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Durham County Library Board of Trustees
Board Members | By-Laws | Committees | Public Comment | Meeting Locations | Agendas | Minutes of Meetings | Trustees' Award
Board Members
Chair: Allan Lang
919-471-5636 (home)
609-658-0596 (cell)
AllanLang@aol.com
Vice Chair: Dr. Henry E. Felder
919-237-2502 (work)
919-225-3455 (mobile)
hfelder1@aol.com
Crystal Dreisbach
919-260-9454
crystaldreisbach@gmail.com
Joe Hewitt
919-489-9875 (home)
joe_hewitt@unc.edu
Derrick Jordan
919-542-3626
djordan@chatham.k12.nc.us
Paolo Mangiafico
paolo@mangiafico.org
Shawn J. Miller
919-308-1127 (home)
919-660-5978 (work)
Shawnj55@gmail.com
Joyce Sykes
919-382-0622 (home)
joysykes@nc.rr.com
Beck Tench
919-475-3421 (work)
beck@becktench.com
Liaison from the Durham County Board of Commissioners:
Wendy Jacobs
(919) 401-3538
Liaison from the Friends of the Durham Library
Mary Jane (MJ) Digby
919-309-4062 (home)
digbymj@gmail.com
Liaison from the Durham County Library Staff
Anita Robinson
919-560-0167 (work)
arobinson@dconc.gov
By-laws of the Board of Trustees
ARTICLE I: MEMBERS
SECTION 1: In accordance with Article 14, Chapter 153A of the General Statutes of the State of North Carolina, the Board of Commissioners of Durham County do hereby appoint a Library Board of Trustees for the Durham County Library. Said Board of Trustees shall consist of nine persons. All terms shall be for three years.
SECTION II: In the event of a vacancy on the Board, the vacancy shall be filled by the County Commissioners for the unexpired term of the member creating the vacancy.
SECTION III: The position of a board member who has been absent from three consecutive regular meetings shall be considered vacant, unless the Chair, after consultation with the Vice-Chair, shall find good cause for any of the absences and excuse them. Regardless of whether the absences are excused, the position of any board member missing 50% of the regular meetings during a fiscal year shall be considered vacant unless the Board shall vote to excuse any of the absences and petition the Board of County Commissioners for a waiver of its attendance policy.”
SECTION IV: The same person may not serve more than three consecutive terms, An appointment to fill an unexpired term of one year or more shall be considered one term and said appointee can be appointed for only two additional terms.
ARTICLE II: MEETINGS
SECTION I: The Library Board will hold its regular meeting on a bi-monthly schedule according to a calendar set at the annual meeting of the Board.
SECTION II: The annual meeting shall be held at the first regular meeting of each fiscal year.
SECTION III: Special meetings may be called by the Chair, or upon written request of four members of the Board, for the transaction of business stated in the request.
SECTION IV: Notices of all meetings including an agenda and documentation shall be made by the Library Director or the Director’s representative to all members of the Board at least three business days in advance.
SECTION V: A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of a majority of members.
ARTICLE III: OFFICERS
SECTION 1: The officers of the Board of Trustees shall be a chair and vice chair.
SECTION II: Officers shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Board and shall serve for one year.
The Chair of the Board shall preside at all meetings and shall have the usual powers of a presiding officer. The Chair of the Board shall notify the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners of any vacancies on the Board.
The Vice Chair of the Board shall act as chairman in the absence or disability of the Chair.
SECTION III: The Library Director shall issue notices of all meetings of the Board and delegate a library staff member to take minutes. Minutes will be subject to final approval by vote of the Board and will be maintained with other Board records by the Director. The Director shall be an ex officio member of the Board and shall not have a vote; nor will the staff member appointed to take minutes have a vote.
ARTICLE IV: COMMITTEES
The Chair shall appoint any committee deemed necessary.
The Chair may decide upon the number of persons to be appointed to a committee and designate the purpose of the committee. The committee may be dissolved upon the completion of its task or at the pleasure of the Board. Vacancies on committees may be filled by the Chair at any time.
ARTICLE V: DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES
The duties and responsibilities of the Trustees shall consist of conscientiously carrying out the powers herein given them:
1. To review and make recommendations to the Library Director, County Manager, or Board of County Commissioners, as appropriate, on proposed library programs, policies, and regulations for the government of the Library;
2. To make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners concerning the construction and improvement of buildings and other structures for the library system;
3. To advise the County Manager regarding the appointment of the Library Director;
4. To participate in preparing the annual budget of the library system;
5. To recommend to the Board of County Commissioners a schedule of fines and charges for late return of, failure to return, damage to, and loss of library materials, and to take other measures to protect and regulate the use of such materials;
6. To otherwise advise the Board of Commissioners on Library matters. The Board shall make an annual report on the operations of the library to the governing body and shall make an annual report to the Department of Cultural Resources as required by G.S. 125‑5.
ARTICLE VI: LIBRARY DIRECTOR
The Library Director shall be the executive officer of the library system and shall have general supervision and responsibility of the libraries under the direction of the Board of Commissioners through the County Manager and reviewed by the Board of Trustees.
The Library Director with the advice and counsel of the Board of Trustees shall be responsible for the physical plants and equipment, for the employment and direction of the staff for the library service to the public, and for the operation of the libraries under the financial conditions set forth in the library budget.
The Library Director shall attend all board meetings.
ARTICLE VII: ORDER OF BUSINESS
Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the proceedings of the Board.
The order of business at the regular meetings shall be as follows:
1. Roll call
2. Approval of minutes of previous meeting
3. Communications
4. Financial report
5. Report of committees
6. Old business
7. New business
8. Director’s report
9. Election of officers when necessary
10. Adjournment
ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS
November 4, 1982:
Article I, Section III: The words "without adequate excuse" added after "absent"; the word "regular" added after "consecutive". Article I, Section IV: The words "of one year or more" added after the words "unexpired term".
Article II Section I: The regular days of meetings were listed as the fourth Monday in July, September, November, January, March, and May.
Article II, Section II: The annual meeting was established as the fourth Monday in July, and the place of the meeting listed as "die Board Room of the Main Library".
Article III. Section I: The officer of "secretary" was dropped.
Article III, Section III: The sentence, "The Director of Libraries shall serve as secretary, but shall not have a vote" was added at the beginning of the section, and the last sentence "It is suggested that the Director of Libraries serve as secretary, but shall not have a vote" was dropped.
Article V. number 2: Added "establishing policies regulating library operating procedures".
Article V, number 5: Added "and policies" after the word "budget".
Article VII: Added "financial report" after "communications" and moved "director's report" to follow "new business."
April 28, 1986:
Article I, Section IV was changed to permit a Board member to serve three consecutive terms, rather than two.
November 26, 1990:
Article II Section I was changed to permit the Board to set a calendar of bi‑monthly meetings for the year at the annual meeting of the Board. The change eliminated reference to specific months in which the Board would meet and the specified day of annual meeting.
June 8, 1998:
Article I, Section I: Changed the number of members of the Board from seven to nine.
Article V: Added #6: "To present a report at least annually to the Durham County Board of Commissioners on library accomplishments and plans."
September 14, 1998:
Article II, Section V: Changed the size of a quorum from four to "a majority of members."
May 13, 2002:
Article I, Section III: Eliminated "without adequate excuse" following "absent."
Article II, Section IV: Added "and documentation" following "agenda;" changed "Secretary" to 'library Director" and added
"business" after "three."
Article III. Section I: Added "and secretary" after "vice chairman."
Article III, Section II: Added as second sentence of second paragraph: "The Chairman of the Board shall notify the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of any vacancies on the Board." Deleted "The Director of Libraries shall serve as secretary, but shall not have a vote." from fourth paragraph.
Add Section III to Article III: The Director of Libraries shall issue notices of all meetings of the Board and have custody of the
minutes and other records of the Board. The Director shall be an ex officio member of the Board and shall not have a vote."
Article V: The duties and responsibilities were revised to read as follows:
1. To review and make recommendations to the Director of Libraries, County Manager, or Board of County Commissioners, as appropriate, on proposed library programs, policies, and regulations for the government of the Library;
2. To make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners concerning the construction and improvement of buildings and other structures for the library system;
3. To advise the County Manager regarding the appointment of the Director of Libraries;
4. To participate in preparing the annual budget of the library system;
5. To recommend to the Board of County Commissioners a schedule of fines and charges for late return of, failure to return, damage to, and loss of library materials, and to take other measures to protect and regulate the use of such materials;
6. To otherwise advise the Board of Commissioners on Library matters. The Board shall make an annual report on the operations of the library to the governing body and shall make an annual report to the Department of Cultural Resources as required by G.S. 125‑5.
Article VII: The sentence "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the proceedings of the Board" was moved to proceed the order of business.
March 26, 2007:
Article II, Section I: Replaced “The regular meeting of the Library Board shall be held bi-monthly according to a calendar set at the annual meeting of the Board.” with “The Library Board will hold it regular meeting on a monthly basis according to a calendar set at the annual meeting of the Board.”
Article III, Section I: Deleted “and secretary” at the end of the sentence.
Article III, Section II: Deleted final sentence, “The Secretary shall keep a true and accurate account of all proceedings of the board meetings.”
Article III, Section III: Replaced “The Director of Libraries shall issue notices of all meeting of the Board and have custody of the minutes and other records of the Board; The Director of Libraries shall be an ex officio member of the Board and shall not have a vote.” with The Director of Libraries shall issue notices of all meetings of the Board and delegate a library staff member to take minutes. Minutes will be subject to final approval by vote of the Board and will be maintained with other Board records by the Director. The Director of the Libraries shall be an ex officio member of the Board and shall not have a vote; nor will the staff member appointed to take minutes have a vote.
August 27, 2007:
Article I, Section III: Replaced “The position of a board member who has been absent from three consecutive regular meetings shall be considered vacant.” With “The position of a board member who has been absent from three consecutive regular meetings shall be considered vacant, unless the Chair, after consultation with the Vice-Chair, shall find good cause for any of the absences and excuse them. Regardless of whether the absences are excused, the position of any board member missing 50% of the regular meetings during a fiscal year shall be considered vacant unless the Board shall vote to excuse any of the absences and petition the Board of County Commissioners for a waiver of its attendance policy.”
Article II, Section V: Deleted “j” that appears after the end of the sentence “A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of a majority of members.”
Article V: Changed #1 by replacing “To formulate and adopt library programs and regulations for the government of the Library” with “To review and make recommendations to the Director of Libraries, County Manager, or Board of County Commissioners, as appropriate, on proposed library programs, policies, and regulations for the government of the Library.”
May 10, 2010:
Article II, Section I:
The only substantive change at this time: the meeting frequency is changed from monthly to bi-monthly by concurrence of the Board.
All other changes are minor editorial ones such as changing the word “Chairman” to “Chair” and changing the term “Director of Libraries” to “Library Director.” Both of these changes are made throughout the document.
Board of Trustees Committee Charges
Facilities and Standards Committee Charge
The Facilities and Standards Committee is responsible for:
Reviewing Library standards for facilities and staffing, making recommendations relative to said standards, and setting priorities
Participating in program planning, site selection, and design of new facilities.
The Board of Trustees is an advisory board and work on new facilities is advisory in nature. Information is obtained from staff, the Library director or invited guests at scheduled Library Board meetings.
[Approved by Trustees, 3/11/08]
Information Technology Committee Charge
The Information Technology Committee exists to advise the director and the board on information technology issues and activities, bringing their expertise, experience, and expression of community concerns on all related matters, as appropriate, to the attention of the director and the board.
[Approved by Trustees, 2/13/08]
Planning and Budget Committee Charge
In support of the Library Board of Trustees duties of(1) reviewing and making recommendations to the Director of Libraries, County Manager, or Board of County Commissioners, as appropriate, on proposed library programs; and (2) participating in the preparation of the annual budget of the library system; the Planning and Budget Committee:
- Regularly reviews scheduled financial reports;
- Participates in meetings and discussions during the preparation of the annual budget;
- Reviews the library’s long-range plans, goals, objectives and community needs;
- Coordinates with other committees as appropriate; and
Reports to the full Board on these and related matters.
[Approved by Trustees, 5/13/08]
Policies Committee Charge
Definition
In accordance with the By-Laws of the Durham County Library Board of Trustees, the Policies Committee is appointed by the Board to oversee the Library’s Policies related to its books, resources and facilities. The Committee is charged with reviewing the policies and making recommendations to the Director regarding the policies.
What the Committee Does:
The Policies Committee is responsible for ensuring that the policies
- Are submitted to the Committee in a timely manner, following the policies’ review schedule.
- Are reviewed in a timely manner.
- Support the Library’s goals and objectives.
- Meet the needs of the public and are written so as to be easily understood by both public and the staff.
- Are most current when posted to the Library’s website.
How the Committee Functions
The Committee begins its function when it receives policy or regulation drafts prepared by the library staff. The Committee then begins to search out appropriate sources for further input and information. Once the information is gathered the Committee then prepares a final draft and submits it to the appropriate parties for approval.
[Approved by Trustees, 5/13/08]
Library Board Development and Evaluation Committee Charge
The Board Development and Evaluation Committee is designated by the Chair of the Library Board to support the Board’s professional development and to evaluate its activities.
Our responsibilities are:
- To participate in orientation activities with the Chair of the Library Board and the Library Director
- To coordinate/facilitate Board development activities and/or opportunities (e.g., retreat)
- To communicate Board development activities and/or opportunities (locally, regionally, nationally)
- To evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of the Board in regard to its ability to meet its objectives/goals and identified/assigned tasks
[Approved by Trustees, 6/10/08]
Board of Trustees - Public Comment
PUBLIC COMMENT
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Public Comment policy is to establish a process by which Durham County residents can express their concerns directly to the Board of Trustees on matters related to the library.
STATEMENT OF PROCEDURES
A--Citizens wishing to address the Board must sign up at least fifteen minutes before a scheduled Board meeting by completing the appropriate form, requiring their contact information and a brief statement of their concerns. Forms will be found at the circulation desk on the day of the meeting at the meeting location.
B--At the board meeting, individuals will be allotted three minutes to state their concern and they are expected to do so in a concise, orderly and courteous manner that is respectful of all others. They should not deviate from the subject indicated in advance on their form. Due to time constraints, the Board Chairman may limit the overall time for public comment on a specific topic.
C—Specific reference to Library employees or to matters appropriate for closed session will not be permitted. The appropriate manner for raising concerns about a specific employee is to submit comments in writing to Director of the Library or to the County Manager.
D—Comments should be directed to the Board and not to other participants or to the audience
E—Clarifying questions may be addressed to the speaker only by Board members and only at the conclusion of his or her remarks. The time taken by these questions and their answers will not affect the initial time allotted to the speaker.
F—Violation of these procedures or other inappropriate, discourteous, or disruptive behavior will lead to the Chairman’s asking the individuals involved to leave the meeting.
APPLICABILITY
These procedures will apply to all regularly scheduled Board meetings.
RESPONSIBILITY
The Chairman of the Durham County Library or, in his or her absence, a meeting’s presiding officer will interpret and administer the procedures described in this policy.
Board of Trustees Meeting Locations
Meetings are the 3rd Thursday of every other month.
All meetings begin at 6:00 p.m.
March 21, 2013
East Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
211 Lick Creek Lane
May 16, 2013
North Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
221 Milton Road
July 18, 2013
Stanford L. Warren, Large Meeting Room
1201 Fayetteville Street
September 19, 2013
Southwest Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
3605 Shannon Road
November 21, 2013
South Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
4504 S. Alston Avenue
January 16, 2014
Main Library, 1st Floor Auditorium
300 N. Roxboro St.
March 20, 2014
East Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
211 Lick Creek Lane
May 15, 2014
North Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
221 Milton Road
July 17, 2014
Stanford L. Warren, Large Meeting Room
1201 Fayetteville Street
September 18, 2014
Southwest Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
3605 Shannon Road
November 20, 2014
South Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
4504 S. Alston Avenue
January 15, 2015
Main Library, 1st Floor Auditorium
300 N. Roxboro St.
March 19, 2015
East Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
211 Lick Creek Lane
May 21, 2015
North Regional Library, Large Meeting Room
221 Milton Road
Board of Trustees Agendas
May 16, 2013 
March 21, 2013
January 17, 2013
November 15, 2012
September 20, 2012
July 19, 2012
May 17, 2012
March 15, 2012
January 19, 2012
November 15, 2011
September 20, 2011
August 16, 2011
May 17, 2011
March 17, 2011
January 27, 2011
November 9, 2010
September 21, 2010
July 20, 2010
May 18, 2010
March 16, 2010
January 5, 2010
No December meeting
November 3, 2009
October 6, 2009
September 1, 2009
August 11, 2009
June 2, 2009
May 5, 2009
April 7, 2009
March 3, 2009
November 11, 2008
October 14, 2008
No September Meeting
August 12, 2008
July 8, 2008
June 10, 2008
April 15, 2008
March 11, 2008
Board of Trustees Minutes
January 17, 2013
November 15, 2012
September 20, 2012
July 19, 2012
May 17, 2012
March 15, 2012
January 19, 2012
November 15, 2011
September 20, 2011
August 16, 2011
May 17, 2011
March 17, 2011
January 27, 2011
November 9, 2010
September 21, 2010
July 20, 2010
May 18, 2010
March 16, 2010
January 5, 2010
November 3, 2009
October 6, 2009
September 1, 2009
August 11, 2009
July 7, 2009
June 2, 2009
May 5, 2009
April 7, 2009
March 3, 2009
February 3, 2009
January 13, 2009
No December Meeting
November 11, 2008
October 14, 2008
No September Meeting
August 12, 2008
July 8, 2008
June 10, 2008
May 13, 2008
April 15, 2008
March 11, 2008
February 12, 2008
December 11, 2007
November 13, 2007
October 9, 2007
September 11, 2007
August 14, 2007
July 10, 2007
June 12, 2007
June 5, 2007
April 10, 2007
March 13, 2007
February 13, 2007
January 9, 2007
December 12, 2006
November 14, 2006
October, 10, 2006
September 12, 2006
August 8, 2006
July 18, 2006
June 20, 2006
May 16, 2006
April 18, 2006
March 21, 2006
March 7, 2006
February 21, 2006
January 24, 2006
December 19, 2005
November 21, 2005
October 19, 2005
Trustees’ Award
Each year the Library Board of Trustees presents a Trustees’ Award to a staff member who exemplifies one (or all) of the following attributes:
- Exceptional service
- Creativity
- Dedication to increasing the public’s perception of the library
- Helpfulness in assisting other staff members
- Reliability
- And any other attribute that makes this Durham County Library staff member a valuable employee!
Members of the public are invited to participate by nominating a staff member. Nomination forms are available online and at every library location during the nomination period. The Trustees’ Award is presented at the November Staff Development Day.
Trustees’ Award Winners
2012 Amy Godfrey
2011 Bashiru Ettu
2010 Patrick Holt
2009 Kathi Sippen
2008 Priscilla Barbee
2007 Jennifer Lohmann
2006 Michelle Geyer
2005 Angela Pridgen
2004 Jan Seabock
2003 Wanda Lunsford
2002 Nelly Soto
2001 Michael Henderson
2000 Carol Passmore
Last Update: December 5, 2012
