COMMUNITY
Alamo Area Library System
600 Soledad
San Antonio,TX 78205
210-207-2609 (Office)
210-207-2537 (Fax)
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I.Establishment And Purpose II. Boundaries III. Membership IV. Member Library Representatives V. Advisory Council VI. Committees VII. Meetings VIII. Personnel
Bylaws of the Alamo Area Library System
Article I ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE The name of the organization shall be the Alamo Area Library System (AALS). It is established under Section 441.123 of the Texas Library Systems Act. The mission of the Alamo Area Library System (AALS) is to promote, coordinate and facilitate communication and resource sharing and to provide quality library, technical and information services to all residents in the service area. This mission will be achieved through the joint efforts of librarians, staff, volunteers, member library representatives, community partners and residents.
The boundaries of the Alamo Area Library System shall be the area as established by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in §1.42 of The Library Systems' Act and Rules for Administering the Library Systems Act.
Membership is open to all Texas libraries accredited by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) as members of the Texas Library System. Minimum standards for accreditation of public libraries in the state library system are defined in §1.71 through §1.86 of The Library Systems' Act and Rules for Administering the Library Systems Act. A library that is not considered a public library may be extended membership if it is accredited by TSLAC to be eligible to join the System.
Major Resource Center's Responsibilities The San Antonio Public Library has been designated as the Major Resource Center and the System headquarters of the Alamo Area Library System by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Responsibilities are: •1. Serves as the legal body which administers the System grants through the City of San Antonio. •2. Employs the Alamo Area Library System Coordinator and staff. •3. Serves as a resource within the System for both the staff and for libraries, programs and services approved by the membership and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. •4. Appoints the Major Resource Center Director in cooperation with the San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees.
Member Libraries' Responsibilities •1. The governing body of each AALS member library shall appoint or elect a library representative to participate in System planning activities, serve on System committees as appointed and stand for election to the Advisory Council as provided in the Library Systems Act. •2. At least one library representative is encouraged to participate in the formulation of System programs and policies; study, support and comply with the programs of the System; and provide information on these programs to their Boards of Trustees and governing bodies. •3. At least one library representative is
Directors of accredited member libraries shall designate a member library representative and one alternate. These representatives may include board members, others qualified by knowledge and/or experience to represent a library, and library staff, including the library director. The representative is the voting member for the library and is eligible for election or appointment to the AALS Advisory Council. The term of office for representatives and alternates shall be the state fiscal year.
A federated county or multi-county library system will be eligible to send to the annual meeting of representatives either one representative to represent the entire federated county or multi-county library system; or the federated county or multi-county library system may elect to permit each individual member in that system to send one representative to the meeting. Only those federated county or multi-county system member libraries that could individually qualify for state library System membership may be eligible to send a representative.
The representative of each member library shall have one vote as a representative of a member library.
The Advisory Council shall consist of six members elected from the member library representatives. Representation on the Advisory Council should be both geographically balanced and reflective of the various sizes of libraries in the System. The term of office for each member shall be a period of three years and shall begin on the first day of the fiscal year. No individual may serve more than two consecutive full terms on the Council, but shall become eligible for election to the council after an absence of one fulll term. No library or federated county system in AALS may have more than one representative elected or appointed to the Advisory Council. Election ballots shall be in writing. Advisory Council elections will stagger council members' terms of office so that about one-third of the council members' terms expire each year.
The Advisory Council will meet every year and shall annually elect from among its members a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and a Secretary at the fall meeting of the Council. Members of the AALS Advisory Council shall attend all meetings of the Council. Members who fail to attend two consecutive regular meetings may be replaced. All meetings of the Advisory Council shall be open to all members, and shall, at the discretion of the chair, provide input from the Major Resource Center, the System staff, and member libraries. The Advisory Council shall be reimbursed for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties as authorized by the State of Texas and the City of San Antonio.
Member library representatives who are elected to Council shall complete his or her term of office unless the representative is replaced as the official representative of the member library. If the Council member is replaced as the official representative, the newly appointed representative may vote on behalf of his or her library at the annual meeting of representatives to fill council vacancies.
Vacancies on the Advisory Council arising for reasons other than the regular expiration of terms of office may be filled by election or appointment from among the representatives for the unexpired term. If the unexpired term was held by an officer of the Council, the representative may be elected or appointed to fill the unexpired term need not necessarily be that officer. The vacated Council office may be filled from among the members already on the Council.
If the library represented by a Council member is not accredited as a System member or chooses to withdraw from the System, that Council member shall cease to be a member of the AALS Adivsory Council.
The Advisory Council will follow all rules put forth in §1.111 through §1.123 of the The Library Systems' Act and Rules for Administering the Library Systems Act.
Duties of Advisory Council Members The Advisory Council shall serve as the liaison agency between the AALS member libraries and their governing bodies and library boards to: •1. Advise, review and approve the formulation of the annual Plan of System Service and biennial long-range plan after review and approval by the library representatives. The signature of the Council chairman on the following documents shall be required as certification that the Advisory Council has had an opportunity to review and approve: the AALS long range plan, the annual program of services and budget, amendments to the annual program or budget required a contract modification and System bylaws. In the event that a member of the Advisory Council has had an opportunity to review the documents, but does not approve their contents, a letter stating minority reports should accompany the documents to the state library. In the event that a majority of the Advisory Council does not approve the contents of one of the documents referenced to in this section, the chairman should sign the certificate of review and forward the Advisory Council's report with it. The chairman of the Advisory Council should sign the certificate of review in the appropriate place, if the majority of the Advisory Council determine that they have not been adequately informed of its contents by the major resource center staff. •2.Review and approve bylaws amendments. •3.Approve policies appropriate to services needed. •4.Evaluate services received. •5.Counsel with administrative personnel.
There shall be standing committees and special committees. Program committees will be determined by voice vote at the Spring Membership Meeting prior to the following fiscal year. Geographic committee meetings will meet annually. All committee meetings will be announced on the AALS Web page (www.aalstx.net) or by mail at least two weeks in advance with dates, time, place and pertinent information included in the announcement.
There will be two membership meetings annually. The fall meeting will be held in San Antonio and the spring meeting will be held outside of San Antonio. Membership meeting announcements shall be mailed to the Advisory Council, member library representatives and member libraries at least two weeks in advance of each regularly scheduled or called meeting. Announcements shall give time, place, date and agenda.
The staff of the Alamo Area Library System are considered to be employees of the City of San Antonio and are subject to all the rules, regulations, rights and privileges put forth by the City under the Civil Service Regulations. The System Coordinator is responsible for planning, developing and implementing all System programs with the involvement of the Advisory Council, member librarians, member library representatives and other interested parties; ensures that all programs are responsive to the needs of the members; assesses library needs and priorities in the annual plan of service and long-range plan; operates the System within the framework of personnel and fiscal requirements of the Major Resource Center and the City of San Antonio; and fulfills the annual program of services as contained in the contract between the City of San Antonio and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of Membership Meeting attendees followed by a majority vote by the Advisory Council. Notice of proposed changes must be printed and mailed to each System member library at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which amendments are to be approved or ballots mailed. Bylaws must be in conformance with the Texas State Library Systems Act and the currently adopted Rules and Regulations.
ALAMO AREA LIBRARY SYSTEM
Revised: June 1983 October 1984 October 1987 June 1990 October 1991 June 1995 October 1997 September 2003 January 15, 2004 March 23, 2007 March 12, 2010
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This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of
Museums and Library Services through the Texas State
Library and Archives Commission
Copyright © 2010 Alamo Area Library System