Library Board Bylaws
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BY-LAWS
These by-laws have been established in accordance with Chapter 75 of the Illinois
Compiled Statutes as a guide for members of the Fairview Heights Public Library Board
of Trustees in conducting the Library’s business.
ARTICLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1
The library shall be known as the Fairview Heights Public Library (hereafter referred to
as the “Library”).
SECTION 2
These by-laws specify the duties of the officers of the Board of Library Trustees
(hereinafter known as “The Board”) and describe procedures by which meetings of the
Board are conducted. They also prescribe methods by which the business of the Board
is to be carried on, describe the authority and duties of the Library Director, and provide
other general rules.
SECTION 3
The term of each member of the Board shall commence on the first day of the term to
which he or she is appointed and continue to the first day of the term of his or her
successor, unless state law shall otherwise provide.
SECTION 4
Board offices shall be located at 10017 Bunkum Road, Fairview Heights, IL 62208-1703
SECTION 5
The mission of the Fairview Heights Public Library is to offer our citizens an opportunity
to learn, enjoy and experience the world through a wide variety of materials, programs
and services.
ARTICLE II TRUSTEES
SECTION 1
The responsibility of management of the Library and its services is vested
in the Board of Trustees, which shall be constituted and hold authority as
specified in the Illinois Compiled Statutes 75 ILCS 5/4.
SECTION 2
The Board shall be composed of (9) nine members appointed by the Mayor
of the City of Fairview Heights. Trustees must be at least 18 years of age
and reside within the city limits of Fairview Heights.
SECTION 3
Each member shall be appointed for a term of three years, with three
members appointed each year.
SECTION 4
The Board will hire a qualified Library Director who will be responsible for
the day-to-day operations of the Library.
SECTION 5
Trustees who resign their appointments prior to the end of their term or
decide not to accept reappointment shall provide written notice, at least
one month in advance, to the Librarian and/or Board President.
ARTICLE III TRUSTEE ETHICS
SECTION 1
Trustees may not solicit or accept a gift that appears to be offered because of his or her
official position. Trustees shall not act or vote on any contract, work, or business of the
Library upon which the Trustees has a beneficial interest, either directly or indirectly.
The Trustee must excuse himself or herself from any discussion or voting on that
interest.
SECTION 2
Trustees shall adhere to the Fairview Heights Public Library Ethics
Statement for Public Library Trustees. (Addendum)
SECTION 3
Annually, Trustees must file a “statement of Economic Interest” as required
by the Illinois Government Ethics Act. Each Trustee is responsible for the
timely filing of such statement with the St. Clair County Clerk’s office.
ARTICLE IV OFFICERS AND DUTIES
SECTION 1
The officers of the Board shall be the President, Vice President, Secretary, and
Treasurer.
SECTION 2
The Board shall elect its officers from among its members at the regular August meeting
of each year. Officers shall serve for a term of one year. If a vacancy occurs in any
office, that vacancy shall be filled for the balance of the term by Board appointment.
SECTION 3
The President shall supervise the affairs of the Board and preside at all meetings. The
President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. He or she may approve the
regular bills list for months in which no meeting is scheduled.
SECTION 4
The Vice President shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President. He or she
may approve the regular bills list for months in which no meeting is scheduled.
SECTION 5
The Secretary shall prepare a written record and permanent minutes of the Board’s
proceedings. If a member is absent or abstaining from the vote, the record will so
indicate. The Secretary shall be the custodian of all Board records. He or she shall file
the minutes, keep records of all official Board actions; and provide for Board
correspondence.
SECTION 6
The Treasurer shall review all payment vouchers drawn from the Board’s funds. Two
signatures are required on checks drawn on Board funds over $1000.00 as stated in the
policy Manual of the Fairview Heights Public Library under the Routine Banking
Procedure. The Library Director and all officers listed on the checking account signature
card are authorized to sign checks drawn on Board funds.
SECTION 7
The Board’s fiscal year shall be May 1 through April 30
ARTICLE V MEETINGS
SECTION 1
Regular meetings shall be held on the third Thursday of each month (except December
and July) at 7 p.m. in the Library. If the third Thursday falls on a holiday, the regular
meeting will be held on the third Wednesday of that month, or at such other time as the
Board may designate.
SECTION 2
Each member is expected to attend al meetings. If not able to attend, it is requested you
inform the Library Director prior to the meeting. ILCS 75 5/4-4 specifically lays out
conditions for removal from the Library Board of Trustees.
SECTION 3
The date, place, and time of a regular meeting may be changed by affirmative vote of a
majority of Trustees present and voting at the regular meeting.
SECTION 4
Special meetings may be requested at any time at the call of two members of the
Board, only for the transaction of business stated in the call. Notice with the agenda of
the special meeting must be given at least 48 hours in advance, except in the case of a
bona fide emergency. Notice must be posted in at least two conspicuous places.
SECTION 5
All meetings of the board, its committees and subcommittees shall be open to the public
and conducted in accordance with Illinois Open Meetings Act.
SECTION 6
A quorum of the full Board shall consist of five members. A majority of those present
shall decide the vote taken on any questions for the transaction of business at any
meeting of the Board. For electronic attendance, in accordance with 5 ILCS 120/7(c)
and 5 ILCS 120/7 (a) the full quorum must be physically present for trustees to be
permitted to attend board meetings via audio and/or video conferencing in the event that
they are unable to be physically present due to:
(i) personal illness or disability,
(ii) a family or other emergency,
(iii) or when employment or library board business necessitates an absence.
Any presiding Board Officer and/or the Library Director must be notified at least 24
hours in advance, unless impractical, so that the necessary communications equipment
can be arranged in the meeting room. The member participating electronically and other
members of the Library Board must be able to communicate effectively, and members
of the audience must be able to hear all communications at the meeting site. State
changes to the Illinois Open Meetings Act in regards to electronic attendance will
supersede the requirement. For further details please reference the Electronic Meeting
Policy.
SECTION 7
Robert’s Rules of Order (newly revd.) shall govern the parliamentary procedure of the
Board of Library trustees unless otherwise specified in the bylaws. Exception to this
would be where the obligations of a ‘public body’ as defined under the Illinois Open
Meetings Act supersedes the guidance offered by Robert’s Rules of Order.
SECTION 8
No vote or action of the Board shall be rescinded at any special meeting of the Board
unless there be present at such meeting as many members of the Board as were
present at the meeting when such a vote or action was taken.
SECTION 9
An agenda for each regular meeting shall be prepared by the Library Director preceding
each meeting. Board members who wish to have items listed must give them to the
Director on or before the Thursday preceding the regular meeting. The library board
president is responsible for approving the board agenda once it is prepared by
the library director. In the absence of the library board president, the agenda
approval process will follow the ‘succession of responsibility’ laid out in Article
V, Section 12. The agenda and/or information packet shall be distributed to each
Trustee by the Library Director prior to each regular monthly meeting. The agenda and
order of business for each regular meeting shall be as follows:
1. Opening of Meeting
A. Call to order
B. Roll call
C. Additions to agenda
2. Consent agenda
A. Approval of minutes
B. Library Director’s report
3. Approval of all financial statements, reports and bill list
4. Communication and correspondence
5. Citizens comments
6. Illinois Heartland Library System report
7. Standing committees
A. Personnel
B. Policy/By-laws
C. Finance
8. Special committees
9. Business
10.Closed Session
11.Adjournment
SECTION 10
As part of its agenda for regular meetings, the Board will provide time for public
comments. Members of the audience wishing to address the Board are asked to
introduce themselves during this portion of the meeting and identify any library issues
they wish to discuss. Members of the public will be the granted 5 minutes to speak. The
Board may cut short any comments that are irrelevant, repetitious, or disruptive.
SECTION 11
The regular monthly meetings of the Board shall be determined annually at the
November meeting. The meetings shall be held in the library. The Director shall then
provide the schedule of meetings to the local papers as well as post the schedule of
meetings at the library and online. Both notices shall have the dates and times of such
meetings and will be open to the public.
If any regular meeting of the Board is rescheduled, public notice of such a rescheduled
regular meeting or special meeting shall be given at least 48 hours before such meeting
by posting public notice in at least two conspicuous places. Such public notice of a
reconvened meeting need not be given if the announcement of the time and place of the
reconvened meeting was made at the original meeting and there has been no change in
the agenda of such meeting.
SECTION 12
In the absence of the Board President to preside over a meeting, the succession of
responsibility shall be as follows: Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer.
ARTICLE VI COMMITTEE AND LIBRARY SYSTEM REPRESENTATIVE
SECTION 1
The following shall be the standing committees of the Board:
Finance, Personnel, and Policy/By Laws
SECTION 2
Ad hoc (special) committees may be created from time to time as the Board may direct.
SECTION 3
A committee consists of three members of the Library Board of Trustees and one
alternate member. In the absence of any of the three regular appointed committee
members at any committee meeting, the alternate shall take over that vacant committee
member’s position, taking on the full privileges and responsibilities of a committee
member. The president shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. All standing
and special committees shall be appointed by the President, unless the Board shall
otherwise direct.
SECTION 4
Members of standing committees shall serve for a term of one year.
SECTION 5
The Board, its committees and subcommittees shall operate in compliance with the
Illinois Open Meetings Act.
SECTION 6
Minutes or any committee reports, or such memorandum from these meetings, shall be
filed with the Secretary. These minutes and reports, immediately upon approval, shall
be submitted to the Director, the documents must be posted within seven (7) days of
approval by the Board in compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
SECTION 7
A member of the Board may serve as a representative to the Illinois Heartland Library
System Board of Trustees.
ARTICLE VII LIBRARY DIRECTOR
SECTION 1
The Library Director shall be employed by the Board to serve as administrative officer
with the authority and responsibility to implement the policies established by the Board.
Among its duties shall be the hiring, training, supervision, evaluation and dismissal of
library employees.
SECTION 2
The Library Director shall submit monthly reports on the operation of the Library and
shall recommend to the Board such policies and procedures that, in its opinion, would
improve the Library’s efficiency and value to its patrons.
SECTION 3
The Library Director shall be responsible for the expenditure of library funds as
authorized by the Board in its annual budget. The authority to spend threshold and need
of a second signature to sign checks shall be $1,000 as stated in the Routine Banking
Policy.
ARTICLE VIII CIRCULATION RECORDS
Circulation records and other records identifying the names of library users with specific
material hereby are recognized as confidential in nature, and access thereto is hereby
restricted to library staff and those members of the public with legitimate interest therein,
as hereafter provided for.
All library staff and employees are hereby advised that such records shall not be made
available to casual members of the public, the press, or to any agency of State, Federal,
or local government, except pursuant to such process, order, or subpoena as may be
authorized under the authority of and pursuant to Federal or State law relating to civil,
criminal, or administrative discovery procedures or legislative investigative power.
Library staff shall observe the following procedures: On receipt of any legal process,
order, or subpoena, the library staff member will immediately consult with the Library
Director, in their absence, the Board President, or the Vice-President in the President’s
absence. The appropriate above party will contact the Library’s attorney to insure that:
– The document is in proper legal form, and
– There has been a proper showing of good cause for its issuance by a
court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction.
Until the legality of such process, order, or subpoena has been affirmatively shown to
the satisfaction of he Library’s attorney, the staff will resist production of any records
until any defects have been cured.
ARTICLE IX AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
SECTION 1
These bylaws will become effective when approved by a majority of the members at a
regularly scheduled meeting. Upon Board approval, these bylaws will supersede all
pervious bylaws.
SECTION 2
Bylaws may be amended at any meeting of the Board by a vote of a majority of the
members at a regularly scheduled meeting. Notice of the proposed amendment(s) must
be given at a preceding meeting or has been sent to all members at least ten (10) days
before the meeting is called.
SECTION 3
Bylaws shall be reviewed every 3 years.
Revision to By Laws approved: 11/17/2017, 5/20/21, 9/16/2021
