Bylaws

Adopted 1974; Amended, 1975; Revised, 1984, 1988, 2014, 2020.

Article I. Name

This organization, a chapter of ARLIS/NA (Art Libraries Society/North America), shall hereby be referred to as ARLIS/NA New England.

Article II. Purposes

The organization is organized and will be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, in order to advance the cause of art librarianship and to promote the development, good management, and enlightened use of all art libraries and visual resources collections. In furtherance of such purpose, the organization is authorized:

(a) To promote the continuing professional education of its members and the general knowledge of the public by sponsoring conferences, seminars, lectures, workshops, and other exchanges of information and materials concerning all aspects of art librarianship and visual resources curatorship;

(b) To stimulate greater use of art libraries and visual resources collections by sponsoring, supporting or publishing resources directories, bibliographies, inventories, periodical journals, papers, reports and related materials concerning the organization and retrieval of art information;

(c) To foster excellence in art librarianship and the visual arts by establishing standards for art libraries and visual resources collections, by promoting improvements in the academic education of art librarians and visual resources curators, by sponsoring awards for outstanding achievement, and by other means to that end;

(d) To engage in any activities conducive to furthering the organization’s purposes, provided that such activities may lawfully be carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended (or the corresponding provision of any future United States internal revenue law).

Article III. Membership

  1. Eligibility.

Membership in the Chapter is open to all individual members of ARLIS/NA. Non-members of ARLIS/NA may join as Friends of the Chapter upon payment of membership dues.

  1. Categories

    Membership categories include Individual, Student, Retired, and Friend of the Chapter. 
  2. Privileges

(a) Only individual, student, and retired members in good standing of ARLIS/NA are entitled to vote and are eligible to hold office in the Chapter. Friends of the Chapter may not vote or hold office.

(b) All members shall be entitled to receive announcements of meetings of the Chapter and other notices of general interest to the membership, attend all meetings of all bodies of the Chapter, and participate in Chapter activities.

  1. Dues.

(a) Changes in dues shall be proposed by the Executive Committee and shall be ratified by a plurality member vote.

(b) Dues shall be paid annually, either through a bundled ARLIS/NA and Chapter membership, or directly through the chapter website. 

(c) The membership year shall be from January 1 to December 31.

(d) The Chapter shall have the right to impose additional fees upon the membership for specified projects subject to the approval of a simple majority of the total membership.

Article IV. Officers

  1. The elected officers of the Chapter shall be the Chair, Past-Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Secretary, Public Relations Officer & Web Support, and Treasurer.
  2. Nominating Committee. The Chair shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least three persons. The Committee shall submit a slate of qualified candidates to be voted upon by the membership. If necessary, the Executive Committee may serve in this capacity.
  3. Qualifications for office. Any personal member may hold office and must accept the nomination in writing.
  4. Elections. Officers shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast by the voting members.
  5. Terms of office. The term of office of the Chair, the Past-Chair, and the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall be one year. The term of office of the Secretary and the Treasurer shall be two years, beginning in alternating years. In the event the 2-year terms of the Secretary and the Treasurer come to coincide rather than alternate in years, in the following election the term of the Treasurer can be set to one year in order to restore the alternating schedule. The term of office of the Public Relations Officer & Web Support shall be 2 years beginning in the 1st year of the Secretary’s term (in order that the Secretary and Public Relations Officer serve two consecutive years together).Terms of office begin in January and run through the calendar year.
  6. Duties of officers.

The Chair shall act as chief executive officer of the Chapter, plan the activities of the Chapter, be a member ex-officio of all special project committees of the Chapter, and be responsible for the drafting of the reports following the guidelines set up by ARLIS/NA.

The Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall assist the Chair, act as chief executive officer in the event the Chair is unable to serve, coordinate fundraising as needed, and assist with general functions of the Executive Committee.

The Past-Chair shall serve an advisory role, as needed, during the year following their term as Chair and assist with general functions of the Executive Committee. 

The Secretary shall be responsible for all documents such as the keeping of minutes of the meetings of the Chapter and assists with general functions of the Executive Committee

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the handling of all financial accounts, will maintain the membership records, and assist with general functions of the Executive Committee.

The Public Relations Officer & Web Support shall be responsible for the chapter’s social media accounts and website, will collaborate with the Executive Committee on activities which cultivate membership (such as attending local area library schools to represent the chapter at appropriate times and periodically reviewing lists of regional art libraries in order to target potential members), and will assist with general functions of the Executive Committee.

If the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Public Relations Officer & Web Support, Secretary, or Treasurer becomes vacant, a special election shall be held promptly.

Notwithstanding any other provision of these Bylaws the organization shall not conduct or carry on any activities not permitted to be conducted on by an organization exempt from tax under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws, or by an organization contributions to which are to be deductible under Section 170(c) (2) of such Code or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

Article V. Executive Committee

  1. The elected officers shall constitute the Executive Committee.
  2. At Executive Committee meetings, only members of the Executive Committee shall have voting privileges.
  3. The Past-Chair shall be asked to break deadlocks.
  4. A meeting of the retiring and newly elected Executive Committees shall take place in January.

Article VI. Meetings

  1. Meetings of the Chapter shall be called by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will determine the frequency of the meetings.
  2. Announcement of meetings shall be sent to the membership at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.
  3. Friends and non-members may attend meetings of the Chapter.
  4. Local and Special Interest Group meetings may be held as necessary. Notice of these meetings should be sent to the Secretary.

Article VII. Special Committees

  1. Special committees shall be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Chapter.

Article VIII. Affiliation with Other Organizations

  1. Affiliation with other organizations in the New England area shall be at the discretion of the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA and shall be in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA.

Article IX. Charitable Activity Restrictions

No part of the net income of the organization shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its directors, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services actually rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes and objects of this organization. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

Notwithstanding any other provisions set forth in these Bylaws, at any time during which it is deemed a private foundation, the organization shall not engage in any act of self-dealing as defined in Section 494 l(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws; the organization shall distribute its income for each taxable year at such time and in such a manner as not to become subject to the tax on undistributed income imposed by Section 4942 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws; the organization shall not own any excess of business holdings that would subject it to tax under Section 4943 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions or any subsequent federal tax laws; and the organization shall not make any taxable expenditures as defined in Section 4945(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

Notwithstanding any other provision of these Bylaws the organization shall not conduct or carry on any activities not permitted to be conducted on by an organization exempt from tax under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws, or by an organization contributions to which are to be deductible under Section 170(c) (2) of such Code or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

Article X. Dissolution

Upon the dissolution of the organization or the winding up of its affairs, the assets of the organization shall be distributed exclusively for charitable or educational purposes or to organizations which are then exempt from federal tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws and to which contributions are then deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of such Code or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws. Organizations having purposes similar to those of this organization shall be preferred.

Article XI. Amendments

  1. Amendments to the bylaws may be proposed by any voting member and shall be submitted to the Executive Committee in writing.
  2. The text of the proposed amendment shall be distributed to the voting membership at least one month prior to a vote.
  3. Approval of a two-thirds majority of voting members and the approval of the Executive Board of ARLIS/NA shall be necessary to amend the bylaws.
  4. Bylaws shall be reviewed every five years, and updated and revised as necessary.