(1) (a) Each public library system shall have at least one system resource library. Annually, prior to the expiration of its agreement with its existing system resource library, the public library system board shall negotiate with the member public library with the largest annual operating budget of all member libraries to serve as a system resource library in the following year. If the board and the proposed resource library are unable to reach an agreement for the following year before the expiration date of any existing agreements with resource libraries, the existing agreements shall be extended for one year or until an agreement is reached with that proposed resource library, whichever occurs earlier. The division shall notify the public library system board, the existing resource libraries and the proposed resource library of the extension and, during the period of extension, shall attempt to mediate an agreement between the public library system board and the proposed resource library. If the division determines that the public library system board and the proposed system resource library are unable to reach an agreement before the end of the one-year period, the division shall propose an alternative agreement, which shall be binding if it is acceptable to the proposed system resource library. If the alternative agreement is unacceptable to the proposed system resource library, the board shall negotiate with the member public library with the next largest annual operating budget of all member public libraries to serve as a system resource library in the following year. (am) An existing contract may be extended under par. (a) only if it was entered into on or after May 8, 1990. (b) The procedure under par. (a) shall be repeated with member public libraries in decreasing order of the size of their annual operating budgets until an agreement is reached with a member public library to serve as a system resource library. Except as provided in par. (a), no agreement may extend beyond December 31 of any year. (2) If the member public library selected to serve as a system resource library under sub. (1) fails to meet all of the following requirements, the system board shall enter into a supplementary contract with the academic library with the largest operating budget of all academic libraries in the system area, or with a resource library in an adjacent system, that meets all of the following requirements: (a) The library has a collection of at least 100,000 volumes. (b) The library is open to the public at least 50 hours each week. (c) The library employs at least one full-time, permanent reference librarian with a master’s degree in library science.
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