1) Membership: Annual personal membership dues are charged. Members receive three newsletters a year, program flyers and the annual bibliography. The Steering Committee determines the membership dues.

2a) Steering Committee Membership and Duties:  ARRT is managed by a Steering Committee. Membership on the Steering Committee is open to interested members of ARRT and dependent upon space available on the committee.

Steering Committee members are expected to attend all Steering Committee meetings and programs. If a member is unable to attend a Steering Committee meeting s/he must notify the Chair in order to be excused. Three unexcused absences in a year will warrant a discussion with the Chair and a statement of continued interest or resignation by the member. Although Steering Committee members are expected to attend programs, staffing issues in their libraries may cause absences to be unavoidable. While members are encouraged to attend programs, they may need to send other staff in their place. Consistent absence from program events will warrant a discussion with the Chair regarding committee obligations.

Committee members are required to complete their appointed job as outlined in 2b below and to participate in the committee's annual bibliography (or related) project.

Steering Committee members are required to be members in good standing of ARRT.

Steering Committee meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of January, March, May, July, September and November, unless that schedule conflicts with a holiday or library conference.

2b.) Steering Committee Job Assignments: Job assignments are determined by the Chair based on preferences expressed by committee members, following the terms outlined below. Job descriptions are available from the Chair. At the November Steering committee meeting, member preferences are solicited, and the Chair will announce new assignments before the January meeting. Some job assignments are for one-year terms, some are for two-year terms.

· must have been on the ARRT Steering Committee for two years

· must actively work in a public library

Voting may be by secret ballot at the November meeting and the new Chair will be announced at that time. Terms for all committee positions begin at the following January meeting. Members may serve more than one two-year term as Chair, but these terms may not be consecutive.

Archivist, Treasurer and Web-site Administrator: are two-year terms with the option of additional terms. The incumbent in these positions should indicate in July of the odd-numbered year if s/he wishes to stay in the position. If not, the position will be available to another Steering committee member who would like the appointment.

Genre Study Leader, Genre Study Secretary, and the Newsletter Editor are two-year terms.

When members choose jobs, they may select the job they currently do, but will not be guaranteed the assignment if another member requests the position.

Other positions or committees may be assigned by the Chair as they are needed, and may become permanent positions..

3) Programs: Each year three regular programs are held. Program topics are selected at the November meeting. The cost to attend each program may include the full expenses for the program (dinner, printing costs, speakers, meeting rooms, honoraria, etc.) No one may attend the program without paying the full program fee, and refunds for cancellations will not be given less than 7 days before a program. An evaluation form will be distributed by the program coordinator at the end of each program. The program coordinator will report to the Steering committee summarizing participants' comments, costs, number registered, number in attendance, and recommendations.

4) Newsletter: The ARRT newsletter is published three times a year in Spring, Fall and Winter and distributed to all current members, currently via electronic format.

5) Genre Study. All ARRT members may join the ARRT genre study. It meets the first Thursday of February, April, June, August, October & December. An ARRT Steering Committee member leads the discussion, which is planned as a two-year course of study and appoints a leader.

6) ARRT Web Site: ARRT maintains a web site where information may be found regarding membership, upcoming programs, and general readers’ advisory information. It is maintained by the Steering Committee member assigned the task of Web-site Administrator.

7) Speakers: Upon request, ARRT will attempt to provide speakers on readers' advisory topics to libraries and library organizations.

8) Monetary Guidelines: ARRT will maintain a document of general guidelines pertaining to monetary issues, including but not limited to: Speaker fees, program registrations, discretionary spending. This document shall be reviewed on a yearly basis by the full steering committee at the January meeting.

rev.3/09