BY-LAWS

PREAMBLE

The Central Islip Public Library is a school district public library established pursuant to the Education Law of the State of New York. The Board of Trustees operates by authority of, in accordance with, and pursuant to Charter No. 10984, granted to the Central Islip Public Library by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, and sections 253-268 of the Education Law of the State of New York.

ARTICLE 1 – BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Section 1. The Central Islip Public Library shall be governed by a five- member Board of Trustees.

Section 2. One Trustee each year shall be elected by the voters of the Central Islip Union Free School District for a term of five (5) years, pursuant to the Election Laws of the State of New York, at the time of the annual vote on the Library budget.

ARTICLE II – OFFICERS

Section 1. The Officers of the Board shall be as follows:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary

Section 2. The President, Vice President and Secretary shall be elected at the annual reorganization meeting.

Section 3. The Trustees shall appoint a Recording Secretary and a Treasurer who may be salaried.

ARTICLE III – DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section 1. a) The President shall preside at meetings of the Board, and shall appoint the member of committees. The President shall be an ex officio member of the committees.

b) The President shall certify all bills and warrants approved for payment by the Board, and authorize the sending of notices for any special meetings, and generally perform the duties of a president office.

c) The President shall present an agenda for each meeting.

Section 2. The Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President in the President’s absence.

Section 3. The Secretary shall have charge of the records of the Board and be responsible for a true and accurate account of all proceeding of Board meetings. In the absence of the President and Vice President, the Secretary shall preside over meetings and perform all duties of the President.

Section 4. The Recording Secretary shall take the minutes of all regular Board meetings and shall provide a draft of said minutes to the Secretary in a timely manner prior to approval or amendment at the next meeting.

Section 5. The Treasurer shall keep an account of all Library funds and shall maintain all official financial records of the Library, shall keep an accurate account of all payments and disbursements there from, and shall provide the Board with such financial reports as it may from time to time require.

Section 6. The authority of each Board member is limited to the extent that no member or members shall act for, or on behalf of, the Board without the express authorization of the Board of Trustees.

Section 7. In the event any Trustee should resign, or cease to become a qualified voter of the Central Islip Union Free School District, or in the event of death, the office shall be declared vacant. Such a vacancy may be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Board until the next regular election, as set forth in Education Law 226 (4).

Section 8. If any Library Trustee shall fail to attend three (3) consecutive meetings, he shall be declared to have resigned pursuant to 226 (4) of the New York State Education Law at the next regular meeting following the third consecutive absence unless the majority of all trustees consider the absence excusable.

ARTICLE IV – THE DIRECTOR

Section 1. The Board of Trustees shall appoint a qualified Director, pursuant to the regulations of the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service.

Section 2. The Director shall be the executive officer of the Library, shall administer the policies adopted by the Board, and shall have sole charge of the administration of the Library under the direction and review of the board.

Section 3. The Director shall attend the meetings of the Board and may take part in the deliberations, but shall have no vote on any matter under consideration.

Section 4. The Director shall submit monthly reports to the Board as to the conditions and progress of the Library, together with recommendations and suggestions the Director may deem proper.

Section 5. The Director shall be responsible for overseeing the care of the building and equipment, and shall make recommendations for staff appointments to the Board, and shall assign staff members such duties as are deemed expedient for the efficient operation of the library.

ARTICLE V – MEETINGS

Section 1. The regular monthly meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held on the last Wednesday of each month at the library at 6:00pm, or at such other time and place as may be determined by a majority of the Board members present at the previous meeting.

Section 2. Special meetings of the Board may be called by the President or upon the request of any trustee. However, all official actions will be voted on at the next regular meeting.

Section 3. Notice of the time and place of all Board meetings shall be mailed no less than five (5) days prior to the meeting to all trustees and shall state the business to be transacted.

Section 4. A quorum for Board meetings shall be three (3) trustees.

Section 5. The annual reorganization meeting shall be held in June.

Section 6. The Board of Trustees allows ten minutes during a regular meeting for a period of “Public Expression”. During this portion of the meeting, speakers should introduce themselves by complete name, state their disposition as a resident of Central Islip School District or not, limit their presentation to 3 minutes (not dependent on other attendees speaking).Trustees and the Library Director need not respond in any way to the presenter. The Board reserves the right to limit guest involvement to this ten minute period of expression.

ARTICLE VI – COMMITTEES

Section 1. The entire Board may serve in lieu of standing committees.

Section 2. The President may appoint special committees and their chairman

at any time from among the members of the Board.

Section 3. All committee appointments expire with the call to order of the June reorganization meeting.

ARTICLE VII – FINANCIAL

Section 1. The fiscal year of the library shall be from July 1 through June 30.

Section 2. The Treasurer shall be authorized to sign all payroll checks and all checks prepared for disbursements. All checks issued for an amount equal to twenty- thousand dollars ($20,000.00) or more shall require a second signature by a member of the Board of Trustees of the Central Islip Public Library who has been designated as a signatory for that account. The Board will receive disbursement and payroll warrants on a monthly basis for review and approval.

ARTICLE VIII – AMENDMENTS

Section 1. These by-laws may be amended at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Trustees by a majority vote, provided that specific notice of any proposed change shall have been given in writing to all members prior to the date of meeting, or by unanimous vote of all Trustees in the absence of such prior notice.

ARTICLE IX – PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE

Section 1. The latest revision of Roberts Rules of Order shall be the authority for all questions involving parliamentary procedure.

Adopted January 26, 1988, Rev. 05/2008, Rev. 9/2023