New York State Association of Library Boards

Adopted January 1996

The New York State Association of Library Boards, NYSALB, is a statewide organization that represents, assists, educates and honors public library boards and their trustees as providers of free and universal library service.

The core activities of NYSALB include:

Advocating support of libraries and their programs;
Communicating with library trustees to inform them of issues affecting libraries and library service;
Educating trustees about their role in the library, and;
Recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of library trustees

NYSALB Represents Public Library Trustees StatewideWe advocate support of public libraries and their programs. The New York State Association of Library Boards, NYSALB, is the voice in Albany of the citizen volunteers who make public library service possible. We bring the concerns of public library trustees to state leaders, and we participate in the formulation of public library policy.

We communicate with library trustees on issues affecting libraries and library service. NYSALB publishes a quarterly newsletter, Trustee, which is sent to all members and is circulated in the library community. We maintain an e-mail address and this site on the World Wide Web.

We educate trustees about their role in the library. In cooperation with the Public Library System Directors Association and the New York State Library, NYSALB has revised the Handbook for Library Trustees of New York State, the basic reference for library trustees.

NYSALB holds a statewide Trustee Institute every spring to address issues of critical concern to all public libraries. We have begun work on a resource and referral service designed to help answer trustee questions. Call NYSALB for more information.

We recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of library trustees. The annual Velma K. Moore Award recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals to library service in New York State.

NYSALB Needs Your Support

We're an independent, non-profit organization, chartered by the State Regents and governed by a fifteen-member board of volunteers, each of whom is a library trustee in New York State. In order to ensure the future of free, universally available public service, we need the participation of every public library and library system in the state. We hold our annual meeting in conjunction with the yearly conference of the New York Library Association. Members of the NYSALB board are elected by the membership voting at the annual meeting.

When your library joins NYSALB, each trustee receives a year's subscription to Trustee, our newsletter, along with occasional updates, legislative alerts or notices of NYSALB events, such as trustee institutes. You will also be eligible for member discounts at NYSALB trustee institutes. Most important, you'll become an active partner in the ongoing effort to strengthen and improve library service throughout the state.