The Rhode Island Public Library Trustees Handbook is available only as a pdf file. PDF files require Acrobat Reader, which is available as a free download.

Rhode Island Public Library Trustees Handbook [80 pages]

Download Sections of the Trustees Handbook

Table of Contents [3 pages]

Section 1: Basics [12 pages]

Introduction

1. Public Library Service in RI - A Brief History
2. Duties and Responsibilities of Trustees
3. Qualifactions of Trustees
4. Board Basics
5. Legal Responsibilities of Trustees

Section 2: Planning [12 pages]

6. Library Planning
7. Planning Library Buildings

Section 3: Policies, Personnel and Budgets [18 pages]

8. Effective Library Policy Making
9. Personnel Practices
10. Trustees and the Library's Budget

Section 4: PR, Politics and Intellectual Freedom [6 pages]

11. Public Relations: The Trustee as a Library Ambassador
12. Trustees and the Political Process
13. Intellectual Freedom: A Special Trust

Section 5: OLIS, LORI, and Organizations [10 pages]

14. The Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS)
15. LORI: The State Library Network
16. Friends of the Library
17. Volunteers in the Library
18. Organizations Serving Trustees

Section 6: Appendices [18 pages]

• The Board Evaluates Itself
• Sample Bylaws
• Library Bill of Rights
• The Freedom to Read Statement
• The Freedom to View Statement
• Ethics Statement for Public Library Trustees
• Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
• A Trustee's Reading List
• Index to RI Library & Library Related Laws
• Legal Opinion: "Control of Personnel Policies"