Trustee Education Policy

Library Board Trustees are to comply with New York State Education Law Section 260-D which requires members of library boards of trustees, beginning January 1, 2023, to complete a minimum of two hours of trustee education annually from a provider approved by the Commissioner of Education that addresses the financial oversight, accountability, fiduciary responsibilities and the general powers and duties of library trustees.

As per Section 260-D, a Trustee must demonstrate compliance with the statutory requirements by filing with the President of the Board of Trustees evidence of completion of Trustee Education from an approved provider. Such evidence shall include one of the following:

1. A certificate of completion issued by one or more approved providers; or
2. A signed certification (included as an attachment to this policy).
3. Such certification will identify the approved trustee education provider, a description of the format and content of the completed instruction activities, the date and time such member began and completed such instruction activity and an explanation of why a certificate of completion was not available from an approved provider.

Evidence of completion shall be submitted to the Board President by December 31^st of each year commencing in 2023.

Should a Trustee fail to submit evidence of completion by the above date, the Trustee will be suspended from duty until evidence of completion is filed. Should a suspended Trustee fail to provide evidence of completion within 90 days of the deadline, he or she will be presumed to have resigned from the board.

Compliance will be recorded through the Library’s Annual Report to the State.

Approved Providers

Trustee education providers and activities (topics and formats) are approved by the New York State Library acting on behalf of the Commissioner of Education.

In addition to pre-approving public library systems as trustee education providers, the State Library has delegated authority to public library systems to approve additional trustee education providers and activities (topics and formats) for their member libraries.

 Pre-approved providers:

• New York State Library/Division of Library Development
• Public Library Systems
• WebJunction
• New York Library Association (including the Library Trustees Section and other Sections/Roundtables)
• Reference and Research Library Resources Councils
• Empire State library Network (formerly New York 3Rs Association)
• PULISDO (Public library System Directors Organization)
• ALA (American Library Association) including United for Libraries and other Divisions

Allowable Formats:

Trustee education may be delivered online or in person. The format of this education may include any of the following:

• Lectures
• Workshops
• Webinars
• Online courses
• State or national library association conferences

Costs of Continuing Education

Modest and reasonable costs incurred by a Trustee in complying with the trustee education requirements may be reimbursed by the Library in accordance with the Conference and Travel Policy. All continuing education requesting reimbursement must be pre-approved by the Library Board.

Self Certification of Trustee Education Activity Completion

Commencing January 1,2023, each NYS library trustee, elected or appointed, of a board of trustees is required to complete a minimum of two hours of trustee education annually.(Education Law 260-d as added by Chapter 468 of the Laws of 2021).

This self-certification form is to be utilized if a certificate of completion is not available from the approved education provider. Please submit this form to the Library Board President for review and signature. Trustees should retain a copy of the signed form.

I offer the following assurance:

 

I attended the following trustee education activity:

 

Trustee Name: _________________________________________________________

 

Approved Provider: ______________________________________________________

 

Title of Activity: _________________________________________________________

 

Topic/Content: __________________________________________________________

 

Format (e.g. workshop,webinar,online course): ________________________________

 

Date of Activity: _________________________________________________________

 

Contact Hours: _________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Trustee Signature­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________

 

Date_________________________________________