MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY

3/5/07

 

These rules are supplementary to the provisions of the statutes of the State of Illinois as they relate to the procedures of the Elected Seven Member Library Board of Trustees.

 

Regular Meetings

The regular meetings of the Library Board of Trustees of the Morrison and Mary Wiley Library shall be on the first Monday of each month (no less than ten times per year).  The meeting shall be at the library at 4:00 PM.  The meetings shall be open to the public and noticed in advance.  At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Library Board of Trustees shall, by ordinance, specify regular meeting dates and times.  The Secretary of the Library Board of Trustees shall then (1) provide for the local newspaper the schedule of regular meetings of the board for the ensuing fiscal year and (2) post the schedule of meetings in the library.  Both notices shall have the dates, times and places of such meetings.  An agenda for each meeting will be available for public inspection.  No business except that stated in the agenda shall be transacted. 

 

Special Meetings

 

Special meetings shall be held at any time when called by the President or Secretary or by any three Library Board of Trustees members, provided that notice with the agenda of the special meeting is given at least 48 hours in advance, except in the case of a bona fide emergency, to board members and to any news medium which has filed an annual request for notice under the Open Meetings Act; no business except that stated in the notice and agenda shall be transacted. Notice and agenda shall be posted 48 hours in advance on the bulletin board of the library except in the case of a bona fide emergency.

 

Annual Meeting

 

An annual meeting shall be held in January for the purpose of hearing the annual reports of the Library Director and committees.  The report should include a summary of the year’s work with detailed account of the receipts and expenditures, a budget for the following year and other information according to statute.  A copy of this report shall be forwarded to the Illinois State Library in accordance with the law.   A copy should also be on file in the library.

 

Quorum

 

A quorum at any meeting shall consist of four Library Board of Trustees members.

 

Library Board of Trustees

 

The Library Board of Trustees of the Morrison and Mary Wiley Library is charged with the responsibility of the governance of the library. The Library Board of Trustees will hire a skilled Head Librarian who will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the library.  The Board will meet at least once per month (no less than ten times per year). These meetings will be open to the public and noticed in advance.

 

The agenda and information packet for the meetings will be distributed to the Library Board of Trustees by the Head Librarian one week prior to meetings.  Any Library Board of

 

MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY (CONT.)

 

Trustee member wishing to have an item placed on the agenda will call the Head Librarian at least ten days before the meeting to have the item placed on the agenda.  Any Library Board of Trustees member who is unable to attend a meeting will call the library to indicate that he or she will be absent.  Due to the fact that a quorum is required for each meeting, this phone call should be placed as far in advance as possible.

 

            The Library Board of Directors will be responsible for overseeing the policies and procedures of the library, the hiring, evaluation and discipline of the Head Librarian, handling of personnel issues that need assistance beyond the Head Librarian, discipline issues with patrons of the library and management of money for the library outside of the endowment.  Issues that arise at the meeting of the seven person board that are related to finances from the endowment will be taken to the meeting of the five person board. 

 

            Library Board of Trustees members are not to be compensated pursuant to statute, but will be reimbursed for necessary and related expenses as Trustees.  To be effective, Library Board of Trustees members must attend most meetings, read materials presented for review and attend an occasional Library System (or other library related) workshop, seminar or meeting.   The Head Librarian will make the dates of these workshops known to the Library Board of Trustees in a timely manner.  It is the goal of the Library Board of Trustees to have each member attend a minimum of one Library System (or other library related) workshop, seminar or meeting during each calendar year.  Library Board of Trustees members will be reimbursed at the rate allowed by the IRS for travel to and from any Library System (or other library related) workshop, seminar or meeting.  Library Board of Trustees members are not exempt from late fees, fines or other user fees.

 

Officers and Elections

 

The officers of the Library Board of Trustees shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer.  Those officers shall be elected by a ballot vote for four year terms at the regular meeting in January.  The President shall not serve more than two consecutive terms, unless by unanimous Library Board of Trustees consent.  In the event of a resignation from an office, an election to fill the unexpired term of that office will be conducted by a ballot vote at the next regular meeting.

 

President

 

The President shall preside at all board meetings, appoint all standing and special committees, serve as ex-officio member of all committees and perform all other such duties as may be assigned by the Library Board of Trustees.  The President shall be the only spokesperson for the Library Board of Trustees in all advisory or disciplinary action directed to the staff.

 

Vice President

 

The Vice-President, in the absence of the President, shall assume all duties of the President.

 

 

 

MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY (CONT.)

 

Secretary

 

The Secretary shall keep minutes of all board meetings, record attendance, record a roll call on all votes (except when a ballot vote is taken).  The Secretary shall perform all other such clerical duties as may be assigned by the Library Board of Trustees.

 

Treasurer

 

The Treasurer is authorized by the Library Board of Trustees to sign checks and shall serve on the finance committee.  The Treasurer shall keep all financial records of the Library Board of Trustees.  The normal depository of all financial records shall be the library.  The Treasurer shall have charge of the library funds and income, sign all the checks on the authorization of the Library Board of Trustees and report at each meeting the state of the funds.  In the absence of the Treasurer or when he or she is unable to serve, the President or Vice-President may perform the duties of the Treasurer.  The Treasurer shall be bonded in the amount to be approved by the Library Board of Trustees and according to statute requirement.  The Treasurer is authorized to pay salaries and insurance bills as they come due.

 

Standing and Special Committees

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The Standing Committees shall be appointed annually in the month of January and shall consist of three members of Library Board of Trustees, including the Head Librarian.  The Standing Committees at their first meeting shall elect a Chairperson.  Special Committees may be appointed by the President to present reports or recommendations to the Library Board of Trustees and shall serve until the completion of the work for which they were appointed.  The Standing Committees shall be the Finance Committee, the Personnel Committee, the Policy Committee and the Building/Grounds Committee.  The library shall be the depository of all committee reports.

 

Finance Committee.

 

The Finance Committee shall be comprised of two members of the Library Board of Trustees, including the Treasurer, the Head Librarian and two members of the five person Library Board of Trustees.  The Finance Committee’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, drafting a preliminary Budget or Budget and Appropriations for full Library Board of Trustees approval, drafting a Levy for full Library Board of Trustees approval, drafting a working budget for full Library Board of  Trustees approval, monitoring library investments and implementing the library’s investment policy.

 

Personnel Committee

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The Personnel Committee shall be comprised of two members of the Library Board of Trustees including the President and the Head Librarian.  The Personnel Committee’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, preparation of the annual review of the Head Librarian for discussion among the full Library Board of Trustees prior to the formal review, assisting the Head Librarian in the preparation of his or her annual statement of goals and objectives for the coming year and assuming a leadership role in the resolution of any personnel conflict which cannot be resolved by the Library Director.  The Head Librarian is responsible for the annual review of all other library employees.

 

MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY (CONT.)

 

Policy Committee

 

The Policy Committee shall be comprised of two members of the Library Board of Trustees and the Head Librarian.  The primary responsibility of the Policy Committee is to develop the Library Policies.  These policies shall include the Division of Responsibility Between the Library Board of Trustees and staff, a Library Materials Selection Policy and shall adhere to the “Library Bill of Rights” and the “Freedom to Read” statements of the American Library Association.  The committee shall determine the library regulations governing the use of the library and review sections of existing policy in a systematic fashion to insure that all policy is reviewed at an interval not to exceed three years.  As a result of such policy reviews, the Policy Committee will make recommendations regarding additions or changes to existing policy, as well as deleting policies which are no longer appropriate or of value.  The entire Library Policies

Manual must be approved by Library Board of Trustees vote and made readily available to the public.

 

Building/Grounds Committee

 

The Building/Grounds Committee shall be comprised of two members of the Library Board of Trustees and the Head Librarian.  The Building/Grounds committee’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, conducting an annual inspection of the library’s physical facility to identify areas which are in need of repair and making recommendations to the full Library Board of Trustees regarding any and all repairs which are deemed necessary either as a result of the annual inspection or throughout the year as the need arises.

 

Librarian Search Committee

 

When the position of Head Librarian falls vacant, the Library Board of Trustees shall immediately select an acting librarian for the interim and establish a Librarian Search Committee, which shall consist of the President and two members elected from the Library Board of Trustees.  Applications for the position of Library Director shall be filed at the library and available to all Library Board of Trustees members.  The Search Committee shall report the results of applications and interviews to the Library Board of Trustees.  Five votes shall be required for the Library Board of Trustees to hire a Library Director, after which the Search Committee is dissolved.

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Order of Business

 

The following Order of Business shall be followed at regular meetings:

Call to order

Roll call, recording both present and absent members

President’s report

Secretary’s report, approval of minutes as received or corrected

Correspondence, communications and public comments

Financial report, approval of bills paid

Library Director’s report

Committee reports, in order of their appearance in the Bylaws

Unfinished business

 

MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY (CONT.)

 

New business

Other

Adjournment

 

Parliamentary Procedure

 

Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised shall govern the parliamentary procedure of the Library Board of Trustees, unless otherwise specified in the Bylaws.

 

New Trustees

 

The Head Librarian shall meet with new Library Board of Trustees members to examine the property and review services and shall present to new Library Board of Trustees members a packet which includes Library Policies and other procedural material, a list of Library Board of Trustees members and committees, minutes and financial reports for the previous 12 months and other pertinent information.

 

Duties of the Head Librarian

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The Head Librarian shall administer the policies adopted by the Library Board of Trustees.  Among duties and responsibilities of the Head Librarian shall be that of hiring personnel, directing, supervising and disciplining of all staff members, monthly and annual reports as required by the Library Board of Trustees and recommending such policy and procedure as will promote the efficiency and service of the library.

 

Amendments

 

Amendments to these Bylaws, Library Policies or any other procedural document may be proposed at any regular meeting of the Library Board of Trustees and will become effective if and as adopted by a majority of those members present providing they represent a quorum.

 

Copyright and Copying

 

The library may copy for its own collection, material that has been lost or deteriorated only if such material is not available at a fair cost.  It will post prominently all required notices regarding the copying of any materials in the library.

 

Administrative Records

 

Administrative records of the library shall be kept in the library and shall be available to the general public upon request.  These records shall include the monthly and annual reports of the library, all financial reports, minutes of the public Library Board of Trustees meetings and actions and other such items as the Library Board of Trustees or Head Librarian shall file there. 

 

Staff personnel records are confidential and shall be kept in a secure place and only the Library Director or any person authorized by the Head Librarian shall have access to these records.

 

MORRISON AND MARY WILEY LIBRARY BYLAWS POLICY (CONT.)

 

Confidential records of the Library Board of Trustees, such as personnel records concerning the Head Librarian, shall be kept in the library and only members of the Library Board of Trustees shall have access to these records.

 

Circulation Records

 

Circulation records and other records identifying the names of library users with specific materials hereby are recognized as confidential in nature and access thereto is hereby restricted to library staff and those members of the public with a legitimate interest therein, as hereafter provided for.

 

All library staff and employees are hereby advised that such records shall not be made available to casual members of the public, the press or to any agency of State, Federal or

Local government, except pursuant to such process, order or subpoena, as may be authorized under the authority of and pursuant to Federal or State law relating to civil, criminal or administrative discover procedures or legislative investigative power.

 

Library staff shall observe the following procedures:  On receipt of any legal process, order or subpoena, the library staff member in charge will immediately consult with the Library Board of Trustees President and the Library Attorney to insure that (a) the document is in proper legal form and (b) there has been a proper showing of good cause for its issuance in a court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction.  Until the legality of such process, order or subpoena has been affirmatively shown to the satisfaction of the Library Attorney, the library will resist its issuance or enforcement until any such defects have been cured.