INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION SECTION (ICS)
OF
THE MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (MLA)

Bylaws *PDF version

 ARTICLE I. Name

The name of this organization shall be the International Cooperation Section, a Section of the Medical Library Association, Inc., hereinafter referred to as the Section.

ARTICLE II. Purpose

The purpose of this Section shall be to provide opportunities for participation in international cooperation projects; to provide a mechanism to address and respond to the needs of international members; and to foster communication in the area of international health sciences librarianship.

ARTICLE III. Membership

Section 1. Members

All and only members of MLA may belong to this Section.

Section 2. Rights and Privileges

A. Voting members of this Section shall consist of all members, except that only Voting Members of the Medical Library Association shall be qualified to move or vote on recommendations to the Section Council regarding Medical Library Association policies or actions, to vote on the selection of a potential candidate for the MLA Nominating Committee, or to vote on the selection of the Section's Representative and Representative-Elect to Section Council.

B. Officers of this Section shall be Voting Members of the Medical Library Association.

Section 3. Dues

A. Dues shall be determined by a majority vote of those present and eligible to vote at the ICS Annual Business Meeting. Dues shall be assessed on an annual basis for the period of the calendar year. Section dues shall not exceed MLA membership dues for Regular Members.

B. Section dues shall be payable on joining the Section and thereafter at the same time as are the Medical Library Association dues.

C. MLA Fellows, who have been ICS members, shall be exempt from payment of dues upon retirement from active professional work and shall receive full rights and privileges of membership.

D. If dues are unpaid by April first, the dues shall be considered in arrears and without further notice the member shall be suspended from all rights and privileges.

ARTICLE IV. Officers

Section 1. Elected Officers and Term of Office

A. Elected officers of the Section shall be a Chair, a Chair-Elect, a Secretary-Treasurer, Immediate Past-Chair, a Representative to the MLA Section Council, and a Representative-Elect to the MLA Section Council. They shall comprise the voting members of the Executive Board.

B. The term of office of the Chair shall be one year as Chair-Elect, one year as Chair, and one year as Immediate Past-Chair. No one may serve more than two successive terms as Chair-Elect/Chair.

C. The term of office of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be one year. An individual may not serve more than two successive terms as Secretary-Treasurer.

D. The term of office of the Section Council Representative shall be three years, one-year term as Representative-Elect, and a two-year term as Representative. In the event that the Representative's term be made shorter by action of the Council or the Bylaws of the Medical Library Association, the term will coincide with that action.

E. Elected officers shall take office at the close of the Annual Meeting following their election. They shall serve (unless they resign, die, or are removed) until the close of the Annual Meeting at the end of their terms of office or until their successors have been chosen and have assumed their duties.

Section 2. Duties of Elected Officers

A. The duties of the Chair shall be to preside over all meetings and to represent the Section at all times and on all occasions not in conflict with any other officers' defined duties and responsibilities, to preside as chair of the ICS Executive Board, to appoint all other committee members not otherwise prescribed by the Bylaws from among eligible members of the Section, to appoint committee chairs, to submit an Annual Report to MLA Headquarters by the date requested, and to perform all other duties prescribed by these Bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Section. A Parliamentarian may be appointed by the Chair to serve a term concurrent with that of the Chair. This person may be reappointed to serve additional terms.

B. The duties of the Chair-Elect shall be to serve as Chair whenever the Chair is not able to do so, to serve as Chair of the ICS Program Committee, to serve on the Executive Board, and to perform all other duties prescribed by these Bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Section.

C. The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be to be responsible for incoming and outgoing correspondence, to prepare minutes of all meetings, to receive and account for all moneys due the organization, and to maintain the membership lists as received from MLA Headquarters, to serve on the Executive Board, and to perform all other duties prescribed by these Bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Section. Additionally, he or she shall notify MLA headquarters and the Section Council by March 1 each year of the names of all Section officers for the ensuing year and shall provide requested information about them.

D. The duties of the Immediate Past-Chair shall be to serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee and serve on the Executive Board.

E. The duties of the Representative to the Section Council shall be to represent the Section on the MLA Section Council by attending the meetings of the Council, to transmit to the Council recommendations which have been approved by the Section, to communicate Council business to the officers and membership of the Section, and to serve on the Executive Board.

F. The duties of the Representative-Elect to the Section Council shall be to attend the meetings of the Section Council, to serve as Representative whenever the Representative is unable to do so, to assume the office of Representative and serve out the unexpired term should the Representative become unable to complete the term of office, and to serve on the Executive Board.

Section 3. Nominations and Elections

A. The Immediate Past-Chair shall chair the Nominating Committee and appoint at least two Section members to serve on the Committee.

B. A slate of one or more nominee(s) shall be prepared annually for the offices to be filled.

C. Ballots shall be distributed and returned to a member of the Nominating Committee in time for the results to be declared on or before February 15. A majority vote elects unless there are more than two candidates, then a plurality shall elect.

Section 4. Vacancies

A. In the event that the Chair is unable to serve an entire term of office, the Chair-Elect shall cease to be Chair-Elect, shall complete the unexpired term of the Chair, and shall continue as Chair for the full succeeding term to which he or she was elected.

B. In the event that the Chair-Elect is unable to serve an entire term of office, the Executive Board shall fill the vacancy. A member appointed by the Executive Board to fill a vacancy in the office of Chair-Elect shall serve in that office only until the close of the next MLA Annual Meeting, at which time a newly elected Chair shall take office.

C. In the event that the Representative to the MLA Section Council is unable to serve an entire term of office, the Representative - Elect to the MLA Section Council shall cease to be Representative - Elect, and shall complete the unexpired term of the Representative.

D. In the event that the Representative - Elect to the MLA Section Council is unable to serve an entire term of office, the Executive Board shall fill the vacancy. A member appointed by the Executive Board to fill a vacancy in the office of Representative-Elect shall serve in that office only until the close of the next MLA Annual Meeting, at which time a newly elected Representative-Elect shall take office.

E. Any vacancy arising in other offices or positions shall be filled by appointment of the Executive Board.

Section 5. Candidate for the MLA Nominating Committee Membership

A. The name of one Voting Member of the Medical Library Association, chosen by vote of the membership of the Section, shall be submitted each year to the Section Council as a potential candidate for membership on the MLA Nominating Committee. This submission shall be made to the Council by the date set by the Section Council. The potential candidate shall prepare a biographical statement and a signed statement of willingness-to-serve if elected as a member of the Nominating Committee. This statement shall accompany the name submitted.

B. No person shall consent to being a potential or actual candidate or a candidate for membership on the Nominating Committee who is already a similar candidate from some other unit of the Medical Library Association. Moreover, no candidate for membership on the Nominating Committee shall also be a candidate for an elective office of the Medical Library Association, or vice versa.

C. No person shall serve on the MLA Nominating Committee as a voting member for more than one term during a period of five years.

Section 6. Appointed Officers

The appointed officers of the Section shall be the Editor and Publisher of any Section publications. They shall be appointed by the Chair-Elect and the Secretary-Treasurer and shall be notified by February 15 each year; they shall serve at the pleasure, and under the direction, of the Chair during the ensuing year.

Section 7. Duties of Appointed Officers

A. The Editor of a Section publication shall develop editorial policy and have final authority over content and format, within the limitations of the Section's budget, and in consultation with the Executive Board and any committee established by the Board to advise on editorial matters. The Section Newsletter Editor, if such officer be appointed, shall regularly consult with the International News editor of the MLA News and with MLA representatives to international associations, for information to publish.

B. The Publisher of a Section publication shall oversee all aspects of the production and distribution of the publication, within the limitations of the Section's budget, and in consultation with the Executive Board and any committee established by the Board to advise on publication matters.

C. Appointed officers shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the Executive Board.

ARTICLE V. Meetings

Section 1. Meetings

At least one meeting shall be held in each fiscal year. Additional meetings may be held. All meetings shall be held at a time and place convenient for members. Notice of all meetings shall be disseminated to the membership at least sixty (60) days in advance of the meeting date. Section Business Meetings shall be held during the same period and at the same location as the MLA Annual Meeting. No Section meetings shall be held at the same time that General Sessions or Business Sessions of the MLA Annual Meeting are conducted.

Section 2. Quorum

A quorum of twenty voting members shall be required for the transaction of business.

ARTICLE VI. Ballot

Election of officers shall be determined by distributed ballot. When decided by vote at the Section Business Meeting or when required by the Executive Board, other Section transactions shall be ratified by distributed ballot. Approval and/or ratification shall require a simple majority of those returning ballots .

ARTICLE VII. Executive Board

Section 1. Executive Board

All elected and appointed officers of this Section shall constitute the Executive Board. Appointed officers shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the Executive Board.

Section 2. Duties of the Executive Board

The Executive Board shall have general supervision of the affairs of this Section between its Business Meetings, fix the time and place of meetings, make recommendations to the membership, and shall perform such other duties as are specified in these bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Section.

ARTICLE VIII. Committees

Section 1. Standing Committees

A. The Executive Board shall establish standing committees to consider matters of the Section that require continuity of attention by the members. The Executive Board shall recommend the name and size of each committee.

B. The Chair, in consultation with the Executive Board, shall designate and announce committee members and chairs in advance of the beginning of his or her term of office and when these appointments shall take effect. Unless otherwise approved by the Executive Board, members of standing committees shall be appointed for terms of one (1) year, and may be reappointed for a second term. The Chair shall have the discretion to terminate appointments.

N.B. Neither the Chair nor the Chair-Elect shall serve on or appoint members to the Nominating Committee. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. 1990, p. 425

Section 2. Special Committees

The Section Chair may appoint such other special committees as are necessary with the advice and consent of the Executive Board.

Section 3. Committee Chairs

Chairs of committees must be Voting Members of the Medical Library Association.

Section 4. Committee Reports

Each committee shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Section Chair prior to the compilation of the Annual Section Report for submission to MLA Headquarters.

ARTICLE IX. Dissolution

ARTICLE X. Parliamentary Authority

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Section in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the Section may adopt.

ARTICLE XI. Amendment of Bylaws

These bylaws may be amended at any regular business meeting of the Section by a two-thirds vote of those attending, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing to the membership at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting at which the vote shall be taken.

Revised: 3 June 1996
Revised: 23 August 2001
Revised: 6 May 2003
Revised: 24 May 2004
Revised: May 16, 2005