• Main
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• App. A
• App. B
• App. C
• App. D

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although governing library boards have been common throughout the history of libraries, advisory library boards are a recent innovation. They evolved from the "Rise of the Council-Manager" form of government. The Public Library Advisory Board Handbook was in part a response to that evolution. While much has been written about governing library boards, very little information is available on library advisory boards. In 1989, the Public Library Administrators of North Texas (PLANT) decided that a compilation of the current wisdom of the most effective roles and functions for advisory boards was in order. Alvin Bailey, Director of the Denison Public Library, compiled and edited the document with the assistance of Kathy Ritterhouse, Director of the Grand Prairie Public Library; Sue Compton, Director of the McKinney Public Library; and Mary Jane Stevenson, Director of the Farmers Branch Public Library.

In 1998, The Texas State Library and Archives Commission, which publishes and distributes the handbook, notified PLANT that a revised edition was needed to reflect the changes that had occurred in Texas libraries during the intervening years. Judy McCoy, Director of the Frisco Public Library, volunteered to chair the committee appointed for the purpose of revising and updating the original document. Members of that committee were Susan Andrews, Director of the Lancaster Veteran's Memorial Library; Danita Barber-Owusu, Director of the Hurst Public Library; Lucille Dade, Director of the Carrollton Public Library; Kathy Melston, Director, Rockwall County Public Library; Mignon Morse, Director of the Wylie Public Library; Mary Musgrave, Director of the DeSoto Public Library; JoAnn Rogers, Director of the Watauga Public Library; and Betty Yarbrough, Director of the Euless Public Library.

This committee acknowledges many persons and organizations. First, we thank Alvin Bailey, Kathy Ritterhouse, Sue Compton and their colleagues in PLANT, who conceived the idea and compiled the first Public Library Advisory Board Handbook. It has well served Texas public libraries and their boards during the intervening years, and this revision contains most of the information and even the same language as the original document. Unlike our predecessors, this committee had that excellent publication on which to base our work. It is a mind boggling thing to consider that they began with a blank page.

Like our predecessors, this committee also thanks the staff of the Library Development Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Jeanette Larson, Christine Peterson, Sue Polanka, and Anne Ramos provided research and editing assistance as well as gratefully received suggestions and guidelines for topics to be added and expanded. They are also responsible for researching, compiling and writing the new information on library districts, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and the legal citations. Anne Ramos provided additional citations for the bibliography. Michele Lamb and Belinda Boon provided additional editing and formatting. We also thank this Division for providing the funds that underwrote our efforts. What library association doesn't need money?

Our committee also acknowledges the fine public library board manuals and handbooks published in other states. Much of the information and many of the ideas contained in those documents found their way into ours.

Finally, we acknowledge the support of our friends and colleagues in PLANT. They provided meeting space, read our first draft, and offered suggestions for its improvement. Their interest and encouragement during the months of our work made this project immensely rewarding.

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