Understanding Governance Structure

What is Your Library's Vision?

What do you imagine when you think about your library? 

• Is it led by a great director?
• Are the staff friendly and available?
• Is the facility safe, welcoming, and busy?
• Is the library's collection adequate to meet the needs of the patrons?
• Is it obvious that funding is adequate to support this vision into the future?

In order to keep that vision and imagine improvements, it is critical for public library trustees to understand and engage with local governments.

Most public libraries in Montana are connected to a city or county. Even independent library districts created under Montana Code Annotated Title 22, Chapter 1, Part 7 must work with the county for levying the money needed to fund the library and for election of board members.

While Montana law has given most public library boards a fair amount of authority, the governance structure of the library and the form of local government influences how that authority works. It’s important to understand the structure of your city or county’s local government. Knowing who does what and what laws they must follow helps you get your work done while building strong, positive relationships with your local government officials.

Library Origin

To get the most out of this course, take a moment to learn or write down the answers to the following question: How was your library created?

The options are

• City resolution
• County resolution
• Interlocal agreement between the city and county
• Interlocal agreement between a school board and a city or county
• Election establishing you as a multi-jurisdictional service district library (see Montana Code Annotated Title 7, Chapter 11, Part 11)
• Election establishing you as an independent public library district (see Montana Code Annotated Title 22, Chapter 1, Part )

City or County?

What local government entity does your library interact with the most?

• City
• County

Form of Government?

What is the form of the local government entity you interact with the most? It’s okay if you don’t know. We'll share how to find out in the next section of the course.

• Town meeting form
• Commission form
• Commission-presiding officer form
• Commission-executive (council-mayor) form
• Commission-manager form
• Charter form
• I don’t know

Officials

Which local government officials do you or the library director work with the most?

• County commissioners
• City council
• Mayor
• City Manager
• County Administrator
• Clerk or Clerk and Recorder
• Treasurer
• Attorney
• Finance officer

Reflection Questions

• Who do you know by name? 
• How many are regular library patrons?
• Who might be a good ally to help support your library's vision?
• Who do you think might need some attention to help them become a library advocate?

Focus Areas

As you work through the course, please focus on the forms of government, the officials, and the potential connections you identified in your answers to the questions.

As you think about the opportunities and possible challenges to realize the vision for your library, you can use these four areas to organize your thoughts and questions:

• source of authority
• budget
• personnel
• facilities

Each of these four areas relate to both the power of your board of trustees and the need to foster strong relationships with local government officials.