctional facilities libraries, the library resources of such
system. The commissioner shall adopt any regulations necessary to carry
out the purposes and provisions of this subdivision.

2. The commissioner is authorized to expend up to one hundred
seventy-five thousand dollars annually to provide grants to public
library systems operating under an approved plan of service for
provision of services to county jail facilities. Such formula grants
shall assist the library system in making available to the incarcerated
individual population of such facility or facilities the library
resources of such system. Such grants shall be available to each public
library system in such manner as to insure that the ratio of the amount
each system is eligible to receive equals the ratio of the number of
incarcerated individuals served by the county jail facility to the total
number of incarcerated individuals served by county jail facilities in
the state as of July first of the year preceding the calendar year in
which the state aid to public library systems is to be paid.
Incarcerated individual populations shall be certified by the New York
state commission of correction. The commissioner shall adopt any
regulations necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this
subdivision.