Governance in Context

Modes of Governing

As you watched in the video, to have an effective board, it is important to have a board with people who balance each other’s thinking. If the board is unbalanced, the board may find itself in an unpleasant or unimpactful situation. For example, if you have a team mostly made up of fiduciary thinkers, you may have a balanced budget, but the programming being offered at the library may not be having the anticipated impact in the community.   

An effective board has a strong and productive relationship between the Trustees and the Library Director. To help build this relationship, it is important to have a clear understanding of the differences between the role of the board (governance) and the role of the library director (operational management). 

Want to learn if you are a strategic, fiduciary, or generative thinker, try the activity out below.

Practicing 3 Modes of Governance

This activity has been generously given by Vea Coronda at Crown and Calling. Please do not repost this activity without acknowledgement to Vea Coronda and Crown and Calling. If you have any questions, please email info@crownandcalling.com.

Part 1: Individual Activity

Time: 10 minutes

Chose ONE of the following scenarios that is currently being (or should be) discussed within your board:

1. Proposed budget for the upcoming year.
2. Reviewing the 5-year goals of the organization.
3. A new bylaw proposed for the upcoming AGM.
4. Creating a new policy around data privacy.
5. Voting on new terms of reference for the finance committee.
6. Alternative option – Think of a recent motion that you needed to vote on.

Once you selected a scenario, list at least ONE question you need to ask (or information that you need to know) under each mode of governance:

Scenario:

Type of Governance	Your Response
FIDUCIARY – legal, financial, risk oversight and evaluating operational performance
STRATEGIC – making sure the organization is set up for success, setting up the direction and measures of success, getting ED and expert advice
GENERATIVE – cognitive process of what you and the governance team pay attention to, challenging the status quo and exposing systemic issues

Part 2: Small Group Activity

Time: 10 minutes

Take 3 minutes to share your individual activity with your group:

• Share the reason why you think the scenario you chose is important to your organization right now.
• Present the questions you asked under the 3 modes of governance.

The group will have 2 minutes to give feedback and suggest additional questions to think about for your chosen scenario.

Make sure everyone in the group gets a turn to present their scenario and receive feedback. Adjust the time limit for each group member accordingly.

If you would like to get this activity in a printable document and some additional discussion questions, click the button below.

Board and Library Relationship

The relationship between the Library Director and the Library Board is important for the effective running of the library. A successful library has a strong and positive working relationship between the Library Director and the Library Board.

Successful boards grant appropriate authority and power to the Library Director and provide support for the execution and management of the organization’s:

• Mandate (the provision of public library service in accordance with the Library Act and other aspects of the legislative framework that public libraries operate in)
• Strategic direction (what needs to be accomplished to meet the board’s vision, mission, values, direction, and desired outcomes)
• Policies (the guidelines for the work of the public library)

Successful boards also recognize the role of the Library Director in effective governance. The following are found in highly functional Library Board–Library Director relationships:

• As part of the governance team, the Library Director has an active role in board work and shared leadership with the Board Chair
• The Library Director provides the board with professional advisement and accurate reporting. They share with the Board Chair the responsibility for board orientation
• The Library Director provides the board with the information necessary for governance, strategic direction, oversight, and assessment.

Below are a few examples of the board’s (governance) and the Library Director’s (management) responsibilities.

Governance	Management
Establishing policies for managing risk and crisis (for example, who is responsible for communications, facility closures, staffing decisions, and more should there be a crisis such as a pandemic, forest fire, or flood)	Managing/troubleshooting operations and staff based on what is known and what resources are available at the moment; representing the library on a municipal crisis-management task force (e.g., forest fires, opioid crisis, anti-poverty)
Establishing a strategic direction and assessment criteria for developing community partnerships so that staff can proceed with authority and support	Developing and working with a partnership agreement
Ensuring there are protocols for addressing complaints	Mediating a patron or staff situation
Reviewing and assessing regular reports that compare money spent to budget, results achieved to strategic targets, and compliance with financial controls and spending policies	Managing the budget in accordance with policy, legislation, and regulations to execute the strategic direction and achieve desired outcomes.

Please keep in mind that if a board or individual trustees become involved in the operational management of the library, this can have the potential to undermine role clarity and lines of authority, which can result in a dysfunctional public library.

Role Clarity Activity

It is important for all trustees to have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what when it comes to managing the library. Depending on the library type and community, some board-trustee and Library Director responsibilities may overlap. As a board, work through the following prompts to discuss who is responsible for it. If there is an overlap in responsibilities, discuss in more detail which activities will be handled by the board and which will be handled by the Library Director.  

This activity lists typical tasks that a library and library board undertake in a RACI matrix. RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. As a board, review each task and determine who is responsible for completing it, who is held accountable for completing it, who is consulted on a task, and who is informed about the task. 

The goal of this activity is to promote discussion about running the library and for everyone to have a clear understanding of their roles. 

There are a handful of blank lines at the bottom of the chart, so you can add additional tasks that pertain to your board. 

Anyone from the board can facilitate this activity, and it is recommended that you complete it when new trustees join.