offices

Job Descriptions for MULSA Board Offices

Looking to enhance your resume, to establish bonds with library employees outside your own department, or simply to have fun working on projects that strengthen workplace morale? Then MULSA may have a place for you on its Board.

We are currently seeking individuals to run for all positions. Please read the job descriptions below, and submit your candidacy by
contacting a MULSA Board member. The vote will take place during the MULSA annual meeting, and we will need to draw up a ballot and announce candidates a week ahead of time, so please submit your candidacy by one week prior to the annual meeting in May.

All job descriptions below include an estimate of the time commitment involved. Add to each figure 60-90 minutes per month for attendance at monthly MULSA Board meetings. Also add in time voluntarily invested to help fellow Board members with special events, like parties.

It is important to check with your supervisor before running for a position, to get clear about the tasks you may do during work time, and which you will do on your own time.

President

The President’s responsibilities are relatively steady over the year, though to the
extent that the President assists with parties and other activities, some
fluctuation can occur.

Duties are highly variable. At minimum:

Announcing, preparing agenda for and attending every meeting; reserving space (12 meetings
per year including one all-member meeting): 30 hours, mostly on work time
Preparing and presenting an introduction to MULSA for new
employees-2 hours, work time

Communication (intra-board and with library admin)-10 hours,
about 50% work time, 50% own time

Past MULSA Presidents have worked on these additional MULSA projects:

Assisting other officers as needed (party preparations, writing for Muse):
20 hours, on own time

Member survey: 20 hours, about 75% on own time

Web maintenance: 15 or 20 hours, about 75% on own time.

This position is well suited for those who like looking at “the big picture” in the organizations.

It is not necessary to be experienced with either MULSA or the MU Libraries upon entering the position,
since one can often rely on the experience of others on the Board. This is a leadership position which
provides many opportunities to communicate with employees in the branches and in other departments of Ellis.
Being in a position to help resolve differences of opinion on the board (and among concerned employees)
is also often considered excellent work experience.

Vice President/President Elect

This is a two-year commitment, with the second year service as MULSA President. The Vice President assists the
President in any way needed. Assisting other board members in all their projects helps the Vice President
become well versed in the many different activities MULSA undertakes and serves as preparation for presidency.

In the President’s absence, the
Vice President becomes acting President and presides over monthly Board
meetings. If the President leaves
or steps down before the end of the term, the Vice President assumes the
presidency.

The Vice President is primarily
responsible for recruiting individuals to serve on the next year’s Board, conducts
the election at the annual meeting, counts ballots and announces the winners.
The Vice President is responsible for soliciting nominations for any award activities
each month, selecting and presenting the award to the winner. Solicitation
and winner announcements are made via the library News Notes and/or
the MU Libraries’ listserv.

Time commitment: Approximately 6 hours per month.

Secretary

The MULSA secretary records minutes of MULSA Board meetings, distributes copies to
Board members either in print form or by e-mail. He or she reads the
minutes at the next Board meeting for approval or correction. He or she
submits the approved minutes (including any amendments) to the webmaster for
posting to the MULSA web site.

The Secretary maintains the Secretary’s Notebook of minutes and other documents.
He or she acts as historian as well, and may be asked to look up information in
minutes of meetings long past, or find documents created by the MULSA board
during previous years.

In the absence of the Treasurer, the Secretary may write checks provided that
the Secretary’s name is listed as an authorized joint-account owner at Mizzou
Credit Union.

Performs other clerical duties as assigned.

Time commitment:
About 3-5 hours per month.

Treasurer

The Treasurer handles banking transactions involving money received and writing
reimbursement checks for supplies, party food, Superstar award, gifts and other
items related to MULSA. Balance account books and ledger each month, and prepare/submit
a monthly report to the Board. At the end of the fiscal year, the treasurer
prepares an annual financial report. The MULSA President may be set up as a
joint bank account owner, so that she or he can write checks in the treasurer’s
absence. How much of a time commitment is involved-7-10 hours each month: This can vary,
depending on the membership duties, and bookkeeping knots.

Time Commitment: 5-10 hours each month: This can vary, depending on the membership
duties, and bookkeeping complications.

Staff Lounge Co-Chair (2 positions)

The first duty of an incoming Chair is to create and hang signs on the vending machines
with the Chair’s contact information and library locations.
When contacted about a refund, use the appropriate refund form in the Chair’s binder
and fill in the necessary refund information: product not obtained/amount of money lost.
Ask the person who lost the money to sign the form and fill-in the date.
When additional refund money is needed from a vendor, leave a note on the vending machine.
The vendor will come to your location to provide additional funds.
When a vending machine complaint is received, call the appropriate vendor.
For the snack machine: Jackson Brothers at 1-800-388-1345. For the beverage machines, call or email the appropriate person.
At the beginning of each fiscal term, it is the Chair’s responsibility to assemble a crew of
volunteers to clean the Staff Lounge on a daily basis, Monday -Friday. Cleaning duties require about
30 minutes per shift. The Chair may be one of those volunteers and doing so keeps one in touch with Lounge issues.
Volunteers can be responsible for one day each week, or alternate with someone to clean twice monthly.
If one of the crew cannot fulfill their duties on a given day, that person should contact the Chair and
the other volunteers for coverage. If no one else can cover, it is the Chair’s responsibility to clean the
lounge. Duties include:
- Wash and put away any dishes found
- Clean the microwave ovens; wash the stove burner trays and stove top
- Clean all tables and counters including the ice machine and wash ice scoop
- Check and replenish napkins, paper towels (the roll on the microwave oven only), salt, pepper and sugar.
  All paper products are in the storage closet. When the large paper towel dispenser runs out, notify Security.
  They will arrange to get it filled.
- Clean the sink daily, but occasionally use Lime Away on the sink and dish drainer tray.
- Straighten magazines and weed them periodically.
- Replace the cloth dishcloth and towel daily from supplies in the closet.
- There is a small vacuum cleaner for use as needed on the chairs and couch.
It is helpful to maintain a shopping list on a clipboard in the closet. You and your crew can note what
supplies are getting low. The small coffee pot on the counter is the responsibility of those who use it.
Other than sugar, all coffee supplies are on a donations basis.
The Chair buys kitchen supplies as the need arises. After supplies are purchased and delivered,
photocopy the receipt (keep the original in the Chair’s binder), and log in the item and amount.
Write your name and “Staff Lounge” on the photocopy and give it to the MULSA Treasurer for reimbursement.
Keep all receipts for your purchases until reimbursement check is received.
Include your expenses in your monthly and annual reports. If anyone else buys something for the lounge,
have them give you a photocopy of their receipt. Keep track of who needs reimbursement.
Keep an eye on the “Freebies” box; anything left for a week should be tossed.
Keep signage in the Lounge up to date.
Clean the refrigerator periodically (best done during intersession when the student assistants are gone).
Leave a note on the refrigerator door as to when you plan to do it; give at least a week’s notice so that users
can remove or mark their items. Send out an email message to the library staff announcing the date and time of
the scheduled cleaning. Check the refrigerator interior periodically for spilled or rotten food.
In the event of a problem with the ice machine, contact the manager at the Bookmark Cafe.
The machine is owned by the Cafe.
Recycling: The library provides the recycling station in the lounge. Neither the Chair nor the cleaning
volunteers is responsible for the station.
Charitable collection bins. These are the responsibility of the MULSA Community Chair. If the bins appear
overly full, report this to the current holder of that chair. A list of the MULSA Board members is posted
on the MULSA bulletin board.
The Staff Lounge Chair attends the monthly MULSA Board meeting and the MULSA annual
meeting and provides reports for both. The Chair co-ordinates with the MULSA Social Chairs on events occurring
in the Lounge and provides information on the use of the Lounge with others who wish to hold small events there.

Time commitment: The amount of time the Chair of the Staff Lounge commits to duties varies
with the needs of the Lounge and the Chair’s involvement in cleaning and shopping activities.
The MULSA Board meets one hour per month, time spent on refunds is negligible, service for machines
is rarely needed though may necessitate some back and forth communications.
In general, 2-4 hours per month should cover the Chair’s duties.

Revised March 25, 2011
aja

Book Sale Co-Chairs (2 positions)

The Book Sales Co-chairs run the book sale. Books are sold through Better World Books. Books going to BWB must be sorted for acceptance criteria and packed up on a regular basis.
On Thursdays, rejects from BWB are placed on a cart and wheeled into the staff lounge. These are free
to the staff. On Fridays, the left-over books are removed from the staff lounge. The paperbacks are
placed directly into boxes for recycling. The hard covers must be de-bound. Better World Books sales involve
reviewing the gift books and comparing prices on Amazon, creating listings, and shipping out those that are sold.

Time commitment:

One hour per week to gather books, mark them, and put them out for sale. This also includes putting out the free books.
½ hour per week to sort books for recycling and remove covers.
One hour per month for MULSA meetings
½ to 1 hour per week for Better World Books sales
½ hour to prepare monthly report

Social Co-Chairs (2 positions)

The Social Co-Chair is an ideal
office for those who have the ability to organize and delegate many details well
ahead of the main events (summer picnic, Halloween party, Thanksgiving party,
winter holiday party, Valentine’s Day party and/or Earth Day celebration, and
the annual MULSA meeting.) Those
who have a desire for a creative outlet are ideal but not a must (one can always
obtain help for brainstorming on party themes, decorating, and constructing
flyers/invitations.) The position
also requires an ability to work well with others and a desire to interact
socially.

Tasks that include
off-the-clock work for the social chairs unless delegated out to committee
members are: planning, selecting, purchasing and
delivery of menu and party items, creating invitations/flyers, and
decorating.

Must have supervisors
that are willing to release you for at least 2-4 hours on party days.
Specific duties include:

Creating and distributing event
invitations to all MULSA members, including persons in the individual-membership category
Creating and posting flyers for upcoming events and making appropriate announcements in the News Notes and the MU Libraries listserv.
Ordering and purchasing appropriate amounts of food, beverages, utensils, decorations, games, prizes, awards, etc.
Securing and supervising set-up and clean-up crews for social events.
Decorating the staff lounge for the holidays.
Organizing activities for children at the winter holiday party. In the past we have had children’s videos and visits from Santa Claus.
Reserving a shelter at a city park, for the summer picnic.

Organizing games and activities for adults and children at this event.
Taking photographs at events and maintaining MULSA photo album.
Submitting a monthly report of social activities, and an annual report at the year’s end.
Recruiting and training a successor

Time commitment: Varies, but will greatly depend on the time the
co-chairs want to put into it. At least 2-4 hours on party days.

Courtesy Chair

The Courtesy Chairperson sends
cards, flowers or gifts to library employees who experience significant life
events (birth of baby, marriage, death in family, retirement, hospitalization,
etc.) MULSA has a complex system
that details the different sorts of acknowledgement we send to MULSA members and
non-members for different kinds of events.
Part of the job is keeping it all straight.An important part of this job is to
remind people to notify you when an employee experiences a life event.

This is accomplished through the News Notes and/or MU Libraries listserv.
The Courtesy Chair submits a monthly report of courtesy actions.

Time commitment: Less than most other MULSA positions.

Community Service Chair

The Community Service Chairperson (CSC)
is in charge of coordinating efforts to provide volunteer assistance and
donations for needful projects within the Columbia community.

MULSA’s current community service projects include:

Columbia Second Chance pet adoption service – collection bin in Ellis staff room
Columbia Food Pantry help for the hungry – collection bin in Ellis staff room
Clothing for Ronald McDonald House – collection bin in Ellis staff room
Collecting gifts and donations to give to an adopted family
in December (a Voluntary Action Center annual promotion)

During some months, there will be no activity and no report will be necessary.

Time commitment: Shopping for the adopted family and organizing & publicizing special events (e.g., garage sales, short-term collection drives)
take the most time. The ongoing projects are generally not labor-intensive and mainly involve transporting collected goods to the appropriate agencies, sometimes communicating by phone with agencies.

MUSE Chair (2 positions)

This position is responsible for editing and compiling the MUSE magazine.
MUSE editors solicit poetry, prose, artwork, photography, and other creative material
from library staff for publication. The MUSE may be distributed in paper copy, or it may be published to the web.

Time commitment: This will largely depend on how much time the co-chairs want to devote to
the MUSE.