§ 268. Abolition. Any library established by public vote of any municipality or district, or by vote of the common council of any city, or by vote of the board of trustees of any village, or by action of school authorities, or by vote of the tribal government of an Indian reservation, or under section two hundred fifty-five of this chapter, may be abolished by majority vote at an election, or at a meeting of the electors duly held, provided that due public notice of the proposed action shall have been given, or by vote of such tribal government. If any such library is abolished, its property shall be used first to return to the regents, for the benefit of other free association or public or school libraries in that locality, the equivalent of such sums as it may have received from the state or from other sources as gifts for public use. After such return any remaining property may be used as directed in the vote abolishing the library, but if the entire library property does not exceed in value the amount of such gifts, it may be transferred to the regents for public use, and the trustees shall thereupon be free from further responsibility. No abolition of a public library shall be lawful until the regents grant a certificate that its assets have been properly distributed and its abolition completed in accordance with law.
