Bylaws

**ARTICLE I ** The name of this organization shall be the Share Northwest Regional Library group, hereinafter to be referred to as “ShareNW.”
 * BYLAWS **  **of the **   ** Share Northwest Regional Library Group  **

**ARTICLE II ** 1. To share library resources among the member libraries. 2. To provide a support group and a means of communication for the member libraries. 3. To share information about and/or applications for grants and other forms of funding for cooperative regional library services. 4. To serve as the functioning body to make policy decision in ShareNW resources sharing and other cooperative projects. 5. To support the professional growth of ShareNW member librarians and their staff. 6. To provide an organized group to collaborate with the Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit to facilitate services for the participating libraries.
 * The purposes of ShareNW are: **

**ARTICLE III ** **ARTICLE IV ** There shall be an Executive Committee that shall recommend policies and directions for ShareNW to the membership and shall take such actions as necessary to carry out the policies of ShareNW. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The Executive Committee shall consist of the president, vice president, secretary/treasurer, and the committee coordinators. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The president shall serve as the chairperson of the Executive Committee. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The elected officers of ShareNW shall be president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer. Each position is a two year term. In the event that a vacancy occurs among the elected officers, a replacement shall be elected by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Executive Committee to serve the next remaining term until a new officer is elected by the membership at the next regular election. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">There shall be a member representing each type and level of library. These liaison members shall include a representative from the public, academic, special or institutional and elementary, middle school and high school library communities. These persons shall be included in Executive Committee meetings, and/or communications to voice their concerns for the various library types and to provide input and guidance for the planning of future meetings. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Coordinators shall be appointed by the president with approval of the elected officers and Share NW director. This term of office will be held as long as the coordinator is willing to do the job. Consideration shall be given to representation from each of the three counties and representation from school, public, special and academic libraries. Coordinators shall performs tasks as needed, and shall establish a committee if necessary to complete assigned tasks. Appointed coordinators may include: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> a) Electronic Communications coordinator <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) Advocacy coordinator <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">c) Professional Development coordinator <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be called as needed by the president of ShareNW. Meetings may be conducted via telephone conference call, electronic mail or any other means that the president deems appropriate.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Membership: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Membership shall consist of academic, public, school and special libraries in Crawford, Erie, and Warren counties which are currently identified as ACCESS PA project members by the Pennsylvania Department of Education which have agreed to participate in resource sharing.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A library whose governing body has agreed in writing that the library shall participate in at least one of the ShareNW resource-sharing projects may join the Share Northwest Regional Library Group.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Each member library may be represented at meetings by any employee of the library designated by the library director or head librarian.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Executive Committee: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: Authority **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">Section 2: Members **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: Chairperson **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 4: Officers, Elected **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 5: Liaison Members **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 6: Coordinators **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 7: Executive Committee Meetings **

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ARTICLE V ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The Nominating Committee shall consist of the Parliamentarian and two other members selected by the Parliamentarian one year prior to the regular election of officers. Their duty shall be to nominate the officers for the next administration. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The Nominating Committee will meet in person or via other method to create a list of potential candidates. The committee members will contact the people on the list and solicit their acceptance of the office. This process shall be repeated until a list of candidates has been secured. Nominations may not be solicited from the whole via email or any other method of mass communication. Consideration shall be given to representation from each of the three counties and representation from school, public, and special and academic libraries. The Nominating Committee chairperson shall send the recommended slate to each member at least two weeks prior to the spring ShareNW meeting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> Elections shall take place at the spring ShareNW meeting. Further nominations shall be accepted from the floor with the permission of the nominee. Each member library shall have on vote. If more than one representative of a member library is present for the vote, only one representative shall have the privilege of voting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> A term of office shall begin on July 1 following the election and end on June 30. The president, vice president, secretary and treasurer shall all serve a two year term. The president, vice president, secretary or treasure may not serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">There shall be a meeting of the Executive Committee after the spring meeting and prior to July 1 of an election year. The meeting shall include the outgoing and incoming officers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Officers **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: Nominating Committee **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2: Nominations **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: Elections **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 4: Term of Office **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 5: Transition of Administration **

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ARTICLE VI ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> a) Preside at all meetings of the Executive Committee and membership. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) Appoint coordinators as specified in ARTICLE IV Section 6. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">c) Serve as an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> d) Serve as the Parliamentarian when his/her term of office has concluded. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">e) Call special meetings of the Executive Committee and the membership as necessary. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> a) Perform the duties of the president in his/her absence. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) Serve as the chairperson of the Program Committee. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">a) Record the minutes of all proceedings of the Executive Committee and membership as the whole. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) Send out notices of all meetings along with the minutes of the previous meeting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">c) Handle the correspondence of ShareNW, except for that more efficiently and willingly handled by the ShareNW President. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">d) Collect and have charge of all fees for ShareNW. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">e) Keep the official copy of the Bylaws. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">f) Record and maintain the permanent file of the official minutes and/or proceedings of ShareNW meetings. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> g) Collect and have charge of all fees for Share NW. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ARTICLE VII **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Duties of Officers **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: The president shall… **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2: The vice president shall… **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: The secretary/treasurer shall… **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Share Northwest Meetings **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">There shall be at least two meetings of the general membership each school year for the purpose of: updating policy, providing training, presenting reports, and conducting necessary business. These meetings shall be scheduled in the fall and in the spring of each year. All meetings shall be held on dates and locations approved by the Executive Committee. Member libraries will be asked to volunteer to host meetings taking into consideration type of library and representation of the three counties. Notice shall be sent to all members at least 45-60 days in advance of the meeting.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Additional meetings may be held at the discretion of the president or the majority of the Executive Committee.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> A quorum for conducting business at a membership meeting shall be not less than two-thirds of the actively participating member libraries. A mail vote of the membership may be taken if important business needs acted upon and attendance is less than two-thirds of the actively participating membership.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">ARTICLE VIII **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Amendment Procedure **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds majority affirmative vote of the members present at a membership meeting. Copies of proposed amendments shall be given to members in writing at least thirty days prior to the meeting.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee, the Parliamentarian, or the written proposal of at least ten member libraries.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Revisions approved: October 8, 2013 **