Term Limits

One of the greatest strengths of Ohio's library system is that there are 250 districts - each governed by its own board of trustees. There is, however, an Achilles' heel in this strength - Ohio has no term limits for library trustees.

Whenever I suggest that we need term limits, I get the "we-don't-need-Columbus-telling-us-how-to-run-ourlibraries" response from trustees. It's a head-in-the-sand response, because the no-term-limits cloud could rain problems on any board at any time in the future.

It's been a nagging problem for several boards in the past and present. Trustees who have served for three or four decades many times intimidate other board members and even directors. Often they are not only resistant to change, but wear provincial blinders by not caring to keep up-to-date with what other libraries are doing. Nor do they see value in attending regional or statewide conferences or inservices.

These trustees might have come onto their boards with the greatest of intentions and were positive forces for many years, but their continued presence on the board has become a negative influence. Are all trustees who have been on their boards for three or more consecutive terms negative influences? Of course not. But, without term limits, it is very difficult to remove the few bad apples throughout the state.

I favor a term-limit concept that would require any trustee to leave the board for at least a year after completing two full terms. With many of the terms in Ohio running for seven years, that's plenty of time to make a difference on a board. If the trustee is no longer a positive force, no one gets embarrassed if the person does not return a year or so down the road.

This informal encouragement does sometimes work when the issue involves a trustee's poor attendance record. "We need all board members to carry their fair share of the responsibility" is a convincing argument to use with someone who shows at meetings less than half the time.

If the issue is that someone has been on the board for three or four decades and is resistant to change, the board president can try the approach - "All of us on the board need to give younger patrons a chance to bring new ideas to the board, and since you've been on the board the longest..." As I said, the president "can try" that approach, but the president should also be prepared to duck after saying the words.

BY DAVID C. MILLER

MEMBER, STATE LIBRARY OF OHIO BOARD OF TRUSTEES

David Miller is past president of the State Library of Ohio Board, Ohio Library Council, Ohio Library Trustees Association and the Wood County District Public Library. He is editor of the Sentinel-Tribune newspaper in Bowling Green. He can be contacted at (419) 669-2371 or Trustee.From.Hell@wcnet.org.

Copyright Ohio Library Association Spring 2004
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