LITA Manual Section 9 Business Meetings

Non-Program Scheduling
Open & Closed Meetings

LITA Manual Table of Contents


Board, Committee and Interest Group Scheduling (Non-Program)

  1. Division Board meetings are usually scheduled by the LITA Executive Director or the President.
  2. The LITA Executive Director consults the conference "basic" calendar distributed by ALA Conference Services (CS) to schedule divisional board meetings, the LITA President's Program, and the Orientation Forum.
  3. CS distributes the "preliminary" conference calendar to all committee, interest group and program chairs.
  4. Chairs fill out the Meeting Request Form received from the CS to schedule all meetings for which they are responsible. Chairs are responsible for meeting all scheduled deadlines.
  5. Chairs are responsible for consulting all subsequent CS-distributed schedules for schedule conflicts. If conflicts are detected, chairs should resolve them through the LITA Office. A conflict can be described in terms of subject or interrelationships of various units.
  6. Each chair is responsible for requesting all special equipment for the meeting using the Audio/Visual Equipment Request Form. All requests must meet the Conference Services deadline.
  7. Each chair is responsible for notifying all other members and invited guests of the committee/interest group of the time and place of scheduled meetings.
  8. Each chair is responsible for determining the meeting agenda, and informing committee/interest group members of all activity concerning the committee's or group's meetings.
  9. The chair should consult with the LITA Executive Director on any problems or questions, and at least six weeks prior to the conference if possible.

[Business Meetings Table of Contents]

Open and Closed Meetings

The American Library Association Council has adopted the following policy (7.4.3) concerning open and closed meetings at Conferences:

"All meetings of the American Library Association and its units are open to all members and to members of the press. Registration requirements apply. Closed meetings may be held only for the discussion of matters affecting the privacy of individuals or institutions."

  1. The chair may request a closed meeting on the Meeting Request Form distributed by Conference Services.
  2. The following are illustrations of types of discussions which should be held in closed session:
    1. review of staff performance
    2. nominations and appointments
    3. considerations of persons who may be employed as regular staff members or to work on special projects
    4. confidential data or information received from an individual or an institution
    5. scholarship or award winners or jury selections
  3. Chairs should consult with the LITA Executive Director to resolve any questions regarding the propriety of a closed vs. open meeting.

[Business Meetings Table of Contents]