BY-LAWS OF

FRIENDS OF THE MANCHESTER LIBRARY

Article I: Name

The Organization shall be known as the Friends of the Manchester Library, situated in Kitsap County, Washington.

Article II: Purpose

The purpose of Friends of the Manchester Library shall be in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a nonprofit corporation.

The purpose of this organization shall be as follows:

To maintain an association of persons involved in maintaining and promoting the Manchester community library, known, officially, as the Kitsap Regional Library, Manchester Branch.

To perform fund raising activities to provide ongoing facilities maintenance and improvements, purchase equipment and materials essential to running the library and to provide for other needs of the Manchester library for which funding is not normally available.

To encourage book donations and other relevant donations for fund-raising.

To promote educational programs, including story hours and exhibits, at minimal cost to the community.

Article III: Membership

Section 1: Members are defined as those who actively participate in monthly meetings, fund raising events, and other library events for the benefit of the community.

Section 2: A membership roster shall be established and all members on the roster have a right to vote.

Section 3: All members may vote on matters that come before the board.

Article IV: Organization

Section 1: The board of directors shall consist of the officers of the corporation and three directors. The officers shall include the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.

Section 2: The board of directors shall normally meet monthly.

Section 3:  A quorum shall exist when a simple majority of the board is present.

Section 4: The annual meeting of the membership shall be in February. A majority of the Board of directors must be present to conduct business. The annual meeting shall be in lieu of the regular February board meeting. At the annual meeting new officers and one director shall be elected, and an annual treasurer’s report, as well as other appropriate annual reports, shall be presented. 

Section 5: Once established, the directors shall serve a three-year term with one of the three elected each year.  Until all three directors’ three year terms have been established, their terms shall be staggered as one, two and three year terms. They will be identified on the election ballot as “first director” elected for one year, “second director” elected for two years, and “third director” elected for the full three-year term.

Section 6: There shall be a two-consecutive-term limit on all elected officers and directors.

Section 7: Officers and directors shall be nominated in January and voted on at the February meeting. The date of the election and names of the candidates shall be posted at the library, and one other public place in the Manchester community, one month prior to the election.

Section 8: A special meeting of the board of directors may be called by proper notification to members of the board. The president can call a special meeting of the board by contacting all board members. In emergency situations the president can call a special meeting of the board of directors by making an earnest attempt to notify the board members by phone, stating the time, place and reason for such a meeting. All other non-urgent issues are to be addressed at regular board meetings.

Section 9: Resolutions shall be decided upon by a majority of the members present, at regular, special or annual board meetings.

Article V: Duties of the officers

Section 1: The president shall preside at all meetings of the Friends of the Manchester Library and shall have general supervision of all affairs of the organization. The president shall have the authority to appoint all appropriate ad hoc committees. The president shall appoint an ad hoc audit committee of two members and ensure that the treasurer’s records are audited during the first quarter of the new fiscal year for the previous year.

Section 2: The vice president shall assume the duties of president in the president’s absence. The vice president shall chair the by-laws committee and review the by-laws annually for possible update. The vice president shall maintain, at the library, all records pertaining to the Friends of the Manchester Library.

Section 3: The secretary shall take the minutes of all meetings and keep an accurate record of all business transacted. The minutes of the meetings shall be furnished by the secretary to any interested member. The secretary shall maintain copies of all meeting and business transaction records at the Manchester library. The secretary shall perform the correspondence for the organization. The secretary shall maintain the membership list.

Section 4: The treasurer shall be custodian of all monies and shall deposit them in a bank designated by the board of directors. The treasurer shall provide a written financial report for each meeting and shall prepare an annual report to be presented in February. The treasurer shall maintain all original financial records at the Manchester library including the monthly and annual financial reports. The treasurer shall also invest, at the direction of the board, and disburse organization funds.

Article VI: By-laws Amendments

These by-laws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Friends of the Manchester Library by a vote of the majority of members present.  Changes to the Bylaws must be registered with the State of Washington.

The revised by-laws shall be read at one meeting and shall be voted on at the following meeting.

Article VII: “Robert’s Rules of Order”

Meetings shall be run in accordance with “Roberts Rules of Order”, unless otherwise set in the by-laws.

Article VII: Dissolution

In the event of dissolution of the Friends of the Manchester Library, all net assets shall go to the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation.