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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTrustee Duties and Responsibilities r . l JEFFERSON COUNTY RURAL LIBRARY DISTRICT TRUSTEE' S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES RCW 27. 12 - provides the legal basis for public libraries in the State of Washington pnd defines duties and responsibilities. LIBRARY TRUSTEES are appointed by the County Commissioners. The term of Office is five years and a Trustee may serve only two consecutive terms. The regular meeting of the Board is the second Wednesday of each month at the Library. AS A LIBRARY TRUSTEE you make a commitment of your time. • You attend the regular monthly meeting and any special meetings necessary to conduct the business of the Library District. ' TRUSTEES develop criteria for the position of Library Director and employ the Director who serves under a contract with the Library District. TRUSTEES working with the Library Director develop and adopt the annual operating budget. The Jefferson County Rural Library District is a junior taxing district and funds are received from a tax levied on property in the District. The budget amount is determined by Trustees and Director and the levy rate is set by the County Assessor. TRUSTEES develop and adopt Board Policies which govern the operation of the Library. TRUSTEES develop and adopt a personnel policy manual which deals with employees and is implemented under the Library Director. TRUSTEES are responsible for providing and maintaining a Library facility and assuring that the diverse interests and needs of the community in library services are being met. TRUSTEES review and approve payment of the monthly vouchers and keep informed on receipts, expenditures and budget balance. Page 1 of 2 49 FROM:OMNIFAX To: 2063859382 FEB 16, 1993 5:33PM p856 P.03 JEFFERSON COUNTY RURAL LIBRARY DISTRICT (Trustee' s Duties and Responsibilities, cont. ) AS A TRUSTEE you accept the responsibility of making attendance at meetings a priority and of serving as Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary of the Board so that each Trustee shares these responsibilities during a term of office. AS A TRUSTEE you become part of a Library community and have membership in various library organizations. AS A TRUSTEE you are urged to attend conventions, annual meetings, conferences and workshops sponsored by these organizations. Attendance provides the opportunity to meet Trustees from other areas, to share ideas and discuss needs. AS A TRUSTEE you will follow the Code of Ethics for trustees, you will support the Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Policies of the American Library Association and the Washington Library Association. You will familiarize yourself with the Public Library Trustees Handbook as well as the Jefferson County Library Operations Manual and Personnel Policy handbook. BEING A TRUSTEE gives one the privilege of meaningful and rewarding public service to the community. Page 2 of 2 50 i M Leslie Locke From: Dan Tlternees Sent: Tuesday,February 06,2001 10:21 AM To: Leslie Locke Subject: FYI:Library Trustee Appointments From: Bill Mitch. SMTP:BMITCHELL@JCL.LB.WA.UB) sera: Tuesday,F�2001 10:23:26 AM To: dtisameesr)co. wa.us Auto �forwerded by Libr as�•Appointments Hello,a of the email sent to by Mr.Jack Roberts was faof the tome Larva DePataney.ience I have shared with theth members of the Libraar�yd Patience Rogge has provided me with the enclosed a that she wrote In that explains fully the selection process. I believe this more than answers any concerns about the impartiality of the Board's decisions regarding new appointees. Thank-you to the Board of R Commissioners for their continued support of the Jefferson Library District. Building an Effective Board Through Recruiting and InteMewing Recruiting the right people is the key to building an effective library Board of Trustees. If the current members of the Board do not take an active role in selecting new members and leave the task entirely in the hands of the appointing officials of their city,county,or district,they era derelict in their duty to the library and the taxpayers it serves. Even the most well-meanappointing officials often have not a clue what the duties and roeponeTbfl of a library trustee entail. All too often trustee vacancies are filled by pure chance rather than by people who are dedicated to intellectual freedom and have the skills and experience needed to r face th challenges of the Information Age. process adopted by the Jefferson Coum right yeRurallUUbraarry District a trd of Trustees in 1996,and followed since then with excellent results. Drawinconferences,the Jefferson Cou information and nty truss tees a ered at plan to help the County Commissioners fill the next vacancies that occurred. The first step was to make absolutely sure that It was legal,and then we proceeded. We approached the Chairman of the Board of Cou Commissioners with the Idea that we could help them streamline the by takingover the steps of advertising the vacancies, devil anndcess distributing application forms,supplying the potential candidates with lob descriptions and background materials,and doing the preliminary screening. We would then submit a short list of qualified applicants, thus saving them the time they usually spent Interviewing a large number of candidates. Of course, they have the statutory authority to appoint trustees,but we would make their task easier. The Chairmen agreed to the plan,which we then outlined in a letter so that it was made an official part of the record. A short time later,one trustee retired and another resigned within the same month. We were ready to activate the plan. We advertised the vacancies through our library newsletter,signs on the circulation desk and in the bookmobile,a letter to the editor and paid advertisements our local newspaper,as well as announcements in community columns.To repare the necessary paperwork—job descriptions,application forms. library packets, standardized set of interview 4ueetk ns-•J we'used the materials garnered at conferences,and adapted them to local needs. The Board decided to follow a uniform process in order to make the interviews as fair and impartial as possible. Each potential applicant receives a packet containing back round material on the library, including the Materials Selection Policy,Intellectual Freedom statement,the Trustees'code of Ethics,and our Internet policy,as well as the history,current budget narrative,and demographics. This packet Is attached to the application form,so that all applicants have the same opportunity to know as much as possible about the library before the rl terviews. We Interview each person who submits an application before the deadline(usually about three weeks after the vacancy is advertised) for about 45 ntinutes,and then discuss the interview among ourselves for 15 minutes. We score each candidate's answers to a standard set of 12 questions on a one-to-five scale,and submit the name or names of the highest scorer(s)to the Commissioners. We have followed this procedure tour times in the last three years, Our board is stronger,more active In spreading the library message,and more committed to providing the best service to our district. Each of us has a dear understanding of the role of the trustee in relation to the role of the director. At first,we tread very carefully so not to infringe on the Commissioners'prerogatives. We submitted multiple names that we felt were equally good prospects and let the Commissioners make the final selection, In 1999,the Chairman informed us that in the future,the Commissioners would prefer we recommend only one person,since It was obvious to them that we were better qualified than they to select library trustees! Bill Mitchell Library Director Jefferson County Rural Library District P.O.Box 990, 820 Cedar Ave. Port Hadiock,WA 98339 voice:360-385-8544 fax: 360-385-7921 email:bmitchell®)d.lib.wa.us • JEFFERSON COUNTY RURAL LIBRARY DISTRICT P.O. BOX 990.620 CEDAR AVENUE•PORT HADLOCK,WA 98339•(206)39S654i/732.4004•FAX 385-7921, May 14, 1996 [) I• 1 +tf 1 ,Jl1( i Hon. Richard Wojt, chair MAY 151996 Jefferson County Board of Commissioners P.O. Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 JEFFERSON COUNT/ BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Dear Richard, Thank you for meeting with me last week to discuss the Jefferson County Rural Library District Board of Trustees, concerns about recruiting new members for the Board. As I outlined to you, the Board would like to initiate the following procedure to fill vacancies when they occur: �.� 1. The Library District will seek new Board members to replace those retiring or resigning by placing newspaper advertisements, news releases, and notices in the library 2. The Board will provide information on the duties of library trustees and a job description to people who indicate interest, so that applicants would be fully informed of the commitment of time and effort involved 3. The Board will interview people who express a serious interest in serving as trustees and select those it feels are most Qualified 4. The Board will submit a list of candidates, all of whom it considers equally qualified to serve, to the County Commissioners 5. The Commissioners will interview, select, and notify the candidate(s) they choose from the short list submitted by the Board. This procedure is based on one used successfully by the Carroll County, MD Library. It seems to us to be a very fair, efficient, and time-effective method of recruiting and selecting the best people for the position of public library trustee. Thank you for your continuing support of the Jefferson County Rural Library District. Sincerely, Patience G. Rogge, chair Jefferson County Rural Library District Board of Trustees