RSS Bylaws
Article I. Name
Section 1.
The name of this organization shall be the Reference Services Section (RSS) of the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.
Article II. Objectives
Section 1. Purpose.
RSS will represent the interests of librarians and library support staff engaged in all aspects of reference and information services including the delivery, management, and evaluation of reference and user services in all kinds of libraries.
Section 2. Responsibilities.
The responsibilities of the section are: to conduct activities and projects within the section's areas of interest, to be a means of sharing experience and information among interested librarians from all types of libraries and information services, to seek to synthesize the activities of other units within the American Library Association that have a bearing on the management and provision of reference and user services, to represent the needs and interests of the wide diversity of library users.
Article III. Membership
Section 1.
Members of this Section shall be those members of the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association who designate RSS according the American Library Association Bylaws.
Article IV. Officers and Duties
Section 1. Officers.
The officers of the Section shall be a chair, a vice-chair who shall be chair-elect, and a secretary.
Section 2. Terms of Office.
All officers and elected members of the Executive Committee shall serve until the adjournment of the annual meeting at which their successors are announced. The terms of office for chair and vice-chair shall be one year; that for secretary shall be two years; that for members-at-large shall be three years.
Section 3. Duties.
The duties of the officers shall be those customarily performed by such officers as specified in Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures unless otherwise specified by vote of the Section.
Section 4. Vacancies of Office.
A vacancy in the office of chair shall be filled by the vice-chair, who will then complete both the terms of his/her predecessor and his/her own. In the case of a vacancy in both the offices of chair and vice-chair, or of the vacancy in the office of secretary, the Executive Committee shall appoint one of its members to serve until the next regular election.
Article V. Nominations and Election
Section 1. Nominating Committee.
The vice chair/chair-elect appoint a Nominating Committee of three members to present a slate of candidates for election to offices of the Section and for the elected members-at-large of the Executive Committee. No member of the Executive Committee may serve on the Nominating Committee.
Section 2. Nominations.
Slate. The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of two candidates for each office to be filled. The committee shall file the nominations and the written consent of the nominees with the Division's Executive Director who shall arrange for publication and distribution of the official ballot by the American Library Association.
Additional Nominations. Other nominations may be made by petition of 25 members of the Section, and submitted with the written consent of the nominee to the Executive Director of the Division at least four months before the annual conference of the American Library Association.
Eligibility. No person may be nominated who is not a personal member in good standing of the Section at the time of nomination.
Article VI. Meetings
Section 1. General Meetings.
If a business meeting is needed the executive committee shall designate a RSS program being given during annual conference to be the business meeting.
Section 2. Special Meetings.
Other meetings may be called by the Executive Committee or by the chair upon request of twenty-five members of the Section. Notice of at least one month shall be given, and only the business specified in the call for the meeting shall be transacted.
Section 3. Quorum.
Twenty-five members of the Section shall constitute a quorum.
Article VII. Executive Committee
Section 1. Composition.
The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers, the immediate past chair, and three members-at-large elected by and from the Section for three-year terms, which terms shall overlap so as to ensure continuity of policy. The section webmaster/archivist, the editor of the Section's column in the division's journal and the president and executive director of the Reference and User Services Association shall be ex-officio, non-voting members of the Executive Committee.
Section 2. Duties.
The Executive Committee shall act for and by the authority of the Section during the period between meetings. It shall report on its work at the regular meetings of the Section, and publish a summary of the Executive Committee's actions in the Section's column in the division's newsletter.
Section 3. Terms and Duties of the Support Group.
Webmaster/Archivist
The Webmaster/Archivist shall be appointed by the vice-chair for a two-year term and may be reappointed for a second term. The duties of the Webmaster/Archivist shall be to maintain the RSS website and maintain and preserve all archives, records, and related materials concerning the section and its activities.
Column Editor
The editor shall be appointed by the vice-chair for a two-year term and may be reappointed for a second term. The duties of the editor are to gather, solicit, write and edit copy for the quarterly section column according to the deadlines provided by the editor of RUSA Update (now a section within the Reference and User Services Quarterly), to establish deadline schedules for receiving copy from section officers and committee chairs and to circulate the schedule to appropriate persons.
Section 4. Meetings.
The Executive Committee shall meet at both the Annual Conference and the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association.
Section 5. Quorum.
A majority of voting members shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Committee.
Section 6. Vacancies of Office.
In the case of a vacancy in the Executive Committee not provided for in Article IV, Section 4, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member of the Section to fill the vacancy until the next regular election.
Article VIII. Committees
Section 1. Authorization and Discontinuance.
The Executive Committee or the membership of the Section by direction to the Executive Committee may create and dissolve all standing, special, and ad hoc committees, as defined by the American Library Association Handbook. Special and ad hoc committees shall continue to exist until their purpose is accomplished or the committee is discharged by the Section or the Executive Committee. Standing committees may be dissolved at the request of the committee or by action of the executive committee
Section 2. Duties.
The duties, name and size of a committee shall be determined at the time of its creation, but the Section executive committee may temporarily add any pertinent and relevant duties necessary to carry out the work of the Section. The duties name and size of committees may change with approval of the executive committee.
Section 3. Appointments.
Members. The vice-chair/chair-elect shall appoint those members of committees whose terms are to commence at the same time as he/she assumes the chair. The Section chair shall appoint members of committees formed during his/her term in office and shall make appointments to fill vacancies, which may occur during his/her term of office. Each committee appointee shall be a member of the Section at the time of appointment or be appointed provisionally, contingent upon becoming a member at the next opportunity.
Chair. The chair of committees shall be appointed in the same manner as members, except that no one shall serve concurrently as chairperson of a committee and member of the Executive Committee.
Section 4. Terms of Appointment.
Members. Members of standing committees shall be appointed for terms of two years, and may be re-appointed for one additional term. Members of special and ad hoc committees shall be appointed for terms of two years, or less depending upon the Committee's charge. Appointments shall be made in such a manner as to provide continuity in membership.
Chair. Chairs of committees shall be appointed by the section vice-chair/chair-elect for one-year terms and may be re-appointed for two additional terms.
Article IX. Discussion Groups
Section 1. Establishment.
Any group of 25 or more members of the Section interested in discussing common problems which fall within the purposes of the Section may form a discussion group upon written petition from the group to the Executive Committee of the Section and the Committee on Organization of the Division and upon approval by the Board of Directors of the Division. The petition shall include the purpose of the group and the requirements for membership. Petition signatures must be gathered during one meeting of the Section (either Annual Conference or Midwinter Meeting). In order to continue each discussion group shall petition for reestablishment every five years, following the procedure outlined in this section. One or more of the members-at-large shall be appointed as liaison to the discussion groups.
Section 2. Membership.
Membership is open to members of the Section who are interested in the purpose of the group.
Section 3. Officers.
Each group shall elect a chair annually at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association. The chair shall keep a roster of the members of the group, be responsible for all communication with them, preside at meetings of the group, and make a report to the Executive Committee of the Section after each meeting.
Section 4. Activities.
A discussion group may: meet together to discuss common problems; establish a means of communications among its members; recommend action to the Executive Committee of the Section; incur no expenses except as authorized and make no declaration of policy.
Section 5. Discontinuance.
Each group shall continue in existence until the group fails to gain the needed signatures for reestablishment as outlined in Section 1, above, or until it is dissolved by action of the Executive Committee.
Article X. Parliamentary Authority
Section 1.
The rules in the latest edition of Sturgis' Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures shall govern the Section in all cases to which they are applicable, provided they are not inconsistent with the Bylaws of the Division of the American Library Association.
Article XI. Amendments
Section 1.
Proposals. Amendments to the Bylaws shall be proposed by the Executive Committee or by petition of ten members of the Section.
Section 2. Notice.
The complete text of any proposed amendment shall accompany a mail ballot. In cases where a vote is to be taken at the annual meeting of the Section, the text of any proposed amendment shall be distributed to the membership of the Section not less than one month before the meeting at which it is to be acted upon.
Section 3. Voting.
A vote to amend the bylaws shall customarily be taken by mail. Amendments may also be presented for a vote at the annual meeting of the Section with notification as in Section 2 above. Bylaws amendments shall be passed by a majority of those members voting.
Section 4. Effective.
Unless otherwise specified, amendments to the Bylaws shall become effective upon their approval by the membership.
Article XII. Adoption and Review
Section 1.
These Bylaws shall be adopted and take effect immediately upon their approval by a two-thirds majority vote at an annual meeting of the Section. They shall be reviewed every five years after adoption by the Organization and Planning Committee.
Article XIII. General Provisions
Section 1.
Wherever these Bylaws make no specific provisions, the organization of and procedures in the Section shall correspond to those set forth in the Bylaws of the Reference and User Services Association.
Adopted June 1994, amended June 1997, amended June 2002, amended June 2003.
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