Northern New York Library Network
Members’ By-Laws

Article I.    NAME

1. The name of this organization shall be the Northern New York Library Network.

2. For the purposes of this article, Northern New York shall be defined as the area encompassing the counties of Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence, Clinton, Essex, and Franklin, and such other adjacent areas as may desire to participate.

Article II.    PURPOSE

1. To improve reference and research library resources and services.

2. To provide a means for the development of interlibrary cooperative plans and services within the area of the Network.

3. To serve as a regional multitype library agency primarily dedicated to cooperatively providing support and services necessary for all of its members to meet their individual goals. Service is provided to libraries in the seven counties of Northern New York for the ultimate benefit of the library user.

Article III.    MEMBERSHIP

1. Voting Membership in the Network shall be open to any library in Northern New York which falls into one of the following categories:

a) Any chartered institution of higher education which fulfills the applicable qualifications currently promulgated, at the time of its application, by the New State Education Department under the title Commissioner’s Regulations for the Registration of Reference and Research Library Systems, or which meets the qualifications which in the future the New York State Education Department may issue in place of those.

b) Any public library system or school library system within the Network’s region, approved by the New York State Education Department.

c) Public library system members which are central or co-central libraries or public libraries which, including all holdings in branches, have major collections of adult nonfiction volumes.

d) Any library of a nonprofit organization or any special, technical, hospital, health, or research library which can demonstrate that it will improve the library resources presently available to the research community in the Network area and/or bring improved reference and research services to its user clientele.

2. Associate memberships shall be non-voting memberships and are open to individuals or institutions otherwise ineligible for voting memberships.

3. When admitted to membership, each voting member shall designate an individual as its representative to cast its vote. Only voting members shall be entitled to vote, and each such member shall have only one vote.

4. Each voting member shall be entitled to share in all the benefits of membership and shall be expected to cooperate in meeting the goals of the Network.

Article IV.    DUES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

1. Annual dues payable to the Network for the various categories of membership shall be as follows:
a) For voting membership, institutions of higher education offering graduate degrees shall pay dues of $225.00 annually; institutions of higher education offering only undergraduate degrees or certificates shall pay dues of $187.50 annually; public library systems and school library systems shall pay dues of $112.50 annually; for-profit institutions shall pay dues of $150.00 annually; all other institutions shall pay dues of $52.50.

b) For associate membership, the annual dues shall be $25.00 for individuals and $52.50 for institutions.

2. Annual dues shall become due and payable on July 1st of each year for all members. Upon approval of membership after December 1st of any year, a new voting member shall be liable for one half of the normal full dues. New associate members shall pay full dues for the fiscal year (July - June) in which they become members, no matter in what month their membership is approved.

3. Nonpayment of dues by a member within the calendar month following the start of the fiscal year shall automatically result in loss of the privileges of membership. However, the member may be returned to good standing upon later payment of dues for the then current fiscal year.

4. Contributions or gifts may be accepted by the Board of Trustees of the Network for the advancement of the purposes of the Network as set forth in Article II of these By- Laws.

Article V.     BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1. The Trustees shall be elected by the vote of the Network members and shall serve for a term of five years.

2. No Trustee shall serve more than one full five-year term without at least a one- year hiatus.

3. The number of Trustees shall be fourteen (14).

4. Trustees shall represent reference and research library needs. The Board of Trustees shall include at least one representative of each constituent public library system (by a responsible member of each system’s staff or its board of trustees); at least one representative of the member academic library with the largest collection; at least one person representing the school library systems in the region (by a responsible staff member of an NNYLN member school library system or its advisory council); at least one person representing the Hospital Library Program in the region (by a responsible staff member of an NNYLN member hospital library); and at least two lay persons from the research community served by the Northern New York Library Network. In so far as possible, members of the Board of Trustees shall be selected so as to provide an equitable representation of the types of libraries and geographic regions represented in the membership of the Network.

5. The Officers shall be elected by the Board of Trustees and shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer and shall serve for a term of one year or until successors are elected.

6. Every Trustee and Officer and staff member of the Network shall be indemnified by the Network to the full extent that such indemnification may be lawful under the New York State not-for-profit corporation law. The foregoing right of indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other right to which persons may be entitled.

Article VI.    COMMITTEES

1. The President shall have the power to appoint committees as required.

2. The President shall designate ad hoc chairpersons of all committees who shall call the first meeting, at which time the committee will select a chairperson by majority vote from among its members.

Article VII.    NOMINATIONS

1. The President shall appoint a Nominating Committee not later than sixty (60) days prior to the annual meeting. Trustees shall not form a majority of the Nominating Committee. The President shall have a list of names of the individuals on the Nominating Committee circulated immediately to the NNYLN membership to enable the membership to make suggestions to the Nominating Committee for nominations to the Board of Trustees and for Officers of the Network.

2. The Nominating Committee shall nominate individuals to fill expiring terms of the Board of Trustees. It is the intent of the nominating and election process to secure the best possible members of the Board of Trustees for the Northern New York Library Network. All Nominating Committees should present, where possible, two or more nominees for each vacancy of the Board of Trustees, except for positions mandated by these By-Laws, for which positions only one nominee need be presented.

3. The Nominating Committee shall prepare a ballot which will be mailed to the membership of the Network not later than thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Meeting. The ballot will be marked by the designated individual of each voting member institution and must be received at the NNYLN office no later than three (3) days prior to the Annual Meeting.

4. The report of the Nominating Committee and the results of the election of Trustees shall be presented at the Annual Meeting. Those elected shall assume office July 1.

5. The Nominating Committee shall nominate, where possible, two or more nominees of each Officer position on the Board of Trustees; suggestions from the membership concerning nomination for Officers shall be encouraged. Ballots shall be counted at the first meeting of the fiscal year, and new Officers will assume their positions at the conclusion of this first meeting of the fiscal year.

Article VIII.    FISCAL YEAR

1. The fiscal year for the Network shall run from July 1 to June 30.

Article IX.    MEETINGS OF THE NETWORK

1. There shall be at least two meetings of the Network per year, one in the spring and one in the fall, of which the spring meeting shall be the Annual Meeting.

2. Additional meetings will be called at the discretion of the President or upon written request of ten (10) members.

Article X.    QUORUM

1. A quorum for the purpose of transacting business of the Network shall be ten (10) members.

2. A majority vote of those members voting at meetings shall prevail.

Article XI.    VACANCIES

1. Should any office or Trustee position become vacant, the Trustees shall at their next meeting, by majority vote, fill the vacancy until the next election.

Article XII.    AMENDMENTS

1. By-Laws of the Network may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those members present at a meeting. The written text of the proposed amendment will be mailed to all members with the notice of the meeting at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting.