As a Trustee, they have four main responsibilities and they are:
- Become familiar with the BC Library Act
- Build a strong governance team
- Fulfill a fiduciary responsibility
- Pursue a duty of care
| Other sections in Building a Strong Library Board: – Role of the Board – Key Roles on a Board Board of Trustees – Governance in Context |
Become Familiar With the BC Library Act
The BC Library Act aims to:
- Encourage the extension and use of public library service throughout British Columbia
- Enable the delivery of public library service in British Columbia
- Provide for the establishment and operation of municipal libraries, regional library districts, and library federations
- Allow existing public library associations and integrated public library systems to continue to operate
- Support improvements in public library service
It is strongly recommended that each Trustee becomes familiar with the BC Library Act to help make informed decisions regarding their local library.
Build a Strong Governance Team
The term “governance team” refers to the board and the Library Director working together with their distinct roles and responsibilities to provide the strategic, fiduciary, and visionary leadership that the public library needs and the community deserves.
A strong governance team will propel the library forward when making important decisions, and working towards overarching goals of the library.
The board’s authority is held by the board as a whole and not the individual trustees. The board’s authority is normally conveyed through the board chair unless it has been formally delegated. The board chair and the library director, working together, speak on behalf of the library.
Fulfilling Your Fiduciary Responsibility
It is expected that each trustee performs their board duties with the highest level of integrity and in the best interest of the public library.
Pursuing Duty of Care
As a trustee, you are expected to perform your board duties with utmost care and thoroughness. Your board work needs to be informed and accurate to the level that any reasonable person would expect, which includes being an engaged Trustee.
An engaged Trustee leads to creating and sustaining an engaged library board. This can be accomplished by:
- Arriving to meetings on time, informed, and ready to contribute
- Asking open questions and participating in productive discussions that reflect duty of care of fiduciary responsibility
- Being informed of public library issues and demonstrating public library values (importance of a Code of Conduct) and what these mean for the community, such as reconciliation, decolonization, Indigenization, equitable access, diversity, inclusion, privacy, and intellectual freedom
- Supporting your Board Chair and Library Director
- Being available for library and community events
- Championing the library at every opportunity
To support your Trustee’s engagement, an engaged board has:
- A board learning and development plan that includes board orientation and might also include local community presentations and governance workshops. See Wise Practices: Trustee Orientation Checklist
- A succession plan for board and Library Director recruitment and retention
- Relevant and up-to-date policies
- A meaningful, focused, and up-to-date strategic plan and assessment tools
- Expectations and support for all Trustees to build relationships with local municipal, regional, and First Nation governments to champion the library and to advocate for secure funding and sustainable library development