Purpose of Section Council
The Section Council of the Medical Library Association is one of two councils serving an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors of the Association. The Section Council promotes interchange both between Sections and together with its counterpart, the Chapter Council, promotes interchange between Sections and Chapters.
The Section Council receives recommendations from individual Sections or Section Council committees and considers them for approval or disapproval. Approved recommendations are forwarded to the Board of Directors: those not approved are referred to the originating Section or Council committee.
The Section Council provides an opportunity for Sections to participate more directly in the governance of the Association through representation of their interests at the Board level. The Council enables Sections to better define their role and function within the Association through participation in a coordinated, unified representative body.
2.1 Composition of the Council
The Section Council is composed of the Section Council Chair, and the Chair and Past Chair of each individual Section. The Past Chair is the voting member and may serve as officers or committee members of the Section Council. These voting representatives will select a Section Council Chair from among the representatives.
The number of Sections, and therefore the number of Section Council members, may increase or decrease as provided in the Association’s bylaws. Currently the Section Council is comprised of Representatives and Representatives-Elect from the following twenty-three sections:
- Cancer Librarians Section
- Chiropractic Libraries Section
- Corporate Information Services Section
- Collection Development Section
- Consumer and Patient Health Information Section
- Dental Section
- Educational Media and Technologies Section
- Federal Libraries Section
- Health Association Libraries Section
- History of the Health Sciences Section
- Hospital Libraries Section
- International Cooperation Section
- Leadership and Management Section
- Medical Informatics Section
- Medical Library Education Section
- Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section
- Pharmacy and Drug Information Section
- Public Health/Health Administration Libraries Section
- Public Services Section
- Relevant Issues Section
- Research Section
- Technical Services Section
- Veterinary Medical Libraries Section
2.2 Section Representatives
The representative from each Section must be a voting member of the Association, selected in accordance with the bylaws of the Section. Participation in the selection of representatives is limited to voting members of the Association.
In 2008, a change to the Bylaws was approved which designated the Section Chair and Past Chair as Section Council representatives, with the Past Chair being the voting member. The normal term would be two years. In the case of a vacancy in both the office of Section Past Immediate Chair and of Section Chair, a Section shall appoint a replacement to serve until the next scheduled election. Appointment shall follow the guidelines adopted by the Section’s Board of Directors. In case of questions, should consult with MLA Manager of Information Issues and Policy.
If the past chair is not present at the Section Council meeting, the Section Chair should cast the vote. If neither the section immediate past chair nor the section chair is present at the Section Council meeting, then the Section may appoint another Section officer as the proxy to vote on council issues. See 2.3 of the Section Chair Manual for details. The position of Representative and Representative-Elect were eliminated. The new structure became effective January 1, 2009
2.3 Duties of Section Representatives
Section representatives have several duties:
- Attend all Section Council meetings and represent his/her Section on the Council and in the conduct of Council business. The Past Chair serves as the voting representative regarding issues presented in the Section Council. Both the Past Chair and Chair will participate in Section Council deliberations and may respond on behalf of their Section. The Section Past Chair has the official vote.
- Implement Council decisions, gather information as requested, inform Section membership of issues under discussion by the Council, and solicit comments and suggestions.
- Through the Section Council Chair, communicate concerns to the Section Council and potentially to the MLA Board. The representative also communicates Council issues to their respective Sections seeking membership response. Appendix 3 outlines the interactive responsibilities of the Section representatives.
- Keep his/her Section informed on MLA policies relating to Section business, such as the Fundraising Procedures, MLA Guidelines for Seeking Outside Funding, Submitting Articles to MLA News, online request form for membership rosters, and the revision and submission of Section bylaws (see Model Bylaws and Section Procedures for Submitting Bylaws Revisions).
- Ensure the selection of an MLA Nominating Committee nominee from his/her Section, and submit a copy of the nominees’ biographical form/consent form to the Elections Committee Chair.
- Keep the Section informed of all significant business and events emanating from the Section Council.
- Be willing to serve on at least one Council committee, but no more than two at the same time. Serve, if appointed, as Chair of a Council committee, and to submit the committee’s objectives, a midyear report, and an annual report by the assigned date to the Council Chair.
- Transfer documentation as outlined in the Document Retention Guidelines to the incoming representatives (Section Chair and Chair-Elect).
2.4 Duties of Recorder
To attend all scheduled Council meetings, take minutes, and submit them to the Section Council Chair before the first scheduled Council mailing.
2.5 Duties of Section Council Parlimentarian
The Parliamentarian will be appointed by the Section Council Chair and will attend all scheduled Council meetings, providing guidance in parliamentary issues.