Working as a board of five, the responsibilities of trustees can be divided into four general categories:

• Policy Development
• Finance
• Personnel
• Community & Public Relations

The duties and responsibilities of the library board and the library director may appear to overlap. Understanding the differences in function assures teamwork and better library service.

Boards should not run their libraries; they should see that they are run properly. Boards should not attempt to manage their libraries; they must see that the libraries are managed properly.

Policy determination and management are different roles:

• Policy determination relies heavily on the board's participation and knowledge.
• Management is the responsibility of the person hired by the library board to administer, direct, or run the library.

Cooperation is the key.

See the chart below for an illustration of this concept. At the Leadership level, boards and directors are in partnership to answer the question, “Where are we going and why?” At the Management and Task levels, the activities of the board and the director and staff are separated by a firewall. The board has their duties and the director and staff have their duties. If the board finds themselves discussing what type of printer the library should buy, they may be crossing the firewall. The chart was created by Pat Wagner of Pattern Research, Inc. and used with permission.

Board, Leadership and Staff Roles
The Board Governance Model

Remember Your Community!

From: Pat Wagner, Pattern Research, Inc.
303-778-0880; pat@pattern.com