Bylaws

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this association shall be the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library, hereafter, “the Association.”

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE

The purpose of this Association shall be to maintain an association of persons interested in books and libraries; to focus attention on library services, facilities and needs; and to stimulate gifts of monies, books, magazines, desirable collections, endowments and bequests and to encourage literacy in partnership with the Diamond Bar Library and the community.

ARTICLE III: LIMITATIONS

Any and all property, monies, or other items of value, whether tangible or intangible, that belong to this Association or hereafter acquired is and shall be irrevocably dedicated to the purposes of the Association, and no individual shall be entitled at any time, including dissolution, to receive benefits from the property or accounts of the Association. In the event of dissolution or the impossibility of performing the purposes, herein described, such as the closing of the Diamond Bar Library, the assets, including, but not limited to, the assets of the Book and Technology Endowment Fund (BTEF), assets of Basically BOOKS, monies and purchased items such as books, and media will be distributed to the libraries of Diamond Bar High School and Diamond Ranch High School.

ARTICLE IV: MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
    • SECTION 1. Membership in this Association shall be open to individuals, businesses and organizations in sympathy with its purposes, and is effective upon payment of dues.

 

    • SECTION 2. The annual dues shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

 

    • SECTION 3. The fiscal year shall start January 1 and end December 31.

 

ARTICLE V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
    • SECTION 1. The Board of Directors shall serve as the governing body of the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library. All members of the Board shall be members of the Association. Each member of the Board shall be entitled to vote on issues that come before the Board.

 

    • SECTION 2. The Officers of the Board shall be President, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer and Parliamentarian.

 

    • SECTION 3. There shall be Standing Committees that shall serve at the discretion of the Board. The Chairs of the Standing Committees shall be appointed by the President and shall be ratified by the Board at the January meeting. The Committee Chairs shall be members of the Board and the total number of (includes elected officers and Directors) shall not exceed 27.

 

    • SECTION 4. The Standing Committees shall be as follows: Audit, Historian, Publicity, Book Store, Book Discussion, School Liaison, Correspondence, Endowment Fund, Membership, Wine Soirée and Read Together Diamond Bar.

 

    • SECTION 5. The Parliamentarian shall be elected by the Board.

 

    • SECTION 6. The terms of office of Board Officers shall be two years, unless circumstances require otherwise, with terms beginning on January 1 of the year following the election. The President shall not serve more than two consecutive terms, except by majority vote of the Board.

 

    • SECTION 7. The Board of Directors shall meet each month, or at the call of the President, or by petition of three or more Board members. The Board shall meet no fewer than six times each fiscal year. A majority of the voting members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.  7a Voting between Board Meetings. Between meetings of the board an email vote of the board may be taken at the request of the president on any question submitted to the board in writing provided that every voting position of the board shall have the opportunity to vote upon the question submitted. If a majority shall vote on any question so submitted, the vote shall be counted and shall have the same effect as if at a board meeting.7b Email voting will not be used for approval of, or modification to the annual budget, or voting for elected positions.7c The result of the vote shall be recorded in the minutes of the next board meeting.

 

    • SECTION 8. A Nominating Committee shall be chaired by the Parliamentarian and consist of five members of the Association. The Nominating Committee shall nominate a slate of candidates for Board Officer Positions prior to the final Board meeting of the year and the Board shall vote on the slate of candidates. This Committee shall propose candidates to fill Board Officer vacancies as they occur.

 

    • SECTION 9. Such other ad hoc special committees as may be necessary from time to time shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Board.

 

    • SECTION 10. In the event the office of President becomes vacant during the term of office, the Vice President shall assume the office of President for the remainder of that term or until an election is held.

 

    • SECTION 11. Board members are expected to (1) have meaningfully participated in Association activities for a significant period of time, (2) have the ability and wherewithal to contribute to the advancement of the Association’s goals, (3) the time and ability to regularly attend and participate in Board and Committee meetings, and (4) sympathy with the Association’s mission of supporting the Library and literacy in the community. Board members are expected to attend all Board meetings and are expected to have a meeting attendance rate of at least 70% in order to stay on the board excluding excused absences (illness, bereavement, emergency, etc.)

 

    • SECTION 12. In the event of an actual or perceived conflict of interest by any Officer of the Association, that Officer shall immediately disclose such actual or perceived conflict to the entire Board of Directors. Upon a finding of conflict by the Board, the Officer shall resign from the conflicting position. If the Officer declines to resign from the conflicting position, that Officer shall be determined to have resigned from the Board of the Association.

 

ARTICLE VI: BOARD OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES
    • SECTION 1. The President conducts Board meetings and presides over general meetings, prepares agendas, assists Chairs of special events, represents the Association at community and county functions, and is an ex-officio member of the Board during the year following his/her term of office.

 

    • SECTION 2. The Vice President assists the President and assumes responsibility for chairing meetings when President is absent.

 

    • SECTION 3. The Recording Secretary prepares minutes of all meetings, shall send a draft copy of the minutes to the President within five days of each meeting, and maintains an ongoing and current record notebook of all Board meetings, which shall be available at all Board meetings.

 

    • SECTION 4. The Treasurer writes expense checks, deposits checks, keeps records of various accounts and events, assists Event Chairs in developing working budgets, prepares monthly financial reports, and works with the President to develop an annual budget. The Treasurer shall see that the FEDERAL AND STATE INCOME TAX RETURNS are prepared and filed no later than November 15 of each year, and the President and the Board will be notified immediately if the tax returns cannot be filed by that date. The Treasurer shall chair the Finance Committee.

 

    • SECTION 5. The Parliamentarian shall give advice on Parliamentary Law and Procedure when necessary and be Chairperson of the Bylaws Committee.

 

ARTICLE VII: STANDING COMMITTEES

All Committee Chairpersons shall be voting members of the Board of the Association.

    • SECTION 1. The Publicity Chair co-ordinates and produces all publicity for the organization, including, but not limited to: writes press releases about events, prepares and distributes information about the DBFOL and its events, and produces public service announcements. Also, includes information on duties for the rest of the committee, such as mailing of quarterly print newsletter, and online/social media publicity of the organization and its events

 

    • SECTION 2. The Historian maintains the “Friends” archives and keeps copies of publicity releases and news clips.

 

    • SECTION 3. The Book Discussion Chair shall pick a book(s) to be discussed at book discussion meetings.

 

    • SECTION 4. The Wine Soirée Chairs and committee shall be in charge of all aspects of the Wine Soirée.

 

    • SECTION 5. The School Liaison shall coordinate literacy projects and activities with schools in the Walnut Valley Unified School District and the Pomona Unified School District and report to the Board and will Chair Librarian Luncheon and shall be in charge of all aspects of the production of the luncheon to honor local school librarians and the local county librarians.

 

    • SECTION 6. The Audit Committee provides oversight and guidance in the completion of the external review of the financial records. The Audit Committee shall be comprised of one to three independent Board members with no significant financial or other relationships with officers who disperse funds. Audit Committee members should have financial experience and knowledge. The Committee shall be responsible for choosing the individual/s to review the books. They shall take the books to the reviewer for accounting as soon as possible after the close of the fiscal year. The review shall be completed by May 1 of the following year or as soon as practical. The President and the Board will be notified immediately if the review cannot be completed by May 1. At the finish of the review the Committee shall review the results, report to the Board to implement changes, if necessary and include a copy of review in the minutes. If any of these guidelines cannot be met this must immediately be reported to the President by the Audit Committee Chair.

 

    • SECTION 7. The Financial Committee, shall develop a budget for the year, and review fiscal procedures. The Committee shall meet no less than once a year, and shall be chaired by the Treasurer and shall consist of the President, the Past President, the Vice President, and others appointed by the President. The Board must approve the budget. The fiscal year is from January 1st through December 31st of the same calendar year. The Committee shall review expenditures, examine the books to see that all monies are properly accounted for, and shall ensure that the bank statements and the accounting records reconcile.

 

    • SECTION 8. The Membership Chair receives membership forms and checks, records membership information, and gives checks to the Treasurer, inputs information into the computer and maintains the data base, sends dues payment acknowledgements, keeps membership envelopes, and coordinates efforts to increase membership.

 

    • SECTION 9. The Book Store Chair shall be responsible for all aspects of the Book Stores and shall report to the Board at all meetings.

 

    • SECTION 10. The Read Together Diamond Bar Chair shall be responsible for promoting and producing the Read Together Diamond Bar events.

 

    • SECTION 11. The Endowment Fund Chair shall be responsible for promoting and managing all aspects of the FOL Book and Technology Endowment Fund.

 

    • SECTION 12. The Corresponding Secretary shall answer mail, write letters, share correspondence with the Board and distribute mail weekly in a manner as determined by the Board.

 

    • SECTION 13. By the Direction of the board, the Community Events Chair will be responsible for Friends of the Library Outreach within the Community. Such as, Diamond Bar Birthday Party, etc.

 

    • SECTION 14. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees with the exception of the Nominating Committee.

 

ARTICLE VIII: MEETINGS
    • SECTION 1. The Board of the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library shall hold its meetings on dates selected by the Board with at least six meetings per year. In addition to conducting ongoing business, the December meeting shall be for the purpose of electing Officers, and to receive various reports and to transact any other year end business.

 

    • SECTION 2. Special meetings may be held as directed by the President. A written notice shall be sent to members one week before the meeting (email acceptable).

 

    • SECTION 3. At the Board meetings, a majority of those present is sufficient to transact business, except for the purpose of adopting amendments to the Bylaws.

 

    • SECTION 4. All Board meetings shall be open to the public.

 

ARTICLE IX: AMENDMENTS

The Bylaws may be amended with a proposal for Amendment at one meeting and action by a two-thirds vote of the majority of Board members present at the following meeting.

ARTICLE X: FUNDS
    • SECTION 1. The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining appropriate books of accounts.

 

    • SECTION 2. No funds or properties in excess of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) shall be disbursed without written authority of the President and Treasurer. The President, Past President, Vice President and the Treasurer are authorized signatories of all accounts and shall co-sign all checks for the Association (two signatures required on checks).

 

    • SECTION 3. Motions for expenditures of funds or property of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,000.00) or more may only be made if properly noticed and on the agenda for a regular Board meeting or a special Board meeting.

 

ARTICLE XI: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

All meetings shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order Revised, except when in conflict with the Bylaws of the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library or with the laws of the State of California.

STANDING RULES:
  • SECTION 1. By the direction of the Board, the Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for the Library Bookplate Recognition. This award is in recognition of an individual or group who has shown consistent support of the Diamond Bar Library and/or Friend of the Library. The book will be placed in the LA Library County Selection. A letter of recognition will be sent to the person or family.

 

  • SECTION 2. Constituent Contact List  All information contained in the Constituent Contact List may not be shared with those outside of the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library Board without approval of the President. Other Board members, who are not designated to access the list, may do so with approval from the President. Access to view or edit the list shall be given by the Database Administrator.**Constituent Contact List is defined as any list, either digital or hard copy, containing information such as names, mailing addresses, email addresses, etc., used for communication purposes for the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library. The current digital list, in Google sheets, may only be accessed by the following board members as determined by the Database Committee which includes President, Past President, Data Base Administrator, Publicity committee and Membership Chair/s.