United for Libraries to host Oct. 17 webinar on ‘Troubled Library Boards’

BRYN MAWR, Pennsylvania — United for Libraries will present a webinar on “Troubled Library Boards: Prevention and Survival” at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Troubled library boards are increasingly common. Serving on a troubled board is stressful, and it can take the focus away from a board’s primary mission. What essential practices can prevent or minimize board problems? When a board does become dysfunctional, how can those involved survive and create change?

The webinar will be led by Sally Gardner Reed, former executive director of United for Libraries; Trustee Jo Beckwith of Illinois, and Stephen Bero; director of the Algonquin (Ill.) Public Library.

Participants will be invited to send in questions (anonymously if preferred) ahead of the webinar so that personal cases can be addressed during the question and answer period.

Webinar participants will learn:

• Best practices to prevent or minimize board problems.
• What can be done to get a wayward Trustee back on the right track.
• How to move forward as a high functioning team.

Sally Gardner Reed was the executive director of United for Libraries from 2002 to 2017. Prior to accepting this position, she spent nearly 20 years in library administration running small public libraries in New England and the Midwest, and most recently she was the director of the Norfolk (Va.) Public Library. Reed is the author of eight books on library management, advocacy, volunteers, and fundraising and numerous articles for professional library journals. She has presented programs and workshops to hundreds Friends of Library groups, boards of trustees, and librarian groups nationally and internationally. She is the 2000 recipient of ALA’s Herbert and Virginia White Award for promoting libraries and librarianship.

The cost of the webinar is $75, $50 United for Libraries members. To register, visit http://www.ala.org/united/training/webinars/troubledboards, call (800) 545-2433, ext. 5, or email registration@ala.org. Registration is limited for the live webinar.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. To join, please visit www.ala.org/united or call (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161.