About Trustee Service
Thank you for your interest in the Lewisboro Library (LL) Board of Trustees. The Lewisboro Library (LL) depends on the involvement of community members to ensure the Library continues to be an active “heart of the community.”
The Board is the governing body of the Library and carries significant responsibilities regarding the operation of the Library, including maintaining financial accountability and exercising due diligence to oversee that the Library is well-managed and that its financial situation remains sound.
Effective trustees bring to LL a willingness to learn, a desire to respectfully engage with others and a commitment to the mission of the Library. The Lewisboro Library Board brings together 12-15 individuals with a range of skills and experiences who are interested in assisting the Library address the challenges and opportunities it faces in its work in serving the community. The Board is a “working board” – with Trustees encouraged to head committees and initiatives, assist with and attend programs and events, support and participate in the Library’s fundraising efforts, and serve as representatives of and advocates for the Library to community leaders and members. Committees may include Audit, Buildings & Grounds, Finance, Fundraising & Marketing, Long-Range Strategic Plan, Personnel, Policy, and Programs.
LL Trustees serve a four-year term with a maximum of two contiguous terms. If a trustee is filling a vacated seat, they will fulfill that term before starting the first of their two terms. The LL Board meets each month with most meetings held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm. Meeting dates are sometimes changed due to holidays. Meetings are open to the public. The Board also hosts an Annual Meeting, held in early February. At that meeting, the Board reviews the state of the Library and new trustees are elected, followed by a speaker presentation.
If you are interested in serving on the LL Board of Trustees, you are invited to go to the Nominee Questionnaire (found here). Candidates are highly encouraged to review the Responsibilities and Desired Qualifications listed there. Also found on the page is the LL Board of Trustee – Candidate Questionnaire. Instructions on returning completed Questionnaires can be found on the page.
For more information, please contact the Board of Trustees at [email protected].
Becoming A Trustee
Interested Candidates are invited to complete the Nominee Questionnaire (found here). Completed Questionnaires may be dropped off at the Library in a sealed envelope addressed to Cynthia Rubino, Library Director, RE: Nominating Committee. Candidates may also mail their completed Questionnaire to Lewisboro Library, Attn: Nominating Committee, 15 Main Street, P.O. Box 477, South Salem, NY 10590 or email a scanned version to [email protected]. Submitted Questionnaires will make your name available for consideration by the LL Board of Trustees’ Nominating Committee at the time of a vacancy, but will not guarantee appointment. If the Board is seeking to fill a vacancy, you may be encouraged to attend an upcoming board meeting. The Nominating Committee may then be in touch to schedule an informal interview. Should both parties wish to move forward with the candidacy, the committee will put the nomination of the candidate forward to the full board for a vote.
Lewisboro Library (LL) Board of Trustees:
Responsibilities and Desired Qualifications
The Board of Trustees:
● Obey federal, state, county, and local laws as they relate to public library systems
● Have a fiduciary responsibility for the assets, the finances, and investments of the institution and exercise due diligence, care, and caution as if handling one’s own personal finances
● Actively review, approve, and manage an annual budget that allows for prudent allocation of funds and expenditures to support LL activities
● Reviews monthly financial statements in context of the annual budget
● Oversee scheduled financial audits conducted by an outside financial representative
● Conduct regular and open meetings of the Board of Trustees with the Director, and
ensures adequate record-keeping and transparency related to those meetings
● Regularly plan and evaluate the library’s service program based on community needs
● Select, hire, and oversee a competent and qualified director
● Determines and adopts written policies and bylaws to govern the operation of the library
● Develop a long-term plan of service to guide the commitment of resources to meet the changing needs of the community LL serves
● Maintain the Library’s physical spaces with the goal of ensure it meets the Library’s and community’s needs
● Publicly advocate on behalf of LL as needed
The Individual Trustee
● Knows LL’s mission, policies, programs, and needs and is familiar with the core values of libraries
● Prepares for, attends, and actively participates in LL board meetings
● Participates fully on two Board committees
● Actively assists in the planning and implementation of LL fundraising events
● Attends and/or provides financial support to LL fundraising activities
● Helps identify and leverage personal and professional connections that can benefit LL’s fundraising, programming, and reputational standing
● Maintains confidentiality about internal matters of LL discussed during executive session
● Signs an annual conflict-of-interest disclosure and updates it during the year as necessary; discloses potential conflicts before meetings and actual conflicts during meetings
Required Qualifications of LL Trustees
● Has a Lewisboro Library card, current resident of Westchester County, aged 18 or over.
● Willingness to devote appropriate levels of time, attention, effort, and talents to the board
● Ability and inclination to think clearly, question objectively, respectfully consider ideas and opinions that may differ from one’s own, and have a “big picture” perspective
● Awareness and appreciation (or a willingness to develop both) of the past, present, and potential role of the public library in Lewisboro and in society
● Collectively, the LL Board of Trustees should represent a diversity and balance of interests, ages, races, gender, cultures, and socioeconomic levels
● Collectively, the LL Board of Trustees should represent a variety of occupational and personal backgrounds that will allow the Board to provide a breadth of perspectives, as well as practical advice and guidance
● Given the typical, ongoing work of the Board, practical background and/or direct experience in one or more of these areas is desirable:
○ Involvement in community organizations
○ An understanding of local government operations, of public boards, and commissions
○ An interest in long-range planning
○ Personal/professional experience in one or more of these areas:
■ Education
■ Architecture/Construction
■ Accounting/Finance
■ Business
■ Fundraising/Development
■ Humanities
■ Law/Government
■ Marketing/Communications
■ Personnel Management
■ Technology
■ The Arts
