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Bylaws of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources

Last revised January 16, 2009.

• I. Name
• II. Purpose
• III. Membership
• IV. Voting Rights
• V. Officers
• VI. Meetings
• VII. Committees and Task Forces
• VIII. Administration and Finance:
• IX. NCC Handbook
• X. Amendments

I. Name:

The name of the body is the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources, hereafter referred to as the NCC or the Council.

II. Purpose:

The purposes of the NCC are:

1. To coordinate, develop, and locate funding for projects in cooperative Japanese collection development, improved access, education in Japanese librarianship, and other related activities;
2. To gather and disseminate information toward the goal of soliciting the recommendations and articulating the collective needs of librarians, scholars, and others in relation to information resources; and,
3. To expand the work of advising and collaborating with funding agencies in developing relevant and valuable programs.

III. Membership:

• Composition: The membership shall represent insofar as possible library and user interests, including representatives from currently functioning organizations concerned with library and scholarly issues in Japanese studies, and librarians and scholars from major, as well as from second and/or third tier, academic institutions.

Membership in the Council shall consist of at least ten but not more than nineteen members, including at least three from major national associations with an interest in Japanese information, identified by the Council as a whole, and originally including the American Advisory Committee (AAC) to the Japan Foundation, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), the Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) of the Association for Asian Studies, and the Library of Congress, but not limited to those organizations. The current list will be found in the NCC Council Handbook.

A special and essential member of the Council is the representative from Japan. This member will be the official liaison between the NCC and the library community in Japan. The Japanese liaison will be a full-fledged member of the NCC with all the rights and privileges associated with being a full member. This member will: attend the fall and winter NCC meetings and report there on events in Japan of concern to the NCC; speak to NCC concerns back in the Japanese community; suggest possible joint efforts between NCC and organizations in Japan; advise on possible sources in Japan for funding support of NCC projects; and speak for the NCC in Japan when requested to do so by the NCC Chair or the Council as a whole.

• Selection: The Executive Committee will solicit names from the NCC and from the larger Japanese studies community. At-large appointments shall provide a balance and diversity of scholars and librarians. The Executive Committee will propose names to the NCC, and election of new members shall be made by a two-thirds majority vote by incumbent members of the NCC.

• Terms: Members shall serve three-year terms. Exceptions are (i) institutional representatives, who serve at the will of the organization they represent and (ii) election or appointment to the Council in a different capacity, including the completion of an unexpired term.

• Vacancies: In the event a member is unable to serve a full term, the Executive Committee will recommend a replacement, according to procedures in III.B. The replacement will complete the term of the person being replaced. The Council may then appoint the replacement to serve a new full term, according to procedures in III.B.

• Removal from office: A member may be removed, when he or she does not fulfill the duties of the office, by a two-thirds vote of the Council membership.

• Prohibition of political activities: Neither the Council nor any member thereof shall in their official capacity participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office, including support of or opposition to a political candidate through the publication or distribution of documents.

IV. Voting Rights:

All members, including the Chair, shall have equal votes. A vote is valid on all issues if a quorum of one-half plus one of the NCC membership is in attendance. Except as detailed elsewhere, motions shall be carried by majority vote.

V. Officers:

• Chair: A new Chair shall be elected by the current NCC membership every three years. The Executive Committee shall be in charge of recruiting and nominating candidates for the new NCC Chair, in consultation with the past NCC Chairs, NCC members, and the community at large. A Chair cannot succeed him/herself. The new Chair need not be a current member of the NCC, but shall be elected a full year before the expiration of the then current Chair's term, to provide for institutional continuity by regular consultations with the outgoing Chair.

  The duties of the Chair include calling and presiding at all meetings of the Council; serving as chair of the NCC's Executive Committee, distributing Council responsibilities in relation to the implementation of the recommendations, projects, and activities of the Council and its constituency.

• Executive Director: The dual goals of the NCC Executive Director, in the establishment of a permanent executive directorate for long-term administration and fundraising, shall be to increase the scope of NCC projects and to become economically self-supporting. The Executive Director also serves as a member of the NCC's Executive Committee. Administrative duties of the Executive Director include, but are not limited to:
  1. Project Management: Conceptualizing specific projects in conjunction with the NCC Chair and committee chairs; gathering information and developing plans for implementation; drafting funding applications.
  2. Office Management and Development: Managing the financial operations of the NCC, and coordinating clerical activities; maintaining NCC records and its archive; keeping the NCC Handbook current; identifying sources of financial support among foundations, federal agencies, individuals, and elsewhere; and negotiating with potential supporters.
  3. Organization Management: Coordinating the activities of the NCC with the work of related organizations and institutions in the academic community, and expanding its relations with organizations and institutions in government, business, and law.
  4. Public Relations: Preparing and disseminating information to a broad constituency through the preparation of newsletters, bulletins, and public liaison activities, all of which must be carried out in compliance with the stipulations of the Internal Revenue Service of the Federal government, which states that no substantial part of the activities of the organization (NCC) shall consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided by IRC 501 (H)).
• The Executive Director will report to the NCC Chair, and the Executive Director's work will be reviewed annually by the NCC Chair with the assistance of the Executive Committee.
• The Executive Committee: The NCC Executive Committee assists the Chair and Executive Director in general NCC program and administrative oversight. The Executive Committee is comprised of the NCC Chair, the Chair-Elect (if it is a year in which a Chair-Elect is in office), the Executive Director and two other Council members appointed by the Chair in consultation with the Executive Director and Council, one of whom must be an elected faculty member. Executive Committee members will serve two-year terms, which, whenever possible, will be staggered to provide continuity.
• Removal from office: An officer can be removed when he or she does not fulfill the duties of the office by a two-thirds vote of the Council membership.

VI. Meetings:

• Timing: The Council shall meet at least once a year, with written notification beforehand.
• Attendance: The members of the Council, barring exceptional circumstances, are required to attend the working meetings in order to participate in establishing a consensus in the deliberation and formulation of future policy; to contribute to the implementation of the recommendations of the constituency; to engage in the creation of funding and policy guidelines as recommendations to present and potential funding agencies, as stated in Section II of these Bylaws. In exceptional circumstances, a member may delegate a representative to attend in his or her place, who will have the member's full voting rights.
• Travel Expenses: The Council shall be responsible for the travel expenses of each member of the NCC to the working meetings, except in cases when the expenses of a Council member are unreasonably high or not directly and explicitly necessitated by attendance at the meetings. In such a case, the Council member is personally responsible for expenses.
• Open Meeting: The Council shall additionally hold one open meeting a year in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS). Travel expenses for Council members for this open meeting are the responsibility of each member, unless otherwise approved by a majority vote of the Council membership.

VII. Committees and Task Forces

• Committees: The Chair, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall appoint necessary committees for continuing duties to serve terms of specific length, normally two or three years. Members of committees need not be Council members, but committees shall be chaired or co-chaired by an NCC member, except when the specific duties of the committee will be more efficiently served without a presiding Council member. A committee can be terminated by a majority vote of the Council. Committees will be detailed in the NCC Handbook.
• Task Forces: The Chair, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall appoint Task Forces to accomplish projects of limited duration. Task Force members need not be Council members, but Task Forces shall be chaired or co-chaired by an NCC member, except when the specific duties of the Task Force will be more efficiently served without a presiding Council member. Task forces will be detailed in the NCC Handbook.

VIII. Administration and Finance:

• Fiscal Year: The fiscal year of the NCC begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year.
• Management and Disbursement of Funds: Projects and activities of the NCC shall be funded by monies raised by the Council. The Executive Director and the Executive Committee are responsible for fiscal management and decisions dealing with monies allocated to, or raised by, the Council. These officers will consult on a regular basis concerning dispersal of NCC funds.

  No part of the net earnings of the organization shall be distributed to the benefit of any member or officer of the organization nor any private individual (except that of reasonable compensation which may be paid for services rendered to or for the organization).

• Dissolution: No member or officer of the organization or any private individual shall be entitled to share in the distribution of any of the organization's assets upon dissolution of the organization.

  In the event of dissolution, all remaining assets and property of the organization shall, after payment of necessary expenses thereof, be distributed to such organizations as shall qualify under Section 501 © (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent Federal tax laws, to the Federal or Commonwealth or local government for a public purpose, subject to the approval of a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

• Functioning: In any taxable year in which the organization is a private foundation as described in IRC 509 (a), the organization shall distribute its income for said period at such time and manner as not to subject it to tax under IRC 4942, and the organization shall not engage in any act of self-dealing as defined in IRC 4941 (d); retain any excess business holdings as defined in IRC 4943 (d); make any investments in such a manner as to subject the organization to tax under IRC 4944; or make any taxable expenditure as defined under IRC 4945 (d) or corresponding provisions of any subsequent Federal tax laws.

IX. NCC Handbook:

Detailed provisions including Council membership, job and committee descriptions, general operating procedures and background on projects, task forces and related organizations shall be maintained in the "NCC Handbook."

X. Amendments:

• Amendments to the Bylaws can be made by a two-thirds majority vote of the membership at its Council meeting. Amendments to the Bylaws can also be made in writing when signed by all members, and may be circulated electronically.