Legal History and Rare Books SIS

Bylaws

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES LEGAL HISTORY AND RARE BOOK SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

Article I: NAME

Section 1.
The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Legal History and Rare Book SIS.

Article II: OBJECT

Section 1.
The object of the Legal History and Rare Book SIS Special Interest Section shall be:

a. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on legal history and rare books librarianship; and

b. To represent its members' interests and concerns within AALL.

Section 2.
The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Section 1.
Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Legal History and Rare Book Special Interest Section as provided in the AALL Bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

Article IV: MEETINGS

Section 1.
There shall be an annual meeting of the Legal History and Rare Book SIS held in connection with, or during the annual meeting of AALL. The scheduling of the annual meeting during the annual meeting of AALL shall be cleared with the Convention Program Chairperson or as otherwise provided in the AALL Bylaws. Meetings shall be open to all members of the Association (AALL), but no person may vote in any meeting who is not a Section member in good standing.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers
The officers shall consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer.

Section 2. Duties of Officers
The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and the Secretary/Treasurer shall perform duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the Section's Executive Committee or membership.

Section 3. Terms
The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and Secretary/Treasurer shall serve a one-year term. The Vice-Chair shall succeed the Chair at the end of the one-year term in which he or she serves as Vice-Chair.A new Vice-Chair/Chair-elect and Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected every year.

Section 4. Executive Committee
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past chair.

Section 5. Committees
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership, shall create.

Section 6. Vacancies
The occurrence of a vacancy in the position of Chair shall be filled by the succession of the present Vice-Chair/Chair-elect to serve as Chair until the next scheduled election of Section officers. A vacancy in the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-elect or Secretary/Treasurer shall be filled by appointment of the Executive Committee.

Article VI: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1.
The Executive Board shall serve as the nominating committee. The Vice Chair/Chair-elect will serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee.

Section 2.
The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates for the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer, together with their written acceptances, to the chairperson in sufficient time to enable the chairperson to inform the members of the Section of the nomination prior to February 1, either by publication in the AALL Newsletter, the SIS newsletter or by mail.

Section 3.
In the event that the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chair and such fact is known prior to January 1, the Nominating Committee shall also submit to the current Chair of the committee the names of candidates for the office of Chair for the term of one year to appear on the ballot with the candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer. If such fact becomes known after January 1, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member of the section to serve for one year as Chair.

Section 4. Ballots
The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot to be used in an email election or within the AALL Online Election System.

Section 5.
The Secretary/Treasurer shall email ballots to the membership no later than March 7, or file the official ballot within the AALL Online Election System no later than March 1. Elections conducted within the AALL Online Election System will begin no later than March 7.

Section 6. Voting.
Voting – Election voting conducted via email or the AALL Online Election System will end no later than March 31.

Section 7.
The Secretary/Treasurer will compile email ballots, or record votes compiled via the AALL Online Election System, by April 14.

Section 8.
The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for a position shall be declared elected to that position.

Section 9.
In case of a tie vote, the successful candidate shall be determined by lot conducted by the Section's Executive Committee.

Section 10.
Destruction of Ballots – For elections conducted via email, if there are no challenges to the results of the election, email ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary/Treasurer after the annual meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1.
These bylaws may be amended at the annual meeting of the Section by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Proposed bylaws changes must be approved by the AALL Bylaws Committee before being voted upon by Section members.

Section 2.
Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section's members, or be published in the Section's newsletter, 30 days in advance of the meeting.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Section 1.
The Leqal History and Rare Books SIS shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries. The rules of order mandated by the Association's bylaws shall govern all deliberations of the Section: Sturgis' Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, in the latest edition.

Last updated June 25, 2010.

As are all web sites, the LHRB-SIS's web page is a work-in-progress. Please do not hesitate to send any suggestions to Kurt Metzmeier, kurt.metzmeier@louisville.edu.