submitted by:
Susan Gardner, District Consultant
Easton Area Public Library

On May 4, 2018 the Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and Reading Library districts held their annual  Library Trustee Workshop. The title of the workshop was The Roles & Duties of Library Trustees, Directors, Staff, & Library Stakeholders. Our speaker for the day was Pat Wagner of Pattern Research, Inc. of Denver Colorado.

Wagner spoke to a group of 49 library trustees, directors, and staff.  She presented her Governance Model,* emphasizing the importance of a strategic plan that takes into account the relationship between the library and the community. She also spoke about the importance of library boards thinking about the future.

Pat discussed her “3 points organizational view,” which includes task, supervision & management, and leadership levels. Areas of emphasis were about who makes a successful board member, and the roles of the library board, library director, and library staff.

Wagner explained that the board evaluates the library’s progress using goals and evaluation criteria, which are negotiated with the library director.  She said that the day to day management of the library is the business of the director and staff.  The board does not interfere with the duties of the staff.

The handout includes guidelines for a successful board meeting, stating the importance of being concise, sharing speaking time, and staying productive and focused during the meeting.

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*Pat Wagner has gratiously given permssion to share the handout The Governance Model In Brief with readers of the Compendium.

This training is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, Governor.