(1) The commission receives a legislative appropriation to fund the base grants.  The total distribution per federation shall remain the same as in FY 1998 unless the legislative appropriation changes.

(2) After receiving recommendations from the advisory board, the federation shall distribute the base grants in two ways:

(a) The federation may use the grants to fund federation projects that maintain or improve cooperative library services and activities; or

(b) The federation may also allocate base grants to public libraries to support the cooperative activities and services of the federation.

(i) The federation shall direct these grants to meet the following objectives:

(A) to increase the amount and quality of unique library resources in the federation and state. Libraries may purchase library materials to accomplish goals established in the federation or state's collection development plan;

(B) to increase the on-line availability of local bibliographical information. Libraries may purchase subscriptions to bibliographic databases such as lasercat and worldcat, add and maintain holdings in these databases, and purchase the necessary equipment and software;

(C) to increase the visibility of libraries in the federation or state.   Libraries may use base grants to promote or market libraries through a group project involving more than one library in the federation;

(D) to increase the work-related knowledge, skills, and abilities of library staff and trustees. Libraries may use base grants to support education opportunities and to share this education with other federation members; or

(E) to support other objectives that enhance the cooperative activities and services of the federation.