A Misplaced Book Is a Lost Book

The above is a maxim well known to librarians and often misunderstood by well meaning patrons who wish to “help” by replacing their own materials. But it also applies to library board members: keeping track of the numerous items, usually pieces of paper, given to you periodically and continually concerning your role as a trustee. More than likely, you have everything you need to know, but do you know where it is?

There are several ways to keep track of your print information, but one of the more popular and successful ways is for the library to issue each board member a 3-ring notebook. Index tabs can be added that divide the contents into 12 sections, one for each month of the fiscal year. Some libraries favor tabs based on content rather than time frames and divide theirs into such categories as Minutes, Financial Reports, Budget (if not already included in Financial Reports), Director’s Report, Correspondence, etc. Whether your library opts for the contents-based division or the monthly tabs, be sure to include a space for the latest Annual Report, Long-Range Plan, and Kentucky Public Library Standards checklists. You will surely want to include your Kentucky Public Library Trustee Manual and your own Library Board Policies. As most staff handbooks or manuals—which will have the library’s personnel and operational policies—are significantly larger, this may be something to exclude from this binder. It only makes sense for all members of the board to have the same format to facilitate ease of use.

Using a 3-ring binder means all reports and correspondence sent out to trustees prior to the meeting and all handouts during the meeting will need to be 3-hole punched. But who is responsible for maintaining these binders? Obviously the hole punching is done by library staff, but what beyond that depends upon where the binders are when the board is not actually meeting. Do trustees take them home and bring them back each time? Do they remain at the library? There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Leaving them at the library allows staff to “stuff” them each time, keeping everyone’s materials updated and in consistent order, but it means the trustee does not have ready access to what’s inside the binder except during the actual board meeting time. Taking the binders home or elsewhere between meetings means each trustee must take seriously the task of adding materials and remembering to bring the binder to each meeting.

Whatever you do to eliminate misplaced items will be worth the effort. Happy organizing!