| Other sections in Building a Stronger Library Board: – Role of the Board – Governance in Context – Responsibilities of the Trustees |
Trustees
Typically Trustees are local community members who want to give back to their community through volunteering their time on their local public library board. These board members typically have a level of knowledge about libraries and how they operate and/or general governance knowledge from sitting on other boards.
Every person on the Library Board plays a role. Some roles are in addition to everyone’s role as a Trustee and are elected by the board members. Typical board roles include the following:
Chair
The Chair of the Board is a Trustee elected by fellow Trustees to manage the board. The Chair takes on the responsibilities of setting the agenda for board meetings, facilitating board meetings, and ensuring the board is kept up-to-date.
Some responsibilities may include recruiting new trustees, serving as a spokesperson for the board and leading the performance evaluation of the Library Director.
Secretary
The Secretary of the board is one role that is not typically elected by the board. The Library Director tends to hold this role for the board as part of their involvement in board meetings.
Treasurer
The Treasurer is elected by fellow Trustees and manages the board’s financials. This includes ensuring financial reports are kept up-to-date with the Library Director and managing the budget.
Elected Officials
When elected officials sit on the public library board, they are there as full members of the board with the same fiduciary responsibility, duty of care, and commitment to effective governance as the other trustees. When these elected officials are in their local government meetings they behave there with the fiduciary responsibility and duty of care expected from the community they serve.
Some municipal library boards will have elected officials from government funders as Trustees representing the municipality or regional district. Public Library Association (PLA) boards are not required to have local government representation on their boards. As public library trustees, these elected officials are valuable board members. They bring to the library board an understanding of how local government works and the priorities of local government. They can take back to the local government their confidence in the effective governance of the public library.
While this dual role may appear complex, the relationship building and increased understanding of the value of the public library and the work and priorities of local government can bring about a strong and healthy relationship between local government and the public library that benefits the community that both serve.
Library Director
The Library Director is a direct employee of the Library Board who reports to the board and is responsible for executing and managing the library’s operations.
They are responsible for the following:
- Acts as secretary and expert advisor to the board
- Executes the strategic direction of the public library board and provides the board with accurate reports, including service and program assessments, budget forecasts and updates
- Identifies and presents emerging issues and trends
- Manages the day-to-day operations of the public library, including the staff, budget, programs, collections, infrastructure and facilities, communications and marketing, and partnerships