City of West Plains

Public Library

The West Plains Public Library Board of Trustees is a public body established pursuant to Missouri state stature to govern and oversee the operations of the municipal library. Its mission is to ensure the provision of quality library services that promote literacy, lifelong learning, and equitable access to information for the community. The board consists of nine members serving staggered three-year terms, meeting monthly on the second Monday of each month. The board establishes library policies, oversees financial management and budgeting, exercises control over library property and funds, hires and evaluates the library director, and may accept grants, gifts, and bequests on behalf of the library. Through its governance and fiduciary responsibilities, the board ensures library resources are managed responsibly and that services remain responsive to the needs of the citizens of West Plains.

MEMBERS & TERMS

  • Annie Noblin – Term expiring March 2028
  • Kyle Pompeii – Term expiring August 2026
  • Rachel Peterson – Term expiring August 2026
  • Vicki Petkovic – Term expiring October 2027
  • Sarah Drago – Term expiring August 2026
  • Jessica McCollum – Term expiring August 2027
  • Ed Button – Term expiring September 2028
  • Ray Williams – Term expiring August 2026
  • Jarryd Alsup – Term expiring August 2026

GOVERNING LEGISLATION

Missouri Revised Statutes

182.170. Trustees, number, appointment. – When any city establishes and maintains a public library under sections 182.140 to 182.301, the mayor or other proper official of the city, with the approval of the legislative branch of the city government, shall proceed to appoint a library board of nine trustees, chosen from the citizens at large, with reference to their fitness for the office. No member of the city government shall be a member of the board.

182.180. Terms of office of trustees – removal. – The trustees shall hold office, one-third for one year, one-third for two years and one-third for three years from the first of July following their appointment, and at their first regular meeting shall cast lots for the respective terms; and annually thereafter the mayor or other proper official, before the first of July each year, shall appoint three trustees, who shall hold office for three years. The mayor or other proper official, by and with the consent of the legislative branch of the city government, may remove any trustee for misconduct or neglect of duty.

Board, organization, powers, duties – funds, management and disbursement – exchange services. – 

  1. The Trustees, immediately after appointment, shall meet and organize by the election of one of their number as president, and the election of such other officers as they may deem necessary.
  2. They shall make and adopt such bylaws, rules, and regulations for their own guidance, and for the government of the library, as may be expedient, and not inconsistent with sections 182.140 to 182.301.
  3. They shall appoint a properly qualified librarian who shall be the chief executive and administrative officer for the library.
  4. They shall have the exclusive control of the expenditure of all moneys collected to the credit of the library fund, and of the construction of any library building, and of the supervision, care, and custody of the grounds, rooms or buildings constructed, leased, or set apart for that purpose.  All moneys received for the library shall be deposited in the city treasury to the credit of the city library fund, and shall be kept separate and apart from other moneys of the city.  At least once in every month the proper city finance officer shall pay over to the treasurer of the library district all moneys received and collected for the library fund, including interest on such moneys, and take duplicate receipts from the treasurer, one of which he shall file with the secretary of the library district and the other of which he shall file in his settlement with the city governing body.
  5. The board, as a body corporate, may sue and be sued, complain and defend, and make and use a common seal, purchase or lease grounds, purchase, lease, occupy or erect an appropriate building or buildings for the use of the public library and branches thereof, sell and convey real estate and personal property for and on behalf of the public library and branches thereof, issue bonds, secured by a deed of trust on any land which they own, for the purpose of the purchase of ground and for the erection of public buildings and for the improvements of existing buildings, receive gifts of real and personal property for the use and benefit of the public library and branch libraries thereof, the same when accepted to be held and controlled by the board of trustees, according to the terms of the deed, gift, devise or bequest of such property.

  6. The board may extend the privileges and use of the library to nonresidents through agreements with other existing libraries allowing for exchanges of services, upon such terms and conditions as the boards of the libraries, from time to time, may prescribe.

182.190. Vacancies, how filled – three terms disqualifies – nepotism forbidden. – Vacancies in the board of trustees, occasioned by removals, resignations or otherwise, shall be reported to the proper official and be filled in like manner as original appointments, except that if the vacancy is an unexpired term, the appointment shall be made for only the unexpired portion of that term.  No member of the board shall serve for more than three successive full terms and shall not be eligible for further appointment to the board until two years after the expiration of the third term.  No trustee shall receive compensation as such, and no person shall be employed by the board who is related either by blood or by marriage to any trustee of the board.