Any public library serving a political subdivision or subdivisions having a population of over 5,000 according to the United States decennial census of 1970 or any future such census and every library operated by the state or its authority, including libraries of institutions of higher learning, shall not employ in the position of librarian a person who does not hold a librarian’s certificate issued by the board. No public funds shall be paid to any library failing to comply with this chapter, provided that nothing in this chapter shall apply to law libraries of counties and municipalities, to libraries of public elementary and high
schools, or to libraries of the University System of Georgia.