South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

S 707 — County library and staff qualifications

Last action — Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced December 10, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 14% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 4-9-36, RELATING TO DUTIES OF COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARDS OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO REVISE QUALIFICATION AND CREDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CHIEF LIBRARIANS AND OTHER LIBRARY STAFF.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

25 added · 1 removed

Plain-language change summary

The latest version of Bill 707 makes changes to the qualifications required for chief librarians and other library staff in South Carolina. Specifically, the bill now states that counties cannot require a chief librarian or library employee to have a certification from the American Library Association or a master’s degree from an accredited program. This change is important because it aims to broaden the pool of candidates eligible for these positions, potentially making it easier for libraries to hire qualified staff while also addressing workforce shortages in the library sector.

→
Previous
Latest
PK EB.\i¨¾  customXml/item1.xml½Wmo›Hþ~¿ùCó%Ā1Ø9Ç=Œ× -wYzUZ`I¬`Ȝ6:õ¿ß€Í‹‰ÓëÔ“â fžç™™]vvwòöë&æžØ6[§Éՙx!œq, ÒpÜ]¹dÁÎ¸,§IHã4aWgIzövúË$þâaÉrҜr ’dW½û<¼ì÷³àžmhv‘>²
2025-2026 Bill 707 Text of Previous Version (Dec.
10, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 707Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates New Matter(Text matches printed bills.
Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)                 A bill   TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 4-9-36, RELATING TO DUTIES OF COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARDS OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO REVISE QUALIFICATION AND CREDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CHIEF LIBRARIANS AND OTHER LIBRARY STAFF.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  Section 4-9-36(1) of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      (1) Employ a chief librarian whose qualifications and credentials shall meet the certification requirements of the State Library Board, and who shall be responsible to the county library board for the administration of the program and the selection of library staff members required to carry out the functions of the library system.
A county library board may not require or express a preference that a chief librarian, library director, or library employee:
           (a) be certified by the American Library Association, or its successor organization;
or            (b) have a master's degree from a program certified by the American Library Association, or its successor organization.
  SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on December 10, 2025 at 02:15 PM
⬇ Download PDF
View plain text versions (2)
  • 12/10/2025 View text Current html
  • Introduced Filed vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document

Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  2. Introduced and read first time

  3. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  4. Prefiled

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 169 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (169)

169 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 169 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 707 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 4-9-36, RELATING TO DUTIES OF COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARDS OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO REVISE QUALIFICATION AND CREDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CHIEF LIBRARIANS AND OTHER LIBRARY STAFF.
Who sponsors S 707?
S 707 is sponsored by Senator Rex F. Rice.
What is the current status of S 707?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced December 10, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 707?
Track S 707 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on S 707

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of S 707

Last checked for changes about 2 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →