LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Public Library Board of Trustees met on Monday to discuss the procedures for its annual reorganization and director evaluation with Town Counsel Tom Mullen.
Normally, the annual reorganization would have taken place a week after elections, according to Board of Trustees Chair Joe Gallagher. However, Gallagher said that it is common practice to postpone reorganization decisions when new members join the Boards of Trustees so they can get a sense of the Board and of the position.
Two new trustees were elected and took office in June, and the entire Board is made of members with only a few years in their position. So, they brought in the town counsel to advise them on the procedures related to reorganization and the Board’s responsibilities to the law and to the people of Lynnfield.
In general, the reorganization procedure follows Robert’s Rules of Order, the 19th century manual of “Parliamentary Procedure” that has been adapted the world over as a de facto standard for running governance meetings, from college fraternities to nation-state legislatures.
To reorganize, the Board first hears nominations for each position. Nominations require a single member to recommend a member for the position, and after nominations are heard, a vote is performed, where each member of the Board states their support for one of the nominees. The winner takes the seat.
In a small board like this one, board members often abide by an informal rotation of the leadership positions, and it was generally agreed by the Board at this meeting that they would follow this practice. This means that each year, the vice chair would become the chair, the secretary would become the vice chair, and the chair would become the secretary.
This informal rotation system is often used for small boards of dedicated members that don’t anticipate internal contest for any position. It is not a rule, and if there is internal contest, then the Board will default to the rules as written in the law.
The Library Director evaluation procedure produces public record of the Board’s yearly evaluation of the Library Director. Each board member submits their individual evaluation on a form for the chair to compile into an evaluation. Both the compilation and the individual submissions are public records available for anyone to review.
Once each member has submitted the evaluation form and the chair has produced a compiled evaluation, a public meeting is held with the director to discuss it. The director then acknowledges receipt of the evaluation in a process akin to a performance evaluation in a private workplace, where their acknowledgement does not necessarily indicate they agree with the findings but simply that they received them.
The Board of Trustees will perform the reorganization procedure at its next public meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14. After the selection of chair, vice chair, and secretary, there will be a review of the draft director evaluation form, alongside the written job description the library director operates under, to ensure the form is capable of accurately evaluating a director’s performance.
