Purpose of Board of Trustees

  • To manage the public library, make by-laws, elect officers, establish a library policy and receive, control and manage property which shall come into the hands of the municipality by gift, purchase, devise or bequest for the use and benefit of the library. The Board may appoint a Director for the efficient administration and conduct of the library. (22 V.S.A. Subchapter 143a, as quoted in A Manual for Vermont Library Trustees, Department of Libraries, Montpelier, Vermont, December 2007.)

Membership Appointments & Elections

  • Appointment to the Board of Trustees is by the voters of Reading at their annual Town Meeting.

Term of Office

  • The Term of Office for the Officers shall be one year. Officers may be reelected.

Officers—Election, Duties

  • Officers of the Board are Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary.
  • Officers shall be elected at the first meeting of Library’s new fiscal year, which begins July 1st. Vacant positions can be filled at any regular meeting of the Board.

Duties of Officers and Librarian

The Chairperson’s duties include

  • Creating (with input from Board members & Librarian) agendas for upcoming meetings; presiding at meetings; directing the Secretary to call special meetings; also, taking the initiative when business requires attention between meetings.

The Treasurer’s duties include

  • Managing the Library’s accounts; paying bills approved by the Board; creating (with input from Librarian) the yearly budget, then submitting the proposed budget to the Board for approval; keeping track (using information provided by Town Clerk & Librarian) of the budget via spreadsheet that will be passed out at monthly Board meetings; obtaining from the Town Clerk a monthly statement showing expenditures and remaining budget dollars; reconciling our in-house monthly recap with the Town Clerk’s statement. The Town Clerk and the Treasurer will be responsible for the mailing of checks to pay bills.

The Secretary’s duties include

  • Writing and mailing all Library correspondence; taking Minutes at all meetings. Suggested changes to the prior month’s Minutes should be put forth and decided on at the following meeting. Approved Minutes will be kept on file at the Library.

The Librarian’s duties include

  • Turning bills over to Town Clerk for payment from Town budget; turning bills over to Treasurer for payment from Library’s funds; meeting with Treasurer during the month to clarify expenditures; providing the Board with monthly projections of expenditures above and beyond normal operating costs; reporting any expenditures from the prior month’s projections that were unaccounted for or were exceedingly higher than anticipated; writing and submitting (to media outlets) event publicity; writing monthly articles for the Informer.

Meetings—Frequency, Dates, Times, Location, Special Meetings

  • The Trustees shall meet monthly at a fixed time and date, or exceptionally, at the Chairperson’s discretion.

Quorum

  • Three members of the five-member Board shall constitute a Quorum for voting purposes at meetings.

General Agenda for Meetings

  • Agendas shall contain, at a minimum, the following items: Call to Order, Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, Librarian’s Report, Unfinished (Old) Business, New Business, and Adjournment. Other agenda items such as Secretary’s Report, Committee Reports, and Public Comments may be added to the agenda as necessary.

Procedures for Conducting Business, Decision-Making

  • Meetings will be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order, and any uncertainties as to how to proceed will be settled in agreement with that text.
  • A majority vote of Board members shall be necessary for the adoption of any Resolution or Order, including the appointment of a new Board member during the fiscal year.
  • No proxy voting is allowed at Board meetings. On an exception basis the Board may permit attendance at a meeting via speaker-phone; the speaker-phone attendee will count towards a quorum and will have the privilege of voting.
  • In order to comply with Vermont’s Open Meeting Law, Board members will refrain from deliberations during the month concerning library matters that will be voted on at meetings; information-gathering discussions, however, are allowed.

Method of Amending By-laws

  • These By-Laws were adopted at a Regular Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees on March 18, 2008. They may be amended at any regular meeting by a majority vote, provided that specific notice of the proposed Amendment change shall have been provided in writing at a previous regular meeting at which there is a quorum present.

By-Laws Adoption & Amendment Chronology

  • Library by-laws were adopted January 5, 1926; revised September 20, 1976; revised March 5, 1979; revised July 11, 2002; and revised on the 18th day of March, 2008, in conformance with Article 10 of the by-laws, by Trustees Sarwar Kashmeri (Chairman), Kate O’Neill (Secretary), Tom Stout (Treasurer), Libbet Downs, and Amy Harkins.
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