Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees Meetings are conducted in accordance with the NYS Open Meetings Law. Patrons are welcome to attend our monthly meetings. Patrons with specific comments, questions or concerns should contact the library director at least one week before a meeting to be added to the agenda. Library Director, Seth Jacobus can be contacted at (607) 757-2415, via e-mail at en.seth@4cls.org, fax at (607) 757-2491, or postal mail at 1001 Park St., Endicott, NY 13760.

The Library is seeking applicants for a seat on the Board of Trustees. Trustees are responsible for securing funding, overseeing expenditures, creating budgets, planning and evaluating services, and promoting the library. Residency within the Town of Union is required for this volunteer position.

Application forms can be downloaded at gfjlibrary.org/boardapp.pdf and should be returned to Library Director, Seth Jacobus at en.seth@4cls.org or using the library’s address at the top of this page. For further information, a copy of the “Handbook for Library Trustees in New York State” is available at nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/trustees/handbook/handbook.pdf.

Mission Statement
The George F. Johnson Memorial Library exists to provide materials in varied formats, information from technological and traditional sources, and services from trained and qualified employees for library users of all ages for their recreational, educational, and lifelong learning needs. We promote policies, practices, and resources that will help people of all races, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses to have meaningful opportunities to learn and thrive and to ensure that the library is an environment where everyone is valued and respected. We vow to uphold the rights of all people of all ages under the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the guidelines of the library Bill of Rights adopted by the American Library Association Council of January 23, 1980.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The George F. Johnson Memorial Library Board of Trustees recognizes and appreciates the value of the diversity of our staff and patrons. The individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, dynamic creativity, and unique talents of our employees and patrons greatly enrich our library community. We embrace differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity/expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our community unique.

Preamble
The Board of Trustees (hereinafter designated as the "Board") of The George F. Johnson Memorial Library, a corporation created under a charter granted under Section 253 of the New York State Education Law by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, shall be governed by the laws of New York State, the regulations of the Commissioner of Education and by the following by-laws.

Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the library shall be the 12 months beginning on June 1st and ending on May 31st.

Board of Trustees

1. The library shall be governed by a Board of Trustees. The Board shall consist of seven members appointed for terms of five years each. No members may serve more than 3 consecutive terms plus the completion of any unexpired term.
2. Eligibility for the Board is limited to adults residing in the Town of Union.
3. Absence from three consecutive meetings or more than six nonconsecutive meetings within one calendar year shall constitute automatic dismissal from the Board unless the Board defers this dismissal by majority vote. The President shall inform the absent Board Member in writing that he/she is no longer on the Board. If dismissal is deferred by Board action the President shall inform the absent Board Member in writing of the conditions of this deferral.
4. In the event of a vacancy through expiration of a term, the Board will advertise for, interview and recommend suitable candidates to the Village of Endicott Municipal Board and the Town of Union Board. Appointments will be made by the Village of Endicott Municipal Board.
5. Any vacancy of an unexpired term shall be filled by special election by the remaining members of the Board for the remainder of the term of that particular position, except the presidency which will be assumed by the Vice President.
6. Each Trustee has one vote, irrespective of office held.
7. A Trustee must be present at a meeting to have his/her vote counted.
8. All actions of the Board shall be of the Board as a unit. No Board member shall act on behalf of the Board, on any matter, without prior approval of the Board. No Board member by virtue of his/her office shall exercise any administrative responsibility with respect to the library nor, as an individual, command the services of any library employee.

Officers

1. The officers of the Board shall be the President, Vice-President and Secretary, elected annually by the Board at the June meeting. Typically, the offices of President, Vice-President and Secretary are filled on a rotation based on seniority. However, nominations from the floor will be accepted. These officers shall serve for a period of one year or until their successors have been duly elected.
2. The duties of such officers shall be as follows:
   1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board, authorize calls for any special meetings, appoint all committees, execute all documents authorized by the Board, serve as an ex-officio voting member of all committees, and generally perform all duties associated with that office. The President shall notify the appointing body of any vacancies on the library board.
   2. The Vice-President shall preside over meetings in the absence of the President. The Vice-President shall act as a timekeeper to bring to a reasonable measure efficient use of meeting time. It shall be the goal to address the entire agenda at each meeting within a reasonable time frame, ideally not to exceed ninety minutes.
   3. The Secretary or his/her designee shall keep a true and accurate record of all meetings of the Board, shall issue notice of all regular and special meetings, and shall perform such other duties as are generally associated with that office.

Committees

1. Committees for specific purposes may be appointed by the President. Such committees shall serve until the completion of the work for which they were appointed.
2. All committees shall make a progress report to the Board at each of its meetings.
3. No committee will have other than advisory powers.

Meetings

1. Meetings shall be held monthly at 6:00 PM at the library, the date to be advertised in advance. No meeting will be scheduled in August unless agenda items warrant. Regular meetings may be held at another time and place if the board determines that a change in time and/or place is necessary.
2. A special meeting of the Board may be called at any time by the President or upon the request of two Board members for a specific purpose. Trustees are to be notified at least 24 hours in advance of a special meeting. No business may be transacted at such special meeting except the stated business.
3. The Annual Meeting shall be held in June of each calendar year. The business transacted at this meeting shall include the election of new officers.
4. The operating and financial reports for the previous calendar year shall be presented at the regular meeting in February so as to coincide with the preparation of the State Report.
5. The preliminary budget for the subsequent fiscal year shall be presented at the regular meeting in February.
6. The final budget for the subsequent calendar year shall be presented for approval at the regular meeting in April.
7. A simple majority of the entire Board shall constitute a quorum for the conducting of all business. If a quorum is not present at a regular meeting, the attending members may set a date for another meeting to be held within one week, and the presiding officer shall notify the absent members of this specially called meeting.
8. Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the New York State Open Meetings Law.
9. The order of business for regular meetings shall include, but not be limited to, the following items which shall be covered in the sequence shown unless circumstances make an altered order more efficient:
   1. Call to order
   2. Reception of Visitors
   3. Disposition of minutes of previous regular meeting and any intervening special meetings
   4. Approval of manifest of bills
   5. Financial report
   6. Old or unfinished business
   7. New business
   8. Any other items or committee reports
   9. Adjournment

Library Director

1. The Library Director serves as chief executive of the Library, and as such, his or her responsibility is the administration of the Library under the general policies approved by the Library Board of Trustees. Among the duties and responsibilities shall be the directing and supervising of all staff members in the performance of their duties, the submission to the Board of monthly and annual reports and a recommendation to the Board of such policies and procedures as, in the opinion of the Library Director, will promote the efficiency of the Library in its service to the library users.
2. The Library Director shall attend all meetings of the Board and has the right to speak on all subjects under discussion, but has not the right to vote.
3. The Library Director shall be held responsible for the care of the library building, equipment, and personnel and for the operation of the Library under the financial conditions as set forth in the annual budget adopted by the Library Board.
4. The Library Director shall issue notices of upcoming regular meetings at least one week prior to the next scheduled meeting. The notice packet shall consist of an agenda from the Library Director of the upcoming meeting, the date and time of the next scheduled meeting and the minutes of the preceding month’s meeting in addition to any other information the director may deem necessary.

Amendments

1. Amendments to these by-Laws may be proposed at any regular meeting and shall be voted upon at the next regular meeting. Written notice of the proposed amendment or amendments shall be sent to all absent members at least ten days prior to the voting session. A simple majority of the Board shall be sufficient for adoption of an amendment.
2. Any rule or resolution of the Board, whether contained in these by-Laws or otherwise, may be suspended temporarily in connection with business at hand, but such suspension, to be valid, may be taken only at a meeting at which two-thirds of the members of the Board shall be present and two-thirds of those present shall so approve.

Approved by George F. Johnson Memorial Library Board of Trustees, dated May 19, 2016
Amended: 11/18/21, 9/7/22, 6/29/23

You can also view this document as a pdf.

GEORGE F. JOHNSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY TRUSTEE TRAINING POLICY

Statement of Purpose 

The purpose of the Trustee Education Policy is to comply with New York State Education Law Section 260-D, which requires members of library boards of trustees, beginning January 1, 2023, to complete a minimum of two hours of trustee education annually from a provider approved by the Commissioner of Education that addresses the financial oversight, accountability, fiduciary responsibilities and the general powers and duties of library trustees. Each member of the George F. Johnson Memorial Library Board of Trustees must demonstrate compliance with this policy by filing evidence with the Board President annually. Each year, Trustees are required to complete two hours of continuing education during their term on the Library Board. According to Section 260-D, each Trustee shall demonstrate compliance with the requirements by filing, with the President of the Board of Trustees, evidence of completion of Trustee Education from an approved provider. Such evidence shall include one of the following:

1. certificates of completion issued by one or more approved providers; or 
2. a signed self-assurance of completion (included at the end of this policy). 
   1. Such assurance shall identify the approved trustee education providers, a description of the format and content of the completed instruction activities, the date and time such member began and completed each instruction activity and an explanation of why a certificate of completion was not available from such approved providers. 

Evidence of completion shall be submitted to the Board President by December 31 of each year. 

The Library Director will maintain a record of trustee education activities. Should a Trustee fail to submit evidence of completion by the above date, the Trustee will be suspended from duty until evidence of completion is filed. Should a Trustee in suspension fail to provide evidence of completion within 90 days, they will be assumed to have resigned from the board. Compliance will be tracked through the Library’s Annual Report to the State.

Approved Providers 

At the state level, trustee education providers and activities (topics and formats) are approved by the New York State Library acting on behalf of the Commissioner of Education. In addition to pre-approving public library systems as trustee education providers, the State Library has delegated authority to public library systems to approve additional trustee education providers and activities (topics and formats) for their member libraries.

Pre-approved providers:

• New York State Library/Division of Library Development
• Public Library Systems
• WebJunction
• New York Library Association (including the Library Trustees Section and other Sections/Roundtables)
• Reference and Research Library Resources Councils
• Empire State Library Network (formerly New York 3Rs Association)
• PULISDO (Public Library System Directors Organization)
• ALA (American Library Association) including United for Libraries and other Divisions

Allowable Formats:

Trustee education may be delivered online or in person. The format of this education may include any of the following:

• Lectures
• Workshops
• Webinars
• Online courses
• State or national library association conferences

Reimbursement of Continuing Education

Modest and reasonable costs incurred by a Trustee in complying with the trustee education requirements may be reimbursed. All continuing education requesting reimbursement over $100.00 must be pre-authorized by the Board President or Vice President. 

Adopted: 9/20/23

Reviewed:

Revised:

You can also view this document and the accompanying form as a pdf.