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Description:

Are you confused about your roles and responsibilities as a board member?  Whether it’s the Friends officers or the library’s Board of Trustees, all parties want meetings that run effectively and efficiently.  The agenda, minutes, and motions all play a part.  Regardless of the size of a board for a nonprofit organization, there are specific accountabilities the officers and directors must meet.  This review of nonprofit boards’ legal and fiduciary duties will include ways to provide the best oversight possible for the organization, keeping it functioning effectively.  Learn what documents should be kept in your board book, how technology can and cannot be used to conduct board business, and practical strategies for more successful meetings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

1.    Describe the structure of nonprofit boards that will ensure the members meet their legal and fiduciary responsibilities
2.    Identify corporate documents necessary to include in a “board book” to document the business of the organization
3.    Document a “related party” transaction

Presenter:

Judy Siegel, Esq., is Senior Staff Attorney with the Pro Bono Partnership (New York Office) which provides direct legal services to nonprofit organizations in New York, including libraries and their Friends groups.  Judy recruits and coordinates volunteer attorneys to assist clients, conducts outreach to nonprofit organizations in their service area, and presents legal workshops on topics relevant to nonprofit executives and board members.Maria is a passionate promoter of community libraries, has participated in legislative advocacy days for both the New York Library Association and the American Library Association, and has championed community-based funding for Wood Library.  Maria also serves as the library's grant writer and played a supporting role in securing $4 million for Wood Library during its “New Chapter” capital campaign.  Her e-mail signature includes this phrase: “Build a legacy.  Include Wood Library in your estate plans.”

Judy has worked in private practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Tenzer Greenblatt (now Blank Rome LLP) and Kittay & Gershfeld, P.C.  She also served as the Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Westchester Regional Office of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.  Judy is an active member of The Giving Circle of Southern Westchester, has taught mock trial at a local high school, lectured on various topics at SUNY Purchase, served on the Board of Trustees of her synagogue, and coaches a recreational basketball team.  Judy is admitted to the bar in New York and Connecticut.  She is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University Law School.

FLS “Focus on Friends” Webinar Series

The Friends of Libraries Section will be presenting a series of one-hour virtual professional development sessions over the course of several months that are relevant to the entire library community. Guest speakers will present on a specific topic, followed by a question and answer session.  Each webinar will cover a topic of interest to all library civic leaders (library trustees, officers of Friends groups and library foundations, and volunteer advocates) plus library administrators and staff members.

The other webinars included in the the series are:

Engaging Millennials as Friends Volunteers Webinar
Speakers: Madeline Jarvis, MLIS and Tess Wilson, MLIS

Friendly Partnerships Strengthen Communities
Thursday, March 11, 2021.  2 – 3 p.m. EST
Speakers: Jason Poole, Webster Public Library; Helen Rados and Cheryl Shelton Jones, Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library