Rhode Islanders have access to a library governed by a Board of Trustees committed to the growth and development of library services in their community.

Standard 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | Resources

27. The library board is governed by written by-laws which outline its purpose and operation and must include:
    1. frequency of meetings
    2. special meetings
    3. compliance with open meetings laws where applicable
    4. number of board members
    5. terms of office
    6. recruitment of members
    7. definition of duties of trustees
    8. disqualifications and vacancies
    9. establishment of a quorum
    10. appointment of special committees
    11. amendments to the by-laws
28. The library board meets at least quarterly.
29. The director attends all board meetings.
30. The library establishes an orientation program to provide new board members with the basic information to perform their duties effectively, which includes an introduction to the Rhode Island Public Library Trustees Handbook as well as related resources provided by OLIS.
    
    View Tip Sheet for Standard 30
    
    Trustee Resources
    
31. The library board adopts a long-range plan which encompasses at least three years and is reviewed annually. The plan is submitted to the city/town planning department so that the community’s needs for library services and facilities can be incorporated into the city/town’s comprehensive plan. The plan includes the following components:
    
    
    1. analysis of community needs
    2. vision/mission statement
    3. goals
    4. measurable objectives
    5. evaluation process to determine progress toward meeting objectives
    View RI Public Library Long Range Plans
    
    View Tip Sheet for Standard 31
32. The library board adopts policies covering:
    
    
    1. circulation
    2. collection development, including gifts and special collections
    3. email/Internet use and other technology issues
    4. emergencies
    5. exhibits and displays
    6. harassment
    7. intellectual freedom
    8. personnel
    9. rules of conduct for library users
    10. services for nonresident borrowers
    11. unattended children
    12. use of library meeting rooms and equipment
        
33. The library board complies with all relevant laws.
34. In towns with more than one independent library, a library council is established and composed of a trustee, the director and a community representative or their alternates from each library.
35. The duties of the library council are:
    
    
    1. meeting at least twice a year
    2. coordinating the long-range planning process for library services within the city/town
    3. applying to OLIS for state grant-in-aid funds for libraries complying with these standards within the city/town, with funding based on the percentage of support those libraries receive from the city/town or based on some other division of funds mutually agreed upon by the library council

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Resources

General

Larson, Jeanette and Totten, Herman. Model Policies for Small and Medium Public Libraries. Neal-Schuman, 1998.

PLA Handbook for Writers of Public Library Policies. PLA, 1993.

Collection Development

Cassell, Kay and Futas, Elizabeth. Developing Public Library Collections, Policies, and Procedures. Neal-Schuman, 1991.

Community Needs

Community Needs Assessment
Comprehensive information developed by the Arizona State Library

Emergencies

Help Manual: A Guide for Emergency Situations. Baltimore County Public Library, 1995.
View the Table of Contents [] for a range of possible emergencies. 

Intellectual Freedom

Intellectual Freedom Manual. 5th ed., ALA, 1996.

Internet

Smith, Mark. Internet Policy Handbook for Libraries. Neal-Schuman, 1999.

Planning

OLIS Tip Sheet for Standard 31

Brookson, Stephen. Managing Budgets. Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Glitz, Beryl. Focus Groups for Libraries and Librarians. MLA, 1998.

Himmel, Ethel. Planning for Results: A Public Library Transformation Process. 2 vols. ALA, 1998.

Nelson, Sandra. The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach. ALA, 2001.

Policies

Kids Welcome Here! : Writing Public Library Policies that Promote Use by Young People. New York Youth Services Section / New York Library Association, 1990.

Connecticut State Library Sample Library Policies
Links to other collections of policies and whole library policies, followed by an extensive list of sample policies on specific issues.

Massachusetts Regional Library Systems Policy Collection
Sample policies on circulation, collection development, customer service, Internet use, meeting room use, patron behavior, and unattended children.

Sample Library Policies for the Small Public Library (Small Library Committee of the Wisconsin Association of Public Librarians)

Trustees

Rhode Island Public Libraries Trustees Handbook

OLIS Tip Sheet for Standard 30: Orientation of New Trustees

Swan, James. Working Together: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Trustees and Librarian. Neal-Schuman, 1992.

Trustee Essentials: a Handbook for Wisconsin Public Library Trustees. Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning with the assistance of the Wisconsin Public Library Trustee Handbook Revision Task Force, 2002.

Young, Virginia. The Library Trustee: A Practical Guidebook. 5th ed., ALA, 1995.

All titles are available from the OLIS Professional Collection