Bylaws of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table of the South Carolina Library Association

Final to SCLA: November, 2008

Mission
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table of the South Carolina Library Association is committed to serving the information needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered professional library community in South Carolina, and the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered information and access needs of individuals at large. We are committed to encouraging and supporting the free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the American Library Association and democratic institutions.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table provides its members, South Carolina Library Association members, and South Carolina Library Association divisions, members, and affiliates, and the library and information science field as a whole with a forum for discussion and an environment for education and learning regarding the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered professional community and population at large.

I. PURPOSE
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table of the South Carolina Library Association shall:

• Promote the improved quality, quantity, and accessibility of library materials and service of particular interest or usefulness to lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgendered people of all ages
• Promote awareness of and develop funding sources outside of SCLA for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table programs; develop, promote and defend unrestricted access of all library users to information by or about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people
• Provide bibliographic services to librarians, archivists, other information professionals, and library users
• Work toward eliminating job discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees of libraries, archives, and information centers
• Advocate revising classification schemes, subject heading lists, indices, etc., in order to remove terms derogatory to the lives, activities, and contributions to culture and society of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people
• Remind the membership and leadership of the Association as often as necessary that many librarians, archivists, other information specialists, and library users are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered people
• Support other minority groups working for adequate representation and equal opportunity within the Association
• Work with groups outside the Association interested in achieving equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual,
• Provide opportunities for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered librarians, archivists, and other information specialists attending Association conferences to meet and socialize with one another
• Promote the Association’s Library Bill of Rights and its Code of Ethics.

II. VOTING STATUS AND CANDIDACY FOR OFFICE
Members of the South Carolina Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table are eligible to vote in Round Table elections.Any voting individual or other person or organization who wants to remain informed of the Round Table’s activities may do so by subscribing to the Round Table newsletter, to be distributed on line, or the Round Table listserv.

Candidates for Office:
At a membership meeting during the Association’s Annual Conference, the Nominating Committee will announce the names of qualified individuals who have stated an interest in running as candidates for vacant offices. At that membership meeting, other individuals may also announce their candidacy for vacant offices. Nominated candidate names will be submitted to SCLA for inclusion on the Spring Ballot. Newly elected officers will take office the last day of Annual Conference during which they were elected.

Qualifications:
Candidates for elected offices must be members of the South Carolina Library Association, must be members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table, and must agree to attend the membership and meeting scheduled for the Annual Conferences during his/her term of office.

III. MEETINGS
The Round Table Committee shall meet at least twice: once at the Annual Conference and once during the year at a centrally convenient location voted upon by the Round Table. Membership meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend them.

IV. OFFICERS
Titles and Terms of Office:
The Round Table shall elect a Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, each serving a term of two years. Officers may not hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms without approval of the Membership. The Membership will select a person to serve for the remainder of the term of any office that becomes unexpectedly vacant.

Duties of the Chair:
The duties of the Chair includes:

• Presiding at all membership meetings
• Coordinating the meeting schedule for all meetings and submitting the proper Association forms to the various Round Table Chairs as well as the Office of Conference Services on a timely basis
• Appointing the chairs of standing and special committees and delegating tasks as appropriate to those chairpersons
• Acting as spokesperson for the Round Table
• Responding promptly to correspondence addressed to the Round Table
• No decision or instruction made by a Chair shall conflict with a decision or instruction made by the Round Table membership.

Duties of the Secretary:
The duties of the Secretary include:

• Attending all membership meetings; preparing and distributing an agenda for each of the membership meetings
• Recording minutes of these meetings and promptly distributing copies of them to members and to other individuals or organizations mentioned in the minutes
• Maintaining a file of Round Table minutes, the roster, and the bylaws
• Maintaining the GLBTRT committee listservs, in the advent that we develop one, adding and deleting subscriptions as directed by the Chair and committee chairs, responding to requests for subscription.
• Taking attendance at all open Round Table meetings

Duties of the Treasurer:
The duties of the Treasurer include:

• Attending all membership meetings
• Recruiting and maintaining a committee to aid/advise in his/her efforts if needed;
• Collecting and archiving expense and receipt reports from the various Round Table Committee Chairs.
• Handling reimbursement requests for authorized expenses incurred by Round Table members in connection with Round Table activities
• Coordinating fundraising goals in pursuit of financial resources that will help to ensure the continuity of the Round Table and all of its activities
• managing relations with external organizations in efforts to produce funds to support programs and projects approved by the membership.
• Participates as an ex-officio member of the Fundraising Committee

V. COMMITTEES
The Round Table shall pursue its goals primarily through the work of its committees. A voting Round Table member as designated by the Round Table Chair shall chair each committee. Whenever possible, a committee chair will be selected after s/he has served in an apprentice capacity during the preceding year, and after consultation with other committee members. Any individual expressing an interest in working with a Round Table committee will be allowed to participate in its work.

The Round Table will decline to authorize or endorse commercially produced publications, events, products, or other profit-making ventures or activities. An individual, business, or organization that wishes to promote a publication, product, or event through the Round Table may do so by submitting a notice to and/or purchasing an advertisement in the Round Table newsletter, and/or by placing information/order forms/registration forms on a table designated for this purpose at meetings or other events conducted, sponsored, or co-sponsored by the Round Table. A Round Table officer or member approached for an endorsement of a for-profit publication, event, product, or activity will promptly notify the requestor of Round Table policy and of the alternatives available. Any member of the Round Table undertaking or asked to participate in a commercial venture is welcome to publicly identify himself/herself as a Round Table member in connection with the venture, but the member will make it clear that his/her participation does not constitute the Round Table’s authorization or endorsement of that publication, project, activity, or product.

The Committees of the Round Table are Clearninghouse/Website, Nominating, Newsletter, and Membership. A new Standing Committee must be authorized by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a membership meeting of the Round Table. Standing Committee chairs shall serve two-year terms, but may be reappointed if it is the will of the Membership.

Special Committees and projects shall be authorized by the Round Table Chair as the Round Table membership deem necessary to carry out specific activities, including the creation or revision of publications, that are consistent with the goals of the Round Table.

Any member of the Round Table may propose a special project by describing the idea or publication at a Round Table meeting, through an announcement in the Round Table newsletter, or via the Round Table online listserv and asking for volunteers also interested in the proposal. Upon endorsement of the project by the membership, the Chair shall appoint an individual to coordinate the project or to direct those interested to designate a chair.

Duties of the committee chairs:
The chair of a Round Table committee is responsible for:

• Attending Membership meetings
• Initially contacting and remaining in adequate communication with everyone who has expressed an interest in working with the committee
• Actively recruiting members for their committee
• Sending letters of appointment to new committee members for their professional portfolios
• Mentoring an “apprentice” from within the ranks of that committee
• Sending requests for committee member listserv additions and deletions to the Secretary of the Round Table
• Keeping the Round Table Co-Chairs informed of the committee’s plans, needs, activities, and problems
• Submitting budget requests to the Treasurer as necessary
• Submitting expense reports, receipt reports, and refund requests to the Treasurer on a continuing basis
• Reporting the committee’s activities to the Round Table at all of its membership meetings;
• Submitting progress reports and committee announcements to the Newsletter Editor following the published submission schedule
• Submitting publicity and website content and information to the Newsletter Editor and maintaining that committee’s portion of the Round Table Handbook, updating whenever appropriate with changes
• Convening at least one committee meeting during the year.

Clearinghouse/Website Committee:
In addition to the activities listed above under “Duties of the committee chairs,” the
Clearinghouse/Website Committee, under the guidance of its Chair, is responsible for:

• Identifying, obtaining, and distributing written materials related to collecting or cataloging gay-, lesbian-, transgender-, or bi-oriented materials for libraries
• Identifying, obtaining, and distributing written materials helpful to individuals in borrowing gay-, lesbian-, transgender-, or bi-oriented materials from libraries or interested in improving the quality, quantity, classification, or availability of gay-, lesbian-, transgender-, or bi-oriented information in libraries
• Identifying, obtaining, and distributing written materials related to the unique issues faced by gay, bisexual, transgender, and lesbian employees of libraries
• Developing and following procedures to organize and distribute these materials via the GLBTRT website whenever possible
• Obtaining from the authors or holders of copyright permission to distribute relevant items through the Clearinghouse
• Responding promptly to inquiries about or orders for Clearinghouse materials
• Maintaining and publicizing a list of materials available through the Clearinghouse
• Developing liaisons with other information-providing organizations which publish gay-, lesbian-, transgender-, or bi-oriented materials helpful to librarians or to library users
• Alerting the Round Table membership to publications produced by the Round Table itself that need to be revised, and to which new publications might further the goals of the Round Table

Nominating Committee:
In addition to the activities listed above under “Duties of the committee chairs,” the Nominating Committee, under the guidance of its Chair, is responsible for:

• Preparing the slate of candidates for the GLBTRT annual election soliciting the names of at least two candidates for each position to be filled
  • In selecting nominees for vacancies, the committee will consider geographical diversity, and representation from academic, public, school, and special libraries
• Soliciting input from GLBTRT members concerning individuals they recommend as candidates for the offices to be filled
• Contacting those individuals to confirm their willingness to run for office if nominated, and to compile a pool of names of those willing to serve and the offices in which they are willing to serve
• Preparing the slate of candidates and presenting it to the Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer for approval
• Seeing that forms are delivered to all candidates
  • These forms will ask for biographical information, a “Statement of Concern,” and the candidate’s signature
• Making sure all candidates are aware that the forms must be returned to the Nominating Committee before the designated deadline if they wish to be considered by the Committee
• Sending this information on the GLBTRT candidates to the GLBTRT newsletter for publication

Newsletter Committee:
The purpose of the newsletter is to keep members of the Round Table who cannot attend Association Conferences and Meetings informed of Round Table activities, decisions, and accomplishments; to announce proposed projects or publications; to invite interested individuals to participate in working on these projects or publications; to report other news of interest to Round Table members; and to serve as a forum for the discussion of views among Round Table members about the Round Table’s activities, priorities, and problems.

In addition to the activities listed above under “Duties of the committee chairs,” the Newsletter Committee, under the guidance of its Editor/Chair, is responsible for:

• Compiling, producing, and distributing a newsletter at least once a calendar year
• Publishing a newsletter submission schedule
• Monitoring the newsletters produced by the gay/lesbian/bisexual caucuses of other professional organizations for news of interest to Round Table members; and
• Emailing copies of each issue of the Round Table’s newsletter to the editors of these publications and to other organizations interested in the Round Table’s work.

Membership Committee:

• Coordinating the staffing of any presentations at Annual Conference.
• Identifies prospective members within the library profession and among related professional organizations and verifies that they are given membership information.

VI. FINANCES

The Treasurer is responsible for preparing the annual budget by the end of the Association’s Annual Meeting. All Standing Committee Chairs are required to submit budget requests to the Treasurer before the beginning of the Annual Conference.

VII. ROUND TABLE LISTSERVS
Will be established following SCLA guidelines.

VIII. LIAISONS
Establishing liaisons to specific target groups will be encouraged when the relationship appears to be beneficial to the Round Table. The Round Table Chair will appoint liaisons from GLBTRT to other groups both within and without the Association. Liaison terms will be for two years, not to exceed two consecutive terms (four years). Liaison appointments may be for specific projects or on-going. Reasons for establishing liaisons may include sharing of information on relevant and common issues, avoiding duplicate programming or publishing, sharing programming and/or publications, avoiding duplication of organizational structures, and providing expert guidance in issues familiar to both groups. Duties will include:

• Represent the interests of the Round Table within the context of the target group
• Attend meetings of the target group when possible
• Subscribe to newsletters, and participate in relevant listservs
• Provide summary reports in writing or electronically of liaison activities to the Steering Committee
• Participate in program planning with target group when appropriate

IX. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
Disputes over the procedures used in making a decision at a Round Table or Steering Committee meeting shall be resolved by reliance upon the provisions contained in th “Rules of Order” that SCLA uses.

X. AMENDING THE BYLAWS
Any provision of these bylaws may be changed at the annual membership meeting of the Round Table by a majority of the voting members attending, provided that the proposed amendments have been announced at a previous membership meeting or have been published in an issue of the Round Table newsletter and/or posted on the Round Table Website not less than thirty days before the annual meeting. Otherwise, at least three-fourths of the voting members attending must approve a proposed change in the bylaws before the change can become effective.

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