BY THE BOOK: EMIERT BY-LAWS 


Article I: Name 

The name of the organization shall be the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table of the American Library Association.
 

 
 

Article II: Purpose 

The Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table is an organization authorized by the Council of the American Library Association. Its purpose shall be to provide a forum for the exchange of information on library materials in English and other languages and to promote service for all ethnolinguistic and multicultural communities in general.
 

 
 

Article III: Membership 

Section 1. Classification:

Any personal, institutional, or organizational member of the American Library Association may become a member of the Round Table upon payment of dues.

a. Personal Members are: librarians and library employees; foreign librarians; library and information science students; individuals who are interested in supporting the work of the Round Table.

b. Organizational Members are: library associations; affiliated library organizations; foreign library organizations; and nonprofit organizations other than libraries and library schools.

c. Institutional Members are: libraries and library schools; educational, cultural, and scientific institutions; official government, non-library institutions.

d. Honorary Members are: persons, organizations, or institutions nominated, and so appointed, by the elected officers of the Round Table.

Section 2. Rights and Privileges:

Only personal members of the Round Table shall have the right to vote and hold office. Only personal members shall have the right to be appointed to a committee or task force. All members of the Round Table shall receive the Bulletin and other official publications of the Round Table.

Section 3. Dues:

The dues shall be paid on an annual basis according to the fiscal year established by the American Library Association. The current dues schedule shall be published in the EMIERT Organization Manual. The dues schedule shall be reviewed at least every five years at the discretion of the elected officers of the Round Table.

Section 4. Unpaid Dues:

Members whose dues are unpaid upon the expiration of their membership year and who shall continue such delinquency for one month after notice of the same has been sent, shall be dropped from membership. Lapsed members may be reinstated upon payment of dues for the current year.
 

 
 

Article IV: Officers 

Section 1. Elected Officers:

Elected officers of the Round Table shall be the chairperson; vice-chairperson/chairperson-elect; secretary; treasurer; immediate past chairperson; and seven members-at-large.

Section 2. Executive Board:

The elected officers shall function as the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall be presided over by the chairperson.

a. A vacancy in the elected membership of the Executive Board, including a vacancy created by the election of a member to the office of chairperson or other elective office, shall be filled by Executive Board appointment, the appointee to serve until the following election.

b. The Executive Board shall report on its activities to membership no later than each Annual Meeting of the American Library Association.

c. A majority shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Board.

Section 3. Duties of officers:

The elected officers shall perform the duties of their respective offices and other such duties as approved and described in the Organization Manual of the Ethnic [and Multicultural] Information Exchange Round Table.

Section 4: Terms of office:

All elected officers shall serve until the adjournment of the Round Table business meeting at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association of the year in which their term is slated to expire or until the adjournment of the meeting at which their successor(s) are chosen.

a. The chairperson and vice-chair/chairperson elect shall serve for one-year terms;

b. The secretary and treasurer shall serve for a two-year term;

c. The members-at-large shall serve staggered terms of two years each with the election of at least three members annually.

Section 5. Termination of office:

Any elected officer may be terminated by a majority vote of the Executive Board. Cause for termination shall include nonattendance at two consecutive ALA Conference (Midwinter and Annual) meetings of the Executive Board and/or dereliction of duties. The secretary, under the direction of the Executive Board, shall notify the officer in writing the cause for termination action taken against him/her.
 

 
 

Article V: Meetings 

Section 1. The meetings of the Round Table shall be as follows:

a. The annual membership meeting of the Round Table shall be held during the Annual Conference of the American Library Association. Reports on the activities of the Executive Board and Committees shall be made to the membership;

b. The Executive Board will meet at Midwinter meetings and Annual ALA Conferences;

c. At all meetings, Robert's' Rules of Order (latest edition) will be followed.

Section 2. Votes by mail:

Votes by mail may be authorized by the Executive Board between meetings. A simple majority of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum and a three-fourths majority of those voting shall be required to carry. For votes by the membership of the Round Table, twenty-five percent of the voting membership shall constitute a quorum and a majority of those voting shall be required to carry.

Section 3. Quorum:

Those members of the Round Table present shall constitute a quorum at membership meetings.
 

 
 

Article VI: Nominations and Elections 

Section 1. Nomination of officers:

A Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Executive Board prior to each Annual Conference of the American Library Association. The Nominating Committee shall include the immediate past-chair of the Round Table. Nominations shall be as follows:

a. Two candidates shall be nominated for each elective office from among the general membership;

b. Members may submit the names of candidates to the Nominating Committee according to the procedures and schedule developed by the Executive Board and according to the procedures and schedule of elections of the American Library Association or whichever comes sooner;

c. All  nominees shall submit a statement of acceptance and qualification to the Nominating Committee for publication in the spring edition of the official Bulletin of the Round Table or the EMIERT website;

d. No person shall be nominated by the Nominating Committee whose written statement of acceptance has not been filed with the Executive Board;

e. No person shall be nominated for more than one elective office;

f. No person shall be nominated who is not a personal member of the American Library Association.

Section 2. Election of officers:

Officers shall be elected by a simple majority vote. In the case of a tie vote, the Executive Board shall be responsible for breaking the tie by electing one of the two candidates. A simple majority of the Executive Board shall carry.

Section 3. Re-election of officers:

Officers may be re-elected but may not serve more than two consecutive terms for the same office.
 

 
 

Article VII: Committees and Task Forces 

Section 1. Standing Committees:

The following Committees shall be Standing Committees of the Round Table:

Nominating Committee
Conference Program Committee
Membership Committee
Constitution & By-Laws Committee
Public Relations Committee
Publications and Bulletin Committee
Chairs of the Standing Committee shall attend meetings of the Executive Board and have voting rights.

Section 2. Committees:

Committees shall be established and abolished by a majority vote of the Executive Board of the Round Table.

Section 3. Establishment of Committees:

Committees shall be proposed by any personal member of the Round Table who files a signed petition of not less than ten personal members of the Round Table. Chairs of Committees shall attend Board meetings but without voting rights.

Section 4. Appointment of Chairs and Committee Functions:

a. The chair of each Standing Committee shall be appointed by the Past-Chairperson of the Round Table. The chair of each Standing Committee shall appoint members to his/her respective Committee according to the guidelines and/or requirements for each respective Committee as established by the Executive Board and described in the Organization Manual;

b. The term for a chair of a Committee shall be two years and shall not exceed two consecutive terms;

c. Committee members shall be appointed on an annual basis by the chair of each Committee;

d. Committee members shall be appointed for two years, staggered so that no more than one-half of the members of each Committee shall be retired in any one year;

e. Appointments shall be announced by the winter edition of the official Bulletin;

f. Each Committee shall meet at the Annual Midwinter and Annual Conference of the American Library Association;

g. A written report must be submitted to the Chairperson of the Round Table at the ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences. If the Committee chairperson cannot attend, a report must be submitted prior to the meeting.

Section 5. Task Forces:

Task Force groups and the chair of each Task Force shall be established by the Executive Board of the Round Table. The chair of the Task Force shall submit a statement of objectives to the Executive Board for approval before a Task Force can be created. The life of a Task Force shall be until the objectives have been completed. A simple majority vote of the Executive Board is required to disband a Task Force.
 

 
 

Article VIII: Quorum 

At membership meetings, a quorum shall consist of those personal members present.
 

 
 

Article IX: Finances 

Section 1. Financial Practices:

All financial practices of the Round Table shall be in accord with the practices of the American Library Association.

Section 2. Authorization and payment of expenditures:

No Officer, Committee, or Task Force group, as well as individual member of the Round Table, shall incur any expense on behalf of the Round Table unless duly authorized by the Chair of the Round Table.

Section 3. Reporting:

A report shall be made to the membership at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association, by the Treasurer or duly authorized Officer of the Executive Board, detailing receipts and expenditures, explaining the Round Table's fiscal status, including an estimate of anticipated revenues for the next budget year and procedure and schedule for budget requests to be approved and established for Committees, Task Force groups, and the Executive Board for that same year.
 

 
 

Article X: Amendments 

Amendments to the by-laws may be proposed by any member upon presentation of a petition with signatures from ten personal members of the Round Table to the Executive Board or by recommendation of the Executive Board. The proposed amendment shall be published in the official Bulletin and voted upon by membership at the annual meeting of the Round Table.
 

 
 

End of By-Laws 

Revised July 9, 2000, at the American Library Association Annual Meeting in Chicago

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Describes Emiert's by-laws, structure, operating procedure.