Approved May 2001. Replaced by LES Governance Procedures 2009.

Article I. Name

The name of this organization shall be the Literatures in English Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries (hereinafter referred to as LES and ACRL).

Article II. Objectives

The objectives of the section shall be to represent members of ACRL who specialize or are otherwise professionally involved in the selection, acquisition, organization, and use of information resources related to literatures in English, to enhance those members' professional development, and to promote the improvement of library resources in support of study and research activities in this field. The Section may initiate or sponsor programs, discussion sessions, publications, and other projects related to literatures in English in academic and research libraries.

Article III. Membership

Any member in good standing of ACRL who designates LES as a sectional membership upon payment of annual dues for the 91´«Ã½ (hereinafter referred to as 91´«Ã½), or who pays additional sectional membership dues for LES as provided in the 91´«Ã½ bylaws, shall be a member of LES. Every member has the right to vote and to hold office within the Section.

Article IV. Meetings

Section 1. General Meetings. The Section shall hold a membership meeting at the time and place of the Annual Meeting of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½).

Section 2. Committee Meetings. Committee Meetings shall be held during the Annual and Midwinter Meetings of 91´«Ã½. All Section meetings, except those dealing with nominations and awards, are open to registered attendees of the Annual and Midwinter Meetings.

Article V. Officers

Section 1. Officers. The officers of LES shall consist of a chair, a vice-chair/chair-elect, an immediate past chair, and a secretary.

Section 2. Terms. The vice-chair shall serve one year in that office, followed by one year as chair, followed by one year as immediate past chair. The secretary shall serve a term of one year. All terms shall begin and end at the adjournment of the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference.

Section 3. Duties of Officers.

a. Chair. The chair shall be the chief executive of the Section, the chair of the Executive Committee, and one of the Section's representatives to the ACRL Activity Sections Council. The chair is responsible for section projects pursued during his or her term, administration of requests for budget allocations and reimbursement of expenses, and submission of reports on all Section activities to the ACRL Board. The chair is also responsible for scheduling Section programs, meetings, and events at the Midwinter Meeting and the Annual Conference.

b. Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. The vice-chair/chair-elect shall plan and coordinate all programs and projects to be pursued during his or her term as chair, and shall make appointments of all standing committee members and chairs whose terms will begin during his or her term as chair. The vice-chair/chair elect shall be responsible for submitting budget requests for his or her term as chair, participating in ACRL budget orientation, and responding to inquiries relating to LES. The vice-chair/chair-elect serves on the Executive Committee and the ACRL Conference Program Planning Committee. He or she serves as a substitute on the Activity Sections Council when either the chair or the immediate past-chair is unable to attend.

c. Immediate Past-Chair. The immediate past-chair serves on the Executive Committee and the Planning Committee. He or she also serves on the ACRL Activity Sections Council.

d. Secretary. The secretary shall be responsible for maintenance of all section records and for recording the minutes of all Section and Executive Committee business meetings at the Midwinter Meeting and at the Annual Conference. All records shall be submitted according to ACRL and LES guidelines. The secretary shall be responsible for collecting and distributing all archival documents to the 91´«Ã½ Archives as appropriate. The secretary is a member of the Executive Committee.

Section 4. Vacancies. In case of a vacancy in the office of chair, the vice-chair/chair elect shall serve as chair for the remainder of the uncompleted term, and shall continue in that office for the term for which he or she was originally elected to serve as chair.

In case of a vacancy in the office of vice-chair/chair-elect, the Executive Committee will appoint an acting vice chair. When the next regular election is held, a chair and a vice-chair/chair-elect shall be elected.

If vacancies occur in the offices of chair and vice-chair within the same term, the Executive Committee shall elect as chair one of its members for the remainder of the term. When the next regular election is held a chair and a vice-chair shall be elected. The successful candidate for chair shall then serve a one-year term as chair and a one-year term as immediate past-chair.

In case of a vacancy in the office of secretary, the chair shall appoint a replacement.

Article VI. Nominations and Elections

Section 1. Nominations. The vice-chair/chair-elect shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least three members, designating one of the appointees as committee chair. The term of office for Nominating Committee members shall begin at the conclusion of the Midwinter Meeting and end at the conclusion of the following Midwinter Meeting. The vice-chair/chair-elect may not be a member of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall solicit candidates from the general membership for the offices of vice-chair/chair-elect, secretary, and member-at-large of the Executive Committee. There should be at least two candidates for each office. Nominations put forth by the Nominating Committee shall be filed with the executive director of ACRL and with the secretary of LES within the deadlines specified by ACRL. All nominees must be members in good standing of LES, and must consent to their candidacy in writing.

Section 2. Statement of Objectives. To assist the membership of the Section in making informed choices, each candidate shall be asked to provide a brief statement of objectives for the Section in time for the statement to be published prior to balloting.

Section 3. Additional Nominees. Nominations other than those of the Nominating Committee signed by no fewer than 20 members of the Section shall be accepted and placed on the ballot if they are filed with the executive director of ACRL at least three months before the date on which the ballots are to be mailed. Written consent of the nominees must accompany such nominations.

Section 4. Elections. Elections shall be conducted by mail ballot in accordance with the procedures and deadlines established by ACRL/91´«Ã½. For each office, the candidate receiving a plurality of the votes cast shall be elected. In case of a tie, the winner shall be chosen by lot.

Article VII. Executive Committee

Section 1. Membership. The Executive Committee shall consist of the chair, the vice-chair/chair-elect, the immediate past chair, the secretary, the chairs of all standing committees, and a member at large elected for a one-year term. In addition, the Section newsletter editor, website editor, and e-list moderator are non-voting members of the Executive Committee.

Section 2. Responsibilities. The Executive Committee shall have the responsibility to act for the Section and to make decisions on matters which require immediate action before the next scheduled Section meeting, and to supervise the administration of established policies, programs, and operations. The Executive Committee shall appoint the Section newsletter editor, website editor, and e-list moderator for terms of three years, with the option of renewal. Regular meetings of the Executive Committee shall be at the time and place of the Annual Conference and the Midwinter Meeting of 91´«Ã½. Special meetings may be called by the chair. If necessary, the Executive Committee may make decisions by electronic mail or conference call during the period between regularly scheduled meetings.

Section 3. Voting. A majority of the Executive Committee members present shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the committee. Only members of the Executive Committee may vote at Executive Committee meetings.

Article VIII. Standing Committees

Section 1. General Provisions. In addition to the Nominating and Program Planning Committees , other standing committees to consider matters of concern to the Section that require continuity of attention may be established and dissolved by the Executive Committee. When such a committee is established, its function, name and size shall be determined. Unless otherwise approved by the Executive Committee, members of standing committees shall be appointed for terms of two years and may be reappointed for a second, but not a third consecutive term. In no case shall a person serve on a committee for more than five consecutive years. Appointments shall be made in such a manner as to provide continuity in membership.

Section 2. Conference Program Planning Committees. The vice-chair/chair-elect shall appoint a Conference Program Planning Committee to plan programs for the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference which concludes his or her term of office. The vice-chair/chair-elect may choose to chair the committee or to appoint one of the members as chair.

Article IX. Ad Hoc Committees

Ad hoc committees for short-term projects and needs may be appointed by the Section chair after consultation with the Executive Committee. Ad hoc committees shall expire at the end of the term of the chair who appointed them unless their term is extended by vote of the Executive Committee. If the charge of an ad hoc committee becomes a matter requiring continuity of attention, it may become a standing committee by action of the Executive Committee.

Article X. Discussion Groups

Discussion groups may be established by the Executive Committee upon application of ten or more Section members. Written proposals for new discussion groups shall include a brief mission and goals statement. Discussion groups shall be composed of any interested Section members. Each discussion group shall have a chair and a recorder, both chosen by the group members in any manner compatible with 91´«Ã½, ACRL, and LES guidelines. A discussion group may be dissolved at its request by the Executive Committee of the Section and shall be so dissolved if it becomes inactive (as evidenced by failure to meet at three consecutive 91´«Ã½ Conferences) or fails to comply with the provisions of this article.

Article XI. Amendments

Section 1. Proposals. Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed in writing by the Executive Committee, by any standing committee of the Section, or by any five or more members of the Section. Proposals shall be submitted the chair. The chair shall schedule a vote on the proposal by the Executive Committee for no later than six months after he or she receives the proposal. If the amendments are approved by a majority of the Executive Committee, the chair shall forward the proposal to the ACRL Bylaws Committee.

Section 2. Procedures. A proposed amendment to the Bylaws shall be voted upon by Section members after it has been approved by a majority of the Executive Committee and by the ACRL Board of Directors. Written notice of the text of the amendment shall be provided to members at least one month before consideration.

Section 3. Voting. Amendments may be voted upon by members as specified by ACRL.

Section 4. Adoption. If not otherwise specified, a proposed amendment becomes effective as soon as it has been approved as described above.

Article XII. General Provisions

Wherever these Bylaws make no specific provisions, the organization and procedure of the Section shall correspond to those set forth in the and Bylaws of ACRL and, wherever the latter are silent, to those set forth in the Constitution and Bylaws of 91´«Ã½.

Comments may be directed to the Website Editor at linda.stein@udel.edu. Last update: 16 January 2013