ARLIS/NA CENTRAL PLAINS CHAPTER

BYLAWS

Bylaws last Revised Oct. 12, 2001

Article. I Name.

The name of the organization shall be Art Libraries Society of North America, Central Plains Chapter, hereafter referred to as ARLIS/CP.

Article II. Purpose.

A.     The organization shall promote the purposes of ARLIS/NA within the five-state region of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas.

B.     The organization will be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, in order to advance the cause of art and visual resources librarianship and to promote the development, good management, and enlightened use of all art libraries and visual resources collections. In furtherance of such purpose, the organization is authorized:

1. To promote the continuing professional education of its members and the general       knowledge of the public by sponsoring conferences, seminars, lectures, workshops, and other  exchanges of information and materials concerning all aspects of art librarianship and visual  resources curatorship;  

2. To stimulate greater use of art libraries and visual resources collections by sponsoring,  supporting, or publishing resources (in print or electronic form), directories, web sites, bibliographies, inventories, periodical journals, occasional papers, reports, and related materials concerning the organization, preservation and retrieval of art information; 

3. To foster excellence in art librarianship and the visual arts by establishing standards for art libraries and visual resources collections, by promoting improvements in the academic and continuing education of art and visual resources librarians, by sponsoring awards for outstanding achievement, and by other means to that end; 

4. To engage in any activities conducive to furthering the organization's purposes, provided that such activities may be lawfully carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax under sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, or the corresponding provision of any future United States internal revenue law.  

C.     The following charitable activity restrictions apply to the purposes of ARLIS/CP:  

1. No part of the net income of the organization shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its directors, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services actually rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes and objects of this organization. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

2. Notwithstanding any other provisions set forth in these Articles of Incorporation (or constitution), at any time during which it is deemed a private foundation, the organization shall not engage in any act of self-dealing as defined in Section 4941(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws; the organization shall not make any investments in such manner as to subject the organization to the tax imposed by Section 4944 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent tax laws; and the organization shall not make any taxable expenditures as defined in Section 4945(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.  

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles (or constitution), the organization shall not conduct or carry on any activities not permitted to be conducted or carried on by an organization exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent tax laws, or by an organization’s contributions which are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of such code, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

Article III. Membership.

A.     Eligibility.

1. Membership is open to all interested individuals upon payment of Chapter dues.  

2. The Chapter encourages membership from library and visual resources staff members of art museums, art schools, art and architecture departments of colleges, universities and public libraries; and, also, from related institutions, businesses, special libraries and other interested agencies, as well as, students in M.L.S. or art history M.A. programs.

B.     Dues.

1.      Dues shall be proposed by the Executive Committee and shall be ratified by member vote at

the last meeting of the calendar year. Life-membership is available at the dues rate set by the Executive Committee . Members of  ARLIS/CP may become chapter life members for a one-time payment. Life membership in ARLIS/CP will include all the benefits of regular chapter membership.

2.      Dues shall be paid to the Secretary-Treasurer.

3.      Membership shall be from January 1 to December 31.

4.      The chapter shall have the right to propose additional fees for specified projects, subject to the approval of the membership.

5.      New members joining the Chapter after October 1 shall have their dues applied to the following year.

C.     Privileges.

1.      Members of the Chapter may vote, serve on committees and participate in all Chapter activities.

2.      All members shall be entitled to receive announcements of Chapter meetings and minutes and other notices of general interest to the membership.

Article IV. Officers.

A.     Elected Officers of ARLIS/CP shall be:

1.      Chair.

2.      Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect.

3.      Secretary/Treasurer.

B.     Nominating Committee.

The Chair shall call for volunteers or appoint a nominating committee of at least two but no more than five persons. The committee shall submit a slate of qualified candidates to be voted upon by the membership. 

C.     Qualifications for Office.

1.      Any current member of ARLIS/CP and ARLIS/NA* may hold office.

a.       *"The chapter may choose to underwrite full or partial cost of an ARLIS/NA membership for its officer(s) but ARLIS/NA will not fund the cost of Society membership for its chapter officers." ARLIS/NA Policy Manual, Sec. 3, p. 33.

b.      The Nominating Committee will seek subsidy approval from the Executive Committee before placing a candidate’s name on the ballot.

c.       The Executive Committee will determine and approve, or not, the need for full or partial subsidy of a potential candidate.

2.      Candidates must file a written acceptance of their nomination with the Nominating Committee.

D.     Elections.

1.      Officers shall be elected by a simple majority of ballots cast by the members.

2.      Elections of officers shall take place at least two months before the term of office is to commence.

E.      Terms of Office.

1.      The term of office of the Chair and the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall be for one calendar year each.

a.       A Chair unable to complete the term of office shall notify the Executive Committee, who will then instruct the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect to assume the full Chair duties.

1)      In the case of more than ½ of an expired term remaining, the Executive Committee shall call for a special election to fill the un-expired term of the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect.

2)      If less than ½ of a term remains, the Executive Committee may appoint a replacement for the then vacant office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect or leave it unfilled until the next election.

b.      A Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect unable to complete the term of office shall notify the Executive Committee, who will then follow 1) and 2) of the above procedure.

2.      The term of office of the Secretary/Treasurer shall be for two calendar years.

a.       A Secretary/Treasurer unable to complete the full term of office shall notify the Executive Committee.

b.      The procedures stated in E.1.a.1) and 2) above should then be followed.

F.      Duties of Officers.

1.      Chair.

The Chair shall act as the chief executive officer of ARLIS/CP, shall assist the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect in the planning of the activities of ARLIS/CP and shall be the chair of all special project committees of ARLIS/CP.

2.      Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect.

The Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall act as chief executive officer in the event the Chair is unable to serve, shall act as program chair, assisting the host library in planning, and shall be responsible for sending, or delegating to the host library the sending, of all announcements of meetings to the membership.

3.      Secretary/Treasurer.

a.       The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for all documents and correspondence (other than the announcements of meetings), the keeping of minutes of the meetings, the handling of financial accounts of ARLIS/CP, and the drafting of annual reports.

b.      In January of each year, the Secretary/Treasurer shall send renewal notices to the membership.

Article V.  Executive Committee.

The elected officers and the immediate past Chair of ARLIS/CP shall constitute the Executive Committee.

Article VI. Meetings.

A.     Dates.

Meetings of ARLIS/CP shall be called by the Executive Committee. Meetings shall normally occur twice per calendar year, in the spring and fall.

B.     Announcements.

Announcements of the meetings shall be sent to the membership at least 30 days in advance of the meeting date.

Article VII. Reports.

A.     Annual Reports.

1.      Annual reports shall be drafted by the Secretary/Treasurer and shall be approved by the other members of the Executive Committee.

2.      Annual reports shall follow the guidelines set up by the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA.

B.     Meeting Reports.

The Secretary/Treasurer shall send reports of all meetings of ARLIS/CP to the editors of ARLIS/NA Update and the chapter newsletter, the chair, and the regional representative.

Article VIII. Committees.

A.     Special Committees.

Special project committees shall be appointed by the Executive Committee at the recommendation of the Chair of ARLIS/CP, or by written petition submitted to the Executive Committee by no less than five Chapter members.

B.     Standing Committees.

1.      Nominating Committee.

See Article IV. B. Above.

2.      Travel Awards Committee.

The Chair shall appoint a travel awards committee of two persons. The committee shall be responsible for keeping up with travel award guidelines from ARLIS/NA, informing the chapter members of the availability of travel awards and facilitating award granting procedures.

Article IX. Affiliation with other organizations.

Affiliation with other organizations in the five-state area shall be at the discretion of the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA and shall be in accordance with the guidelines supplied by that board.

Article X. Amendments.

A.     Amendments to the bylaws may be proposed by any voting member and shall be submitted to the Executive Committee in writing.

B.     The text of a proposed amendment shall be distributed to the voting membership at least two weeks prior to a business meeting at which a vote is planned.

C.     Approval of a two-thirds majority of voting members and the approval of the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA shall be necessary to amend the bylaws.

Article XI. Dissolution.

A.     Procedure for dissolution is explained in the current edition of ARLIS/NA Chapter Success Book.

B.     Upon the dissolution of the organization and the winding up of its affairs, the assets of the organization shall be distributed exclusively for charitable or educational purposes; or to organizations which are then exempt from federal tax under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws; and to which contributions are then deductible under Section 170 (c)(2) of such code, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws. Organizations having purposes similar to those of this organization shall be preferred.

Respectfully submitted,