Executive Board Job Descriptions

Officers (Elected)

Representatives (Appointed)

Standing Committees (Appointed)

Ad-hoc Committees (Appointed)

The President
The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association and, subject to the Executive Board, shall have general supervision and control over its affairs; shall preside at all business meetings of the Association and of the Executive Board; shall recommend to the Board such measures as are considered desirable to further the objectives and broaden the effectiveness of the Association; with the treasurer shall sign all contracts and other legal documents; shall sign all checks drawn upon Association funds as co-signatory with the treasurer, unless determined otherwise by the Executive Board; shall be a member ex-officio, without vote, of all committees except the Nominating Committee; shall write an article for each NHLA newsletter; and shall present a written annual report at the Association's Annual meeting.

Vice President, President-Elect
The Vice President, President-Elect, shall assist the President in the performance of the duties of the presidency; in the event or absence or withdrawal of the President, shall assume all the duties and obligations of the presidency; shall plan a fall conference for the professional development and educational benefits of NHLA members; and shall submit a written annual report at the Association's Annual meeting.

Past President
The primary duty of the immediate past president is to serve as chair of two committees: Awards and Nominating. As chair of the Awards Committee, the past president will promote the nomination process for the Ann Geisel Award, convene a committee to review the nominees, coordinate the production of the award, and present it to the recipient(s) at the fall conference. As chair of the Nominating Committee, the past president will solicit candidates for vice president, treasurer, secretary, ALA councilor, and NELA representative. The past president will also create the ballot to be distributed with the fall conference announcement.

Timeline:

January - July Promote the nomination process for the Ann Geisel Award.
Solicit candidates for the elected positions in NHLA.

August Convene committee to review nominees for Geisel Award.

September Present nominees to Executive Board for approval. Prepare ballot for distribution to the membership.

October Coordinate production of award with Hampshire Pewter.

November Present the Ann Geisel Award at the fall conference.

Secretary
The Secretary shall keep minutes for the Association and the Executive Board, shall conduct Association correspondence, and shall notify members of their election to office and appointment to committees. At each annual meeting the secretary shall present a summary of action taken at the previous annual meeting and of the work of the Executive Board during the year. The secretary shall distribute via e-mail or notify board members when minutes are on the web site. The secretary will maintain the notebook of minutes and agendas.


Treasurer
The Treasurer shall have custody of the Association funds; shall sign all checks drawn upon the Association as co-signatory with the President, unless determined otherwise by the Executive Board; and with the President shall sign all contracts and other legal documents; shall furnish such financial statements as may be required by the Executive Board and the President; shall submit the Association accounts to be audited by a person or firm designated by the Executive Board, and shall present the report of the audited accounts at the Association Annual meeting. The Treasurer shall be bonded, premium on said bonds to be paid by the Association.

American Library Association Councilor
The American Library Association Councilor shall represent the New Hampshire Library Association in the deliberations of the national association and shall transmit pertinent information to the membership.

NELA Representative
The NHLA representative to the New England Library Association is elected by the NHLA membership for a 3-year term. The NELA representative attends both NELA and NHLA executive board meetings and makes a report to each board. The NHLA executive board meets around 9-10 times per year in addition to conferences. The NELA executive board meets around 6 times per year in addition to conferences. There is mileage reimbursement available from NELA for travel to NELA executive board meetings.

The NELA representative acts as a facilitator for the NELA-sponsored program at the NH Libraries Conference in the spring, submitting appropriate paperwork to the NHLC committee and coordinating with the NELA program presenter. The NELA rep should be available to escort the presenter to the program, make necessary introductions, and assist the presenter in any other way at the conference. The NELA representative should attend both NHLC and the NELA conference representing NHLA and NELA. At the NELA conference, the NELA representative should organize the NH "team" or make advance preparations for the NELA games between the states.

The NELA rep is an advocate for New Hampshire librarians in NELA and a source of information for NH librarians about NELA. This representative should be active in both associations and be an effective communicator between the two. The NELA rep should communicate NELA information and activities to the NHLA membership through the NHLA newsletter, at meetings and at conferences.

Advocacy Chair
The Chair of the Advocacy Committee will advocate for libraries and librarians. The committee will help librarians throughout the state by identifying possible partnerships, assembling advocacy tools and creating public relations opportunities.

By-Laws Chair
The By-Laws Chair maintains the by-Laws. The Chair will advise the association if a question arises and will suggest changes and amendments as needed.

Conference Chair
The Conference Chair works in partnership with the Conference Chair from NHEMA (NH Educational Media Association) to bring our membership a dynamite annual conference. The Conference Chair keeps the Executive Board informed of conference committee issues and informs the Conference Committee of Executive Board decisions that affect the conference.

Continuing Education Chair
The chair of the Continuing Education committee will accept and acknowledge the disbursement of funds from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation each summer. The funds will be sent directly to the NHLA treasurer, and a thank you letter will be sent to the Foundation from the chair of the CE committee. This exchange usually occurs in late summer.

Once the funds have been received, the chair and the other committee members will begin planning programs for the membership. The University of New Hampshire Continuing Education Business & Industry One-Day Workshops bulletin and Nelinet are excellent resources. It is important to seek suggestions from the membership and from the NH Libraries Conference committee.
The CE committee will publicize and award the Adam & Jane MacDonald Mini-Money Grants that are available to members in increments up to $200. The chair will receive the applications and the committee will vote to approve them on a continual basis. Recipients will be mentioned in the NHLA newsletter.
At present, there are five members of the CE committee, including the chair.

Intellectual Freedom Chair
Convenes meetings of the IFC as s/he deems necessary
Provides programs for the NH library community when requested to do so
Maintains records of relevant incidents and responses
Prepares an annual report for the NHLA
Keeps files with minutes of meetings, collections of relevant articles
Attends NHLA board meetings as the IFC representative
Helps coordinate responses to IF challenges in NH libraries
Keeps the library community up to date on IFC issues

Legislative Chair
The Chair of the Legislative Committee will recommend for hire and work with the NHLA lobbyist and the State Librarian on issues affecting libraries at the state house. S/He will negotiate the lobbyist contract, keep members informed of legislation affecting libraries, and organize support and testimony at the State House when needed.

Membership Chair

  1. Review and update the Membership form each year and send to the Webmaster to be posted in December.
  2. Coordinate a mailing through the Local Government Center (LGC), in early December, to the current list of members, including life members and members from the previous year, to solicit renewals.
    • Copy the new membership form
    • Draft a cover letter or letters
  3. Work with the LGC as they maintain the membership database. Get periodic updates as the membership applications come in. The bulk of these will be between January and March, but forms will arrive all year.
    • Return a membership card as acknowledgement to each member
    • Call and send welcome letter to new members.
  4. Produce lists and authorize labels to be produced by the LGC for section chairs, the conference committee and other NHLA groups for mailings to all or part of the membership.
  5. Participate in communication with the membership through mailings, email postings, the website and the newsletter.
  6. Spring Conference: Present the "Orient Express" conference orientation for new members and first time attendees. Encourage all of the officers and executive board to meet new members. Bring handouts and marketing things to have on the NHLA table in the exhibits
  7. Respond to queries throughout the year, including changes in the database.
  8. Submit a budget for the mailings and materials.
  9. Attend NHLA executive board meetings reporting to them and to the membership regularly, but particularly at the annual business meeting, on the status of membership in the organization.
  10. Does all this with the other members of the Membership Committee.

NHLA Scholarship Chair
Office: Volunteer
Appointment: By NHLA President
Duration: Term of the President
No limit to number of terms served
Works with: Committee solicited by Scholarship Chairman
Generally consisting of NHLA Continuing Education Chairman, 1-2 other board members, 1-2 other NHLA general members.
Special effort is made to recruit committee members from different sections of the state and from different specialties (READS, CHILIS).

Duties:

  1. Market NHLA's grant and loan programs offering assistance for graduate level study:

    1. F. Mabel Winchell Loan Program
    2. Rosalie Norris Scholarships
  2. Prepare application forms and make them available in paper and on the NHLA web site.
  3. Communicate with potential applicants.
  4. Receive completed grant and loan applications (on paper or electronically)
  5. Review applications 2 times per year; check authenticity; distribute copies to committee members.
  6. Meet with full committee (in person, telephone, or electronically) 2 times per year to grant scholarships and loans. Note: Loan applications may be processed by the committee more frequently if necessary.
  7. Notify applicants of successful grants or of refusals.
  8. Send requests for payments of scholarships along with proper documentation to NHLA Treasurer.
  9. Prepare promissory notes for loans and send signed forms along with proper documentation to Treasurer to sign, complete and pay.
  10. Keep current files of active grantees. (Scholarship and loan)
  11. Along with NHLA Treasurer keep current addresses of all people with outstanding loans.
  12. Notify Winchell Loan borrowers of final payment date six weeks before that date.
  13. Receive loan payments and pass the money and documentation to the NHLA Treasurer. Payment may be in one lump sum or in multiple payments over time.
  14. Participate in NHLA Executive Board activities.
  15. Prepare and submit annual report of the committee.
  16. Welcome new librarians into the profession.

Ways and Means Chair
The Chair of the Ways and Means Committee investigates sources of funding for the Association; develops and implements programs and activities to generate income for the Association; coordinates all fund-raising activities for NHLA and its sections; presents a schedule of fund raising events to the executive board; and writes an article for the newsletter.

Section Representatives
Each section of NHLA is represented by the section's president or delegate. He/she shall represent the section in the executive board deliberations and shall transmit pertinent information to the section membership. These may include: Academic CHILIS, Reads and Urbans.

NHAIS Liaison
The NHAIS Liaison acts as a representative of NHLA's membership on the NHAIS (New Hampshire Automated Information System) Board. RSA 201-A: 24 of the Library Laws requires that NHAIS have a representative form NHLA and other library organizations. The NHAIS Board was established as part of the legislation in 1983 to build a network to see that all of New Hampshire libraries were automated. The functions of NHAIS and the statewide automation have grown over the twenty years it has been in place. With statewide library automation pretty much accomplished, NHAIS is now working on things such as state wide database licensing and digitization to provide wider access to unique materials. The State Library has always been concerned that stakeholders have a role in the deliberations on the important issues that face libraries. The representative attends meetings and brings back information from NHAIS to NHLA and their members and reports back to the NHAIS Board. The NHAIS Board meets at least quarterly and at other times, as the state librarian deems necessary. Once a year NHAIS presents their Annual Meeting along with a program of interest to all librarians. The representative is appointed by the association for one renewable 3-year term.

NHSL Liaison
The State Librarian will appoint a member of the State Library staff to report on the issues affecting the State Library and its services to NH libraries.

NHSL Advisory Council Representative
The Executive Board appoints a representative to sit on the NHSL Advisory Council to represent the members of NHLA.

URBANS Representative
Appointment
The Urban Public Library Consortium President appoints the section's representative to New Hampshire Library Association.
The Urban Public Library Consortium Representative to NHLA is responsible for:

  • Attending NHLA Executive Board meetings and reporting on the activities of the Urbans Section of NHLA. If unable to attend a meeting, a report is provided to the Urbans President, or to someone who will be attending the meeting.
  • Attending Urbans meetings and reporting on the activities of New Hampshire Library Association and of the NHLA Executive Board. . If unable to attend a meeting, a report is provided to the NHLA President, or to someone who will be attending the meeting.


Archivist
The archivist serves the board as a non-voting member by providing information on past activities and procedures; is responsible for collecting, selecting, sorting and filing archival material; and writes an annual article for the newsletter.

Newsletter Editor
The editor of the NHLA News is responsible for soliciting, collecting, selecting, editing news that effect NHLA members and NH libraries. The editor is also responsible for formatting, printing, posting and distributing the newsletter. The newsletter is published four times a year in January, March, July and October. The March and October issues appear in electronic format only.
Web Coordinator

The Web coordinator will post monthly minutes of Board meetings to the NHLA web site. The web coordinator will update the NHLA blog to publicize current events/notices of programs, etc. and other pages as needed.