2023 Indiana Code › Title 36. Local Government › Article 12. Libraries › Chapter 7. Class 2 Public Libraries › 36-12-7-4. Board of 1901 City or Town Library; Residency; Appointment of Members; Vacancy; Certificates of Appointment; Oath; Free Use; Report

Sec. 4. (a) The library board of any public library established as a 1901 city or town library consists of qualified and experienced individuals at least eighteen (18) years of age who have been residents of the municipality where the library is located for at least two (2) years immediately preceding the appointment of the individual. The members shall be appointed for two (2) year terms as follows:
(1) The board of commissioners of the county where the library is located shall appoint one (1) member.
(2) The fiscal body of the county where the library is located shall appoint one (1) member.
(3) The municipal executive shall appoint one (1) member.
(4) The municipal legislative body shall appoint one (1) member.
(5) The school board of the school corporation where the library is located shall appoint three (3) members, who may be members of the school board.
(b) If a vacancy occurs on the library board for any cause, the appointing authority shall fill the vacancy. The appointing authority may at any time, for cause shown, remove a member of the library board and appoint a new member to fill the vacancy caused by the removal.
(c) The library board members shall serve without compensation.
(d) All appointments to membership on the library board must be evidenced by certificates of appointment signed by the appointing authority. Certificates of appointment shall be:
(1) handed to; or
(2) mailed to the address of;
the appointee. Not later than ten (10) days after receiving the certificates of appointment, an appointee shall take an oath of office, before the clerk of the circuit court, that the appointee will faithfully discharge the appointee's duties as a member of the library board to the best of the appointee's ability. The appointee shall file the certificate, with the oath endorsed on it, with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the library is located.
(e) Not later than five (5) days after all the members of the library board have been appointed and have taken the oath of office, the members shall meet and organize by electing one (1) member as president, one (1) member as vice president, and one (1) member as secretary. The members shall also select committees or an executive board to carry on the work of the board if the members determine that committees or an executive board is necessary.
(f) The facilities of a public library established as a 1901 city or town library are open and free for the use and benefit of all of the residents of the library district.
(g) The fiscal officer of the municipality operating a public library under this section shall prepare and file with the municipal legislative body, before January 16 each year, an itemized statement, under oath, of all the receipts and disbursements of the library board for the year ending December 31 immediately preceding the preparing and filing of the report. The report must contain an itemized statement of:
(1) the sources of all receipts;
(2) all disbursements made; and
(3) the purpose for which each was made.
The annual report may be inspected by the citizens of the municipality and township in which the library is located.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education Recodification Citation: 20-14-7-2.]
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.49.