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Serving on IFLA's Governing BoardThe Governing Board and its committeesThe IFLA Governing Board is responsible for the managerial and professional direction of the Federation within guidelines approved by Council (IFLA Statutes Article 18.1). It establishes priorities, has oversight of IFLA's activities and approves budgets and the annual accounts. It is focused on strategic issues and provides guidance to the President, Secretary General and other officers. The Governing Board consists of:
The President and President-elect and the elected members of the Board are elected by postal ballot. Voting members of IFLA throughout the world are able to take part in these elections. The elected members of the Governing Board serve for an initial term of two years and may stand for a further term of two years. The co-opted members may serve for two years only. The Governing Board has two standing committees established by the Statutes. The Executive Committee (which consists of the President, President-elect, Treasurer, Chair of the Professional Committee, two members of the Governing Board and the Secretary General) has executive responsibility, delegated by the Governing Board, to oversee the direction of the Federation between meetings of the Board within the policies established by the Board. The Professional Committee (composed of the chair, elected in accordance with Article 22.3, an officer of each Division, the President-elect and two members of the Governing Board) ensures coordination of the work of all IFLA's units which are responsible for professional activities, policies and programmes. In addition it may establish other committees, such as the current Finance Committee, and working parties to deal with specific matters. The President and President-electThe President leads the Federation during a non-renewable two-year term of office and is its chief representative. The President works closely with the Secretary General to ensure that the policies determined by the Governing Board and the Council are implemented and promoted. The President presides over Council meetings, which are held at the annual IFLA Congress, and gives a keynote speech during the opening session of the Congress. The President chairs the meetings of the Governing Board, Executive Committee and other committees and consultative groups. The post involves a significant amount of travelling (some 50 days a year), making keynote speeches and generally acting as an Ambassador for IFLA and the library and information profession. Because only limited IFLA funding is available to assist some of this travel, the President must have strong employer and other support. The President-elect serves in that role for two years, followed by two years as President. The term of office, which is not renewable, provides an opportunity to identify priorities to be pursued on assuming the presidency. The President-elect works closely with the President and Secretary General and deputises for the President as required eg to represent the Federation or chair meetings. Consequently, this post also involves a significant amount of travelling, speaking and representation and therefore demands strong employer and other support. The President-elect is a full member of the Governing Board and the Executive and Professional Committees. Duties of members of the Governing BoardSince the Governing Board has such important responsibilities for the direction and future well being of the Federation, the Board's members must practice good governance which includes:
The Governing Board elects one of its members to be the Treasurer of IFLA and others to be members of the Executive and Professional Committees and of any other committees or working groups which might be established. For each IFLA Core Activity, the Governing Board has established an Advisory Board which is chaired by a Governing Board Member. Members of the Governing Board are sometimes asked to represent IFLA at key conferences or other meetings, to ensure that the Federation's voice is heard. Members of the Governing Board are expected to make themselves available, usually at no cost to the Federation, to fulfil these responsibilities which include the requirement to meet during three periods each year. At the IFLA Congress there are two meetings: one on the Friday before the Congress and one on the Saturday after it ends. The Governing Board and its committees and working parties also meet in December and April at IFLA Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. These meetings usually take place over a period of few days. Business between meetings is conducted by email. Global representation and the rewards of participationIf IFLA is to achieve its aim of becoming a truly representative global organisation, representing the interests of library and information services, and their users, worldwide, it needs energetic, committed and capable people from a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts to serve on its Governing Board. Routine business is conducted generally in English so competence in English is necessary to enable participation but it is also important for the Board to have a good representation of the IFLA working languages. It can be time-consuming and challenging work. But it is also rewarding. The opportunity to work with colleagues from different types of library and information environments and from different cultures is stimulating in itself. Members ensure that they enjoy themselves at the same time as striving to advance the cause of library and information service and improve the practice of the profession. Based on: Independent Commission for Good Governance in Public Services (UK), The Good Governance Standard for Public Services , 2004 http://www.opm.co.uk/ICGGPS/download_upload/Standard.pdf . | |