Section III: Board Meetings

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ADMINISTRATION OF MEETINGS 

Meetings shall be conducted in an orderly manner. Discussion of agenda items shall be limited to communication among Board members; between the Board and the Director; and among the Board, Director, and those members of the public who are duly recognized at the appropriate time. 

MEETING AGENDA AND INFORMATION PACKET 

All matters to be considered by the Board at the meeting shall be included on the agenda. All informational materials needing to be reviewed before the meeting will be posted on a secure online repository four days prior to the meeting. The Addison Public Library Board meeting agenda shall approximate the following outline: 

  • Opening Items 
  1. Call to Order 
  2. Roll Call 
  3. Pledge of Allegiance 
  4. Approval of Agenda 
  5. Comments from the Public 
  • Financial Report by Treasurer 
  • Consent Agenda 
  1. Minutes 
  2. Treasurer’s Report 
  • Reports 
  1. Director and Staff Reports 

2. Friends of the Library Report 

  • Unfinished Business 
  • New Business 
  • Closed Session – if needed 
  • Correspondence and Announcements 
  1. Libraries in the News 
  2. Other Correspondence 
  3. Monthly Statistics 
  • Additional Discussion 
  • Adjournment 

Any item on the agenda requiring action by the Board will be marked as ACTION ITEM. Board members wishing to add something to the agenda need to notify the Director by the Thursday before the Board meeting.” 

REMOTE PARTICIPATION 

A member of the Board (or any committee associated with the Addison Public Library which is subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act) may attend and participate in any open or closed meeting of that covered body from a remote location via telephone, video, or internet connection, provided that such attendance and participation is in compliance with this policy and any other applicable laws. 

A member of the Board shall be provided the opportunity to attend an open and closed meeting if the member meets the following conditions and a majority of a quorum of the Board votes to approve the remote attendance: 

  • The member must notify the Board President and Library Director at least 24 hours before the meeting unless advance notice is impractical; 
  • The member must meet one of three reasons described herein why he or she is unable to physically attend the meeting, including either: 
    • (1) that the member cannot attend because of personal illness or disability; 
    • (2) the member cannot attend because of employment purposes or the business of the Addison Public Library; 
    • (3) the member cannot attend because of a family or other emergency; and 
  • A quorum of the Board must be physically present at the location of the meeting as posted in the meeting notice. 
  • The member participating remotely and other members of the Board must be able to communicate effectively, and members of the audience must be able to hear all communications. 

Voting Procedures: After roll call, if a quorum has been established among those board members who are physically present at the meeting, a vote of the Board shall be taken, considering the prerequisites set forth above, on whether to allow an off-site board member to participate remotely. All of the members physically present are permitted to vote on whether remote participation will be allowed. A vote may be taken to permit remote participation for a stated series of meetings if the same reason applies in each case. Otherwise, a vote must be taken to allow each instance of remote participation. A vote of a majority of a quorum shall be necessary to decide the issue. For the meeting to continue there shall always need to be a quorum physically present. 

Minutes: The member participating remotely shall be considered an off-site participant and counted as present by means of video or audio conference, for that meeting if the member is allowed to participate. The meeting minutes shall also reflect and state specifically whether each member is physically present, present by video, or present by audio means. 

Rights of Remote Member: The member permitted to participate remotely will be able to express his or her comments during the meeting and participate in the same capacity as those members physically present, subject to all general meeting guidelines and procedures previously adopted and adhered to. The remote member shall be heard, considered, and counted as to any vote taken. Accordingly, the name of any remote member shall be called during any vote taken, and his or her vote counted and recorded by the Secretary and placed in the minutes for the corresponding meeting. A member participating remotely may leave a meeting and return as in the case of any member. Board of Trustees Policies | Revised 6/15/2021 

MINUTES OF THE BOARD MEETING 

Records of all actions of the Board shall be set forth in the minutes of the meeting. Minutes shall be kept on file as the official record of the Addison Public Library Board. Minutes shall be recorded in writing during each meeting by a member of the Addison Public Library staff when available, or by a member of the Board if necessary. 

Minutes of the meeting are a record of the actions of the Board, not a record of discussion. Minutes of the Addison Public Library Board meetings shall include: 

  • Date, time, and place the meeting was called to order; 
  • Type of meeting – regular, special, or continued; 
  • Name of presiding officer; 
  • Names of those Board members present (whether physically or electronically present) and the names of those Board members absent from the meeting; 
  • Precise wording of all motions, whether passed or failed; 
  • Roll call vote recorded by name; 
  • Disposition of each motion made – passed or failed; 
  • Notation of each committee report; 
  • Notation of time of adjournment of the meeting. 

This is a list of the minimum information required. 

The Secretary of the Board or the chair of the committee shall record closed session minutes. The minutes from the closed session must be approved in open session at the next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. These minutes shall then be sealed in an envelope with date and topic recorded on the outside and locked in an administrative file. Closed sessions shall also be audio recorded, and such recordings shall be preserved for at least eighteen months. The Board may approve destruction of a closed session recording without notification to or the approval of a records commission or the State Archivist under the Local Records Act or the State Records Act no less than 18 months after the completion of the meeting if the Board has approved minutes of the closed session that meet the written requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The minutes of all closed sessions will be reviewed by the Board no less than once every six months as to whether or not the minutes should remain sealed or can be publicly disclosed. 

PUBLIC COMMENT 

The Board of Trustees of the Addison Public Library welcomes comments from the public and will hear from any interested individual who wishes to address the Library pursuant to the guidelines outlined in this policy. 

Public comment at meetings of the Library shall be restricted to civil discourse, free from disparaging remarks or inferences toward any person or organization. Speakers who fail to observe this protocol will be ruled out of order. The individuals appearing before the Library are also expected to follow these guidelines: 

  1. Members of the public may address the Library only at the appropriate times as indicated on the agenda, and when recognized by the Board President or meeting chair. 
  2. Individuals are expected to identify themselves by full name. Individuals are also requested to provide their address. 
  3. The time allowed for each individual to speak shall be limited to 3 minutes. A speaker may not cede time to another speaker.
  4. No more than 20 minutes shall be allowed for public comment at each meeting. 
  5. There shall be no expectation of immediate response on any matters raised during public comment. The Board may, however, refer any matter of public comment to the Library Director, Library staff, another appropriate individual or agency, or may place the matter on a future meeting agenda for reply. 
  6. The Board President or meeting chair shall have the authority to determine procedural matters regarding public comment at Library meetings not otherwise defined in Board policy. 
Policy Type