Any county board of education may in lieu of granting separate libraries for each school establish a system of circulating libraries, said libraries to be purchased under the same conditions and in keeping with the plan set out in the previous sections of this chapter by the county superintendent of education. Such circulating libraries shall be available for use in the public schools of the county under rules and regulations prescribed by the county board of education with the approval of the State Board of Education.
Ala. Code § 16-21-3 (1975)