County Appointee to System Board of Central Kansas Library System
Regional Library Systems
Kansas is divided into seven geographical regional library systems (“regional systems of cooperating libraries”). Systems exist to help local libraries provide adequate library services to all citizens of the state. Each regional library system is governed by a system board.
Board composition
The boards of regional library systems consist of one representative of each member library and one county appointee from each county levying the system tax.
Executive Board
Most duties of the system board are delegated to executive boards as authorized by K.S.A. 75-2550a, due to the large size of system boards (over 100 members in some regions). Adoption of the annual budget is the only duty which by statute may not be delegated to executive boards.
Duties
The one legal duty of the county appointee is to participate in meetings of the full system board. Regional library systems have one or two system board meetings annually.
County appointees are also encouraged to
- Attend library meetings within the county
- Attend system workshops
- Communicate the needs for library service and concerns of residents to the system director and executive board
- Advocate for improvement of library services
Finally, if a county appointee wishes to be more actively involved, they are eligible for election to the executive board subject to system bylaws.
Qualifications
The county appointee must be a resident of the regional library system taxing district; that is, within a county in which the regional library system levies taxes but outside the district of any local legally established public library.
Appointment and term of County Appointees
Appointment is made by county commissions. Terms are for four years.
Individual counties may have established procedures for applying for appointment. In general, a letter of interest and a resume should be submitted. Those interested may also make the director of their local library aware of their interest, as nominations may be solicited from libraries within the county. County clerks should notify regional library systems when appointments to the system board are made, and must certify the names and addresses of appointees to the State Librarian. Please forward the name and contact information to CKLS, 1409 Williams, Great Bend KS 67530
Communications
County Appointees will have email communication from the system director, and have access to all blog posts, newsletters and social media communications of each system to help them become and stay well informed about the system. Some systems will have email listservs for general communication and/or specific listservs for county appointees.
Application Form— the county commission may use in its efforts to find a rural resident that would consent to such a position. A library in the county may know of a perfect candidate for the position and could submit such a form for your consideration. Of course, you may already have a method for filling such a volunteer position; that is perfectly fine.