Section of School Librarians | Our Bylaws

ARTICLE I NAME

This Organization shall be called the New York Library Association/Section of School Librarians, hereinafter referred to in these Bylaws as the Section or NYLA/SSL.

ARTICLE II PURPOSE

The mission of the New York Library Association/Section of School Librarians is to lead school librarians in advancing the profession; to encourage, promote, and advocate the interests of school library programs, school librarians and school library systems; and to ensure that each student becomes an active reader, responsible information-seeker, and critical thinker.

ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP

Any member of NYLA interested in promoting school libraries and school librarians may become a member of this Section as a part of their membership in NYLA.

New York Library Association/Section of School Librarians dues are included in NYLA dues, as indicated on the NYLA membership application, and are payable annually.

Article IV Officers and Their Duties

The officers of NYLA/SSL shall be President, President-Elect, Vice President-Conferences, Vice President-Communications, Secretary, Treasurer, and Immediate Past President.

To be eligible for office, a person must be a NYLA personal member in good standing with a membership in NYLA/SSL. Such membership shall be continued during the term of office.

The terms of office shall be as follows:

• President - one year, automatically succeeds to office from office of President-Elect.

• President-Elect - one year, elected annually.

• Vice-President-Conferences - two years, elected odd numbered years.

• Vice-President-Communications - two years, elected even numbered years.

• Secretary - two years, elected even numbered years.

• Treasurer - two years, elected odd numbered years.

• Immediate Past President - one year, automatically succeeds to office from office of President.

Officers shall assume their duties immediately following the annual meeting of NYLA or on November 1, in the event NYLA does not hold an annual meeting.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of President, the President-Elect shall complete the unexpired portion of the President's term before automatically succeeding to the full year as President. Vacancies in other offices shall be filled by the Board, except for the offices of Immediate Past President and President-Elect, which shall remain vacant.

Emergency decisions requiring immediate action may be made by the President, the President-Elect, the Immediate Past-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer acting as a Committee. The Board shall be advised immediately of such decisions.

Officers shall perform the duties pertaining to their respective offices including the duties specified in these Bylaws, their job descriptions, and such other duties as may be approved by the Board.

Article V Board

The Board shall consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Vice President-Conferences, the Vice President-Communications, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Immediate Past President, the eight Regional Coordinators, the Newsletter Editor, the Legislative Chair, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Delegate, along with the liaisons from the New York State Education Department K-12 area and the Division of Library Development. The latter five members shall be non-voting members of the Board.

The Board shall have full authority to manage the affairs of the Section between business meetings and conferences of the Section.

Meetings of the Board shall be held at least once a year. Additional meetings shall be held during the year at the call of the President or at the request of a majority of the Board. The Board may conduct business by telephone conference call, as well as by mail or by electronic means. Action taken by telephone, mail, or by electronic means shall be made part of the minutes of the next regular meeting of the Board.

A majority of the voting members of the Board shall constitute its quorum.

The Section Board may submit proposals to the members for their consideration and vote in an electronic or mail referendum. A majority vote of the membership participating in the referendum shall be required for approval, provided that at least thirty members respond. Results of the referendum shall be entered into the minutes of the next meeting of the Board and the members notified in due course.

If an elected member of the Board is absent from two consecutive Board meetings without valid explanation, the Board member shall be advised by the President of this Bylaw provision, and an immediate reply shall be requested. The position may then be declared vacant by the Board.

Article VI Membership Meetings and Conferences

NYLA/SSL shall hold an annual business meeting at the time and place of the NYLA/SSL annual conference or at NYLA's annual conference. This meeting shall be open to all persons interested in the work of the Section, but voting shall be limited to NYLA/SSL members.

Special meetings may be called by the Board with at least thirty days prior notice to the members. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call, and no other business may be transacted at said

The Board may schedule a Conference of the Section to be held at such time and place as determined by the Board. Section business may be conducted at the Conference, provided previous notice has been

Thirty members in good standing shall constitute a quorum at NYLA/SSL’s business meetings.

Article VII Nominations and Elections of Officers and Regional Coordinators

A Nominating Committee shall be established no later than November 15. The Immediate Past President shall chair the Nominating Committee. The President-Elect shall also be a member of the Committee. The third member shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Board. The Nominating Committee shall prepare a slate with at least one nominee for each position to be filled that year. The Nominating Committee shall submit the slate to the Board by the winter Board meeting and publish that slate in the Section’s newsletter or by electronic or postal mail by March 15. The slate of nominations will also be announced to Section members and conference attendees at the annual SSL Spring Conference Membership meeting.

Nominees must be personal members of NYLA/SSL in good standing and must have signified acceptance of the nomination to the Chair of the Nominating Committee.

Additional nominations for officer positions may be submitted by petition signed by at least twenty-five members of the Section and filed with the Chair of the Nominating Committee by May 15. Petitions for the position of Regional Coordinator shall require ten signatures from members of that region.

SSL will follow all NYLA guidelines and dates for NYLA and Section elections. The SSL Nominations Chair will submit the slate, and any petitions received, to NYLA by May 15. All candidate materials are due to NYLA by May 15. June 10, candidate information appears in the June e-Bulletin. All NYLA and Section Ballots open on June 15. All NYLA and Section Ballots close on July 15. NYLA and Section election results are announced on July 22.

For purposes of nominating and electing the eight Regional Coordinators to the Board, the State shall be divided by the Board into eight Regions as follows: Region I-Long Island, Region II-New York City, Region III-Southeastern, Region IV-Capital District, Region V-Northern Counties, Region VI-Central New York, Region VII-Western Counties, and Region VIII-Southern Tier. Regional Coordinators on the Board shall serve a term of two years, with Coordinators from Regions I, III, V and VII elected in odd numbered years and Coordinators from Regions II, IV, VI, and VIII elected in even numbered years. Serving as a Regional Coordinator shall be limited to Section members who are members of that Region. Regional Coordinators may run for a second two-year term and serve for a total of four years. A Regional Coordinator may serve five years if the preceding Coordinator is unable to complete the second year of their two -year term.

Article VIII Liaisons

Liaisons are appointed by the President to represent NYLA/SSL and to act as a conduit of information between the organizations. These liaisons include, but are not limited to, the delegate to the New York State Council of Educational Associations (NYSCEA), liaisons to the Youth Services Section of NYLA (NYLA/YSS), the School Library System Association (SLSA), the NYLA Continuing Education Committee and an Academic Representative from a New York State Library School.

Only personal members of NYLA/SSL are eligible to serve as liaisons. They serve at the pleasure of the

Liaisons shall be invited to Board meetings, submit written reports to the President, preparing an article to be included in the Section’s newsletters as appropriate.

Article IX Committees

Standing and special committees may be established by the Board as needed. Duties of such committees shall be determined by the Board

Only personal members of NYLA/SSL are eligible for committee membership. New committee members are appointed by the Chair of the committee. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. The President-Elect shall be a member of the Nominating Committee. The Treasurer shall be a member of the Ways and Means Committee. The Finance Committee includes President-Elect, President, a Past-President, the Treasurer, and another member of the Board.

Committee chairs are appointed for two-year terms by the President with the approval of the Board. Vacancies may be filled by the President following consultation with the Board. The terms of one-half of the committee chairs shall expire each year, except as otherwise stipulated, i.e. committees shared with other organizations may follow their ByLaws.

Committee chairpersons shall submit written reports to the President and prepare an article to be included in the Section’s newsletters as appropriate.

Article X Publications

The official publication of the Section shall be a Newsletter and shall be issued at regular intervals on a schedule determined by the Board and distributed to all members of the Section.

The editor(s) of the Newsletter shall be appointed by the Board, shall be a non-voting member of the Board, and shall hold office at its pleasure.

The Section may issue other publications as the Board deems necessary and appropriate.

Article XI Regional Affiliation

NYLA/SSL may, upon receiving application, confer the status of Affiliate to any professional association that meets the criteria for affiliation as listed in section 3 of this article.

The purpose of affiliation is to provide channels for continuous communication or recommended action in such areas as legislation, intellectual freedom, job security, professional growth, program development, or professional relationships with other educational associations; to serve as a clearinghouse for library program information and publications; and to provide or direct opportunity for participation in the programs of the Section.

The organization seeking affiliation must (a) have purposes as stated in its bylaws that are compatible with the objectives of this Section; (b) have regular conferences or meetings; (c) have regular channels of communication with its membership such as a newsletter, telephone tree or the like; (d) have at least 10% of its membership including its president or delegate representative as personal members of NYLA/SSL.

(a) Composition. The Affiliate Assembly shall consist of local association presidents or their designated representatives and NYLA/SSL's Regional Coordinators. The SSL Affiliates Chair shall preside at meetings of the Assembly. (b) Meetings. The Affiliate Assembly may meet during the NYLA Annual Conference and/or NYLA/SSL's Conference to provide a channel for communication, to report concerns of affiliate organizations and their members, and for reporting NYLA/SSL's actions to the affiliates.

Responsibilities of affiliated groups include:

(a) sending a copy of their bylaws to the NYLA/SSL Secretary;

(b) sending their representatives to any Affiliate Assembly meetings;

(c) providing the NYLA/SSL Vice President-Communications with a copy of each new publication of the organization, and

(d) filing an annual report on forms provided by NYLA/SSL no later than June 1 to document the organization's continuing eligibility for affiliate status.

Organizations that do not comply with the above risk losing their affiliation with NYLA/SSL.

Article XII Finances

The fiscal year of NYLA/SSL shall coincide with that of NYLA.

The finances and financial records of NYLA/SSL shall be maintained by the Section Treasurer and NYLA.

NYLA/SSL financial records shall be audited as one of the sections included in all audits of NYLA’s records.

NYLA/SSL dues shall be levied and collected in accordance with NYLA Bylaws.

Article XIII Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern this Section in all cases in which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws, NYLA Bylaws, and any special rules of order this Section may adopt.

Article XIV Amendments

Bylaw amendments may be initiated by the Board or by petition of ten or more Section members. Bylaws may be amended by (a) a two-thirds vote of Section members present and voting at a membership meeting, provided that a copy of the proposed amendment(s) has been made available to Section members at least three weeks before the meeting at which the vote is to take place; or (b) by a two-thirds vote cast by Section members responding in a mail or electronic referendum, provided that at least thirty members participate in the referendum and that members have been given at least thirty days to return the ballots to the SSL secretary. After amendments to NYLA/SSL Bylaws have been approved by the members, the amendments shall be forwarded to NYLA.

Article XV Archivist

The president shall appoint an Archivist to regularly maintain the records of the organization.