Trustee Manual: Trusteeship
Chapter 1 Trusteeship | Next Chapter | Table of Contents | PDF
Congratulations on your appointment to the board of trustees for your local public library. It will soon become apparent that your new position requires dedication, knowledge and accountability, just like any other job. Take time at the beginning of your appointment to become acquainted with the roles, responsibilities and special powers assigned to library trustees. You are in for a very rewarding experience.
As trustees of libraries, we have been entrusted with the noblest task of
all – to preserve, strengthen, and promote the growth and use of our community’s libraries. We must maintain the heritage that libraries hold for the future good of our society. The library for which we work today will long outlive us and will provide inspiration and encouragement for generations to come. … As the Information Age progresses, libraries are more than ever important to the maintenance of civilization as we know it and as we wish it to be.
(Jane Bellon, Illinois Trustee Facts File, 1997 edition, p. 1)
Public Tradition and Public Trust
The library board is established by law. Library trustees are public officials and the powers delegated to library boards are a public trust. Library trustees are the eyes and ears of the community. They bring the citizens' perspective to board business.
Public Library trusteeship is a fundamental part of the American tradition which holds that in the long run the people control their public institutions. One of the most democratic of American political traditions is to give the legal authority for the operation of public agencies to boards made up of members of the general public... Thus, the public library board is not just another social organization. It is an example of a great democratic tradition. Being a library board member, then, is not just an honor. It is a responsibility.
(The Idaho Library Trustee Manual, 1996 edition, p. 1)
Trustee Responsibilities in Utah
Over 500 residents serve on Utah public library boards ensuring that quality library and information services are available to all people in the State. Utah trustees are responsible for establishing a long-range plan for their library, actively promoting the library, setting policies to serve community interests, and advocating for library issues. In addition, boards oversee public funds and work to retain a qualified director. Trustees support their library's efforts to meet State standards for certified library service.
As a library trustee your primary role is that of a provider. You provide into the planning process to develop library service. You see that sufficient funds are provided to implement library services… You provide the policies necessary for the operation of your library facility. And you provide a qualified librarian to administer the day-to-day operations of your library.
(Trustee Facts File. 3rd edition. Springfield, IL: Illinois Library Association and Illinois State Library, 2004)
Trustee/Board Member
The correct designation for your appointment may be either "library board director," "trustee" or "board member," and you are member of a legally appointed board. The Utah Coderefers to the library board entity as the "library board of directors." Trustee and board member have the same meaning and are used interchangeably, to avoid confusion with the library employee hired as Library Director.
Fundamentally, library boards are involved with the process of decision making. They make decisions for heir fellow citizens about their public library, and these decisions determine whether the library will grow and flourish or wither and mold. It is the quality of these decisions which validate the service of the board.
(Library trustee a practical guidebook, Chicago: American Library Association, 1995, p.3)