From advocacy to strategic planning, our board of trustees makes up a diverse range of people working together on behalf of libraries.
Who are trustees?
Originally published in the Rural Libraries Journal, The Politics of Library Boards is a revealing article that draws on numerous sources and surveys to describe the unique position that trustees have in their roll as representatives of the library and the community.
Represent the community
One of the important points in the previous article was to recruit trustees that reflect the diversity within your community. Check out Recruiting Latino Trustees and read about informal and formal methods of recruiting, as well as retaining trustees for optimal services to your Latino community.
Advocacy
This excerpt from The Successful Library Trustee Handbook discusses targeted ways for trustees to get into the public arena and advocate on behalf of our libraries.
Planning
Effective Governance for Rural Libraries is a valuable new concept paper that details a “game plan” for action: the Program for Effective Governance. Rural boards can use these ideas to empower their library colleagues and improve their libraries.
Trustee training
Become an Effective Trustee is a course for new trustees that are learning about their responsibilities, or tenured trustees that would like to brush up on their skills.
Additional resources
Join the conversation in these recent discussion threads related to the work of Friends and Trustees in the library. Check out The Association for Library Trustees and Advocates, a division of the American Library Association. Finally, WebJunction’s Friends and Trustees has more trustee information and resources on transformative library advocacy.
To suggest trustee resources, send us a note at content@webjunction.org.
Past Tips:
- Shine the Spotlight
- Internet Librarian 2007
- View all our past tips and polls here