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CHECKLIST OF DUTIES: LIRT NOMINATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
Nominations is a subcommittee of the Organization & Planning committee. The Nominations subcommittee prepares a slate of candidates for LIRT office, which is submitted to the LIRT Executive Board for approval. The Past President serves as a member of the Nominations subcommittee and serves as the liaison between the Executive Board and the LIRT ALA Liaison.
Nominations Guidelines:
The work of the Nominations Subcommittee is critical to the future of LIRT. The quality of LIRT leadership depends on the qualifications of candidates for office, their understanding of the offices’ roles and responsibilities, and the opportunity for candidates to represent themselves accurately in election materials. Therefore the Nominations Subcommittee should be guided in its work by the following:
- Confidentiality. Until the slate of nominees for an election has been approved by the LIRT Executive Board, the compilation of potential nominees by the subcommittee must remain confidential. This protects the privacy of individuals under discussion and yet allows the subcommittee to openly discuss nominees’ qualifications to ensure that the best possible candidates are selected. To this purpose, Nominations subcommittee meetings are an exception to ALA’s Open Meetings Policy (ALA Policy Manual 7.4.3) and are closed to everyone but LIRT Nominations subcommittee members. In addition, subcommittee members are cautioned against disclosing the names of potential nominees before the slate has been approved by the LIRT Executive Board, and under no circumstances should the subcommittee’s confidential discussions about nominees’ qualifications be divulged.
- Officer Rotation by Type of Library. Because LIRT’s mission is to serve librarians in all types of libraries, the leadership of LIRT must represent the various types of libraries – academic, public, school, special. Traditionally this was accomplished by rotating the three elected offices – Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer – sequentially among the types of libraries (with school and special libraries forming a single category). Because the subcommittee frequently has had difficulty in identifying qualified candidates from public, school, and special libraries (due to their smaller numbers among active LIRT members), the rotation procedures have been eliminated. The Nominations subcommittee should, whenever possible, select candidates that will maintain broad representation on the Executive Board.
- Qualifications of Candidates. A candidate for office must have an understanding of LIRT’s mission and activities and therefore must have been active in LIRT (e.g., through committee membership) within the last three years. In addition, a candidate should have demonstrated successful leadership through chairing a LIRT committee and/or serving on the LIRT Steering Committee. Officers must be able to attend all ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences for the duration of their commitments.
- Identification of Potential Candidates. The process of developing an election slate begins in the preceding year, as early as Midwinter Conference, if possible. Nominations are solicited from Steering Committee, through the online Nomination Recommendation form on the LIRT web page, and through an announcement in the June issue of LIRT News. At Annual Conference the new Nominations subcommittee compiles a list of nominees for each of the three offices to be filled at the next election, including nominees identified by subcommittee members. For each office, the Subcommittee discusses the nominees’ qualifications and then ranks the nominees. Each of the three ranked lists is assigned to a subcommittee member, who then contacts the nominees, one at a time and in rank order, to offer the candidacy, until two nominees have accepted. Before accepting, nominees must be fully informed of the roles and responsibilities of the office for which they are nominated, particularly the duration of their commitment, if elected, and the requirement to attend all ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences during that commitment. Once two nominees have accepted the candidacy for an office, their names are forwarded to the subcommittee chair. The Past President submits the final slate of candidates to the LIRT Executive Board (via the LIRT-E listserv) for approval. This process should be completed by early September so that the slate of two candidates for each office is ready to present to ALA by September 15. Meanwhile, information about nominees who declined the candidacy and why, as well as the remainder of the ranked list, should be maintained and passed on to the next Nominations subcommittee chair.
TIMELINE OF DUTIES
Note: The Nominations Chair should also refer to the Committee Chair checklist for the timeline of duties that apply to all committee chairs. That checklist should be used in conjunction with this one.
BETWEEN MIDWINTER AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE (Approximately one year before election)
_____ The Nominations subcommittee elects a person to propose as chair for the following year. The committee will submit this name to the Vice-President, who will then submit the name to the Executive Board for approval._____ Nominations subcommittee members are appointed by the LIRT Vice-President.
_____ Verify subcommittee roster with Vice-President, and request additional subcommittee members if needed.
_____ Ask LIRT News Editor to include the call for nominations for LIRT officers (with link to online form) in the June issue of LIRT News (deadline is typically April 15).
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
_____ The Nominations subcommittee will meet in a closed session during the All Committees meeting to develop a preliminary list of candidates. For each office, the subcommittee discusses the nominees’ qualifications and then ranks the nominees. Each of the three ranked lists is assigned to a subcommittee member, who will contact the nominees.
POST ANNUAL CONFERENCE
_____ Contact committee chairs and current and former LIRT officers for additional information about nominees identified at June meeting, as necessary.
_____ Send messages to LIRT-L and LIRT-S asking for nominations (including self-nominations) for LIRT offices. Include a link to the online Nomination Recommendation form.
_____ Each subcommittee member will contact the nominees on her list, one at a time and in rank order, to offer the candidacy, until two nominees have accepted. Before accepting, nominees must be fully informed of the roles and responsibilities of the office for which they are nominated, particularly the duration of their commitment, if elected, and the requirement to attend all ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences during that commitment. Once two nominees have accepted the candidacy for an office, their names are forwarded to the subcommittee chair.
_____ Remind the LIRT President that the Nominations subcommittee needs to be scheduled as a closed meeting that is limited to Nominations subcommittee members. The meeting should be scheduled in a separate room from the All Committees meeting. The LIRT ALA Liaison will usually contact the President for meeting room requests in August or September.
_____ The Past President will submit the final slate to the Executive Board for approval. Once the slate is approved, the Past President will forward it to the LIRT ALA Liaison. The slate is typically due to the LIRT ALA Liaison by September 15.
BETWEEN ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND MIDWINTER
_____ ALA sends each candidate a Candidate Information Form with a deadline of ALA Midwinter. Forms are returned to ALA directly. The LIRT ALA Liaison should send the Nominations chair and the Past President a copy of the ballot for verification.
_____ Notify subcommittee of Midwinter meeting time and send an agenda.
MIDWINTER MEETING
_____ Consult with all candidates to make sure they have submitted the Candidate Biographical Information Forms to ALA and answer any questions.
_____ The Nominations subcommittee will meet in a closed session at Midwinter conference to brainstorm possible candidates for LIRT offices.
POST MIDWINTER MEETING_____ Submit LIRT officer candidates’ names, personal information, and statements for the March issue of LIRT News by deadline (typically February 15).
_____ The Past President will submit any LIRT bylaws changes for the March issue of LIRT News by deadline (typically February 15).
BETWEEN MIDWINTER AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE
_____ Ask LIRT News Editor to include the call for nominations for LIRT officers (with link to online form) in the June issue of LIRT News (deadline is typically April 15).
_____ Send letter to all candidates telling them when meetings will occur at Annual Conference and giving them information about what will be expected of them.
_____ Notify subcommittee of Annual conference meeting time(s) and send an agenda.
_____ Obtain election results from LIRT ALA Liaison (the results are typically posted in May). Notify LIRT President and Vice-President.
_____ Current LIRT President will notify all candidates and announce election results to LIRT-S and LIRT-L.
_____ Send Electronic Resources Manager contact information for newly elected LIRT officers.
_____ Write and submit the subcommittee’s annual report to the President by June 1, copying all members of the subcommittee.ANNUAL CONFERENCE
_____ The Nominations subcommittee will meet in a closed session to develop a preliminary list of candidates. Refer to the beginning of this checklist for procedures.
POST-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
_____ Send a thank you letter or e-mail to each subcommittee member.
_____ Review and revise this checklist as needed (send comments to Past President).
Return to LIRT Manual Table of Contents
Contact Billie Peterson-Lugo (Billie_Peterson@baylor.edu) about these pages.
Last Updated: Content: 26 July 2004 -- Billie Peterson-Lugo; Graphics: 15 April 2001-- Jana Ronan