MN Library Association

The Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Library Association will be held on Thursday, October 7, at 5:00PM at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, MN during the MLA Annual Conference. Among the business to be conducted at the meeting, the membership will be voting on the following proposed amendments to the bylaws.

Please review the proposed changes on the MLA website. You will find a version with the proposed revisions highlighted and a “clean” amended version at http://mnlibraryassociation.org/about-mla/bylaws-and-organization. If someone you know does not have access to the online versions, please direct him or her to contact Melissa Palank, MLA Executive Director, by phone at 651-999-5343 or by mail at 1821 University Avenue West, Suite S256, St. Paul, MN 55104 for a print copy.

The most significant changes are highlighted below.

• At the suggestion of the Membership Committee, the board has recommended consolidating institutional and sustaining memberships into one category called “organizational memberships.” There are currently no sustaining memberships. The Membership Committee has also recommended a change to a “rolling” membership year. Please see Articles 1.1.5 and 1.2.
• The language for the term of service and the duties of the Legislative Committee Chair has been clarified. (Article 3.4) In addition, the role of the immediate past president has been clarified (Article 3.6).
• The role of the MLA Executive Director and location of office has been clarified (Article 4).
• The revised bylaws incorporate changes in technology and better reflect current practices, particularly in the committee structure, e.g., some designated standing committees such as the Planning and Development Committee and Continuing Education Committee have been deleted. The Board retains the ability to appoint ad-hoc committees for special purposes. (Article 9.15)
• The language about what constitutes a “mail” ballot has been clarified in accordance with the resolution that the membership passed year. (Article 11)

Please contact Lynne Young, MLA Secretary, at 507-645-1801, Melissa Palank at 651-999-5343, or me with questions or comments prior to the meeting.

Sincerely,

Kathleen James, MLA President