• Trustee Home
• Jumpstart for New Trustees
• MHLS Support for Your Board
• Checklist for Effective Trustees
  
  Contents
• Across the Board Archives
• Roles & Responsibilities
• Board Consultations
  
• Board Organization
• Board Meetings
• Budgets and Finance
• Continuing Education
• Facilities
• Friends of the Library
• Intellectual Freedom, Censorship and Privacy
• Laws and Regulations
• Library Network in New York State
• Orientation of New Trustees
• Personnel
• Planning and Evaluation
• Policies
• Public Relations and Advocacy
• Risk Management
• Selection of Trustees
• Technology

[Site Map]

Trustee Duties and Responsibilities

From the Handbook for Library Trustees

To act for someone else's benefit with special responsibilities for the administration, investment of assets that belong to someone else. -- New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation Law

• A trustee is a person to whom property is legally committed in trust. A library trustee's commitment is to both the physical property and resources of the library and to the services it provides. The library board has the final responsibility to see that its library provides the best possible service to its community. In the words of New York's Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, Directors and officers shall discharge the duties of their respective positions in good faith and with that degree of diligence, care and skill which ordinarily prudent men would exercise under similar circumstances in like positions.

• The duties of trustees are broad in scope. They are: continue reading
  

Do You Know?

• Important points Public Library Trustees need to know about Roles & Responsibilities

Additional Resources

• Handbook for Library Trustees of New York State, 2005 Edition
  • Request complimentary copy from MHLS
• Public Library Trustees and Oaths of Office
• Ethics Statement for Public Library Trustees
• Statement on the Governance Role of a Trustee or Board Member [University of the State of New York]
• NYS Public Officers Law
• Sample Mission Statements
• "Who Runs the Library?" [Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction, Public Library Development]
• "What are the responsibilities of individual board members?" [BoardSource]
  • Job Description of the Board Chair [BoardSource]
  • Job Description of the Board Treasurer [BoardSource]
  • Job Description of the Secretary [BoardSource]
• Results Oriented Job Description for Trustees [Idaho State Library]
• Insurance Policy Checklist