Article I. Name

The name of the Council shall be Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), Association for Asian Studies, Inc. (AAS).

Per the AAS Guidelines for Affiliates and Committees of the Association for Asian Studies, Inc., CEAL will be covered by AAS Articles of Incorporation, tax exempt status under Section 501(0)(3) and liability insurance as a Committee* of AAS. CEAL must meet the legal, financial, and reporting requirements of AAS as a Committee. Per the AAS Board of Directors Ruling of October 1991, CEAL must submit an annual report of its operations to the AAS, a copy of its publications for AAS archives, and such other special reports as may be required. Failure to report two years running automatically disqualifies the group as a Committee. Reinstatement requires reapplication to the Board of Directors.

*CEAL is an AAS Committee, not an AAS Affiliate.  Membership and banking requirements for Committees differ from those for Affiliates, which are considered independent groups.

Article II. Objectives

The objectives of CEAL shall be:
(a) to serve as a faculty-librarians' forum for the discussion of East Asian library issues of common concern;
(b) to formulate programs for the development of East Asian library resources, bibliographic controls, and access; and
(c) to improve and enhance interlibrary and international cooperation in East Asian library development and services.

Article III. Membership and Fees

Section 1. Membership shall be open only to members of the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. who elect to join CEAL.

Section 2. A member of the AAS may become a CEAL member by subscribing to the Journal of East Asian Libraries (JEAL). However, a subscriber to JEAL may decline to join CEAL if he/she so desires.

Section 3. An AAS member who has elected to join CEAL shall be considered a member in good standing with voting rights and the opportunity to hold any CEAL office and to serve on committees.

(a) All non-librarian AAS members are welcome to participate in CEAL activities, except for service in those offices and on those committees which are determined to be best served by those knowledgeable and experienced in the profession.

(b) Librarian is herein defined as one who works in and/or manages a library, and is not narrowly defined as only someone with a library and/or information studies degree.

Section 4. JEAL subscription fees shall be determined by the CEAL Executive Board, also known as the Executive Committee, henceforth referred to in this document as the Board. Additional fees as dictated by such things as organizational electronic resources maintenance costs may be adopted by CEAL on the recommendation of the Board and upon a vote of the membership.

Article IV. Meetings

Section 1. General meetings

CEAL shall meet once a year during the annual meeting of the AAS in order to receive committee reports, to consider recommendations from and to make proposals to the Board, and to discuss other business of concern to East Asian libraries.

Section 2. Special meetings may be called at other times by the Board, upon written request of a quorum of ten percent of the voting CEAL members in good standing. At least one month's notice shall be given prior to special meetings, and only business specified in the call shall be transacted.

Section 3. Board meetings shall be held in conjunction with the AAS Annual Meeting and at other times as requested by the President.

Section 4. A paper or electronic-based ballot vote by CEAL membership may be authorized by the CEAL President between meetings. In a membership vote a simple majority of those voting shall be required to carry.

Section 5. Fifty CEAL members in good standing shall constitute a quorum for the business portion of a CEAL annual meeting. A quorum for the specified business in a special meeting shall be two-thirds of the number of members requesting the Board call the meeting.

Article V. Executive Board

Section 1. Organization

(a) The Board shall consist of the following voting members:  the President, Vice-President/President-Elect, immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Chairpersons of the Standing Committees, and six Members-at-Large. At least three of the Members-at-Large should be librarians with foci of concern on China, Japan, and Korea respectively. AAS non-librarian faculty may be appointed to the Board, and would thus join the JEAL Editor as the only non-voting members of the Board.

(b) The President shall be presiding officer of the Council and Chairperson of the Executive Board, and shall exercise the duties and responsibilities commonly associated with the office.

(c) The Vice-President/President-Elect shall assume the duties of the President, holding the title of Acting President, in the event of the absence, death, resignation, or incapacity of the President; and in such cases the Vice-President/President-Elect shall still succeed to the office of the President in the following term.

(d) The Secretary is responsible for recording the minutes at the Board meetings and the Annual Meeting Plenary Session; coordinating, organizing, and distributing ballots for elections and amendments to bylaws to voting members in good standing.

(e) The Treasurer is responsible for receipt and appropriate disposition of monies on behalf of CEAL, for maintaining all financial records of CEAL, and for managing JEAL subscriptions and renewals.

(1) CEAL must bank through the AAS, and cannot have a separate bank account or independent financial operations.
(2) Proposals to foundations or other sources of funding for the support of Committee operations and programs must be approved by the AAS Board of Directors.

(f) The Members-at-Large function as direct representatives of the Council general membership, and have full voting rights on the Executive Board.

Section 2. Governance

(a) The function of the Board shall be to propose and promote policies appropriate to the achievement of CEAL's objectives. The President, in consultation with the Board, may establish and/or abolish standing committees and ad hoc task forces as may be required to discharge CEAL responsibilities properly.

(b) No officers nor other elected Board members may serve successive terms in the same positions, but they may be re-nominated for those same positions after a period of three years out of office. They may, however, be nominated to continue to serve in different leadership capacities, in accordance with procedures set forth in the Bylaws.

Section 3. Board paper or electronic-based ballot voting

(a) Votes via paper or electronic-based ballot may be authorized by the President between meetings.

(b) A majority of the voting members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. An affirmative vote of the Board quorum shall be required to pass a motion when voting by paper or electronic-based ballot.

Article VI. Officers and Other Board Members

Section 1. Officers and Other Board Members
(a) CEAL officers shall be the President, the Vice-President/President-Elect, the immediate Past President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. All officers of CEAL shall be nominated and elected in accordance with procedures set forth in Article VIII.

(b) The JEAL Editor shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Board for a three-year term of office to coincide with the three-year term of the officers other than the President. This appointment may be renewed to additional three-year terms by succeeding Presidents, with the approval of the Board.If the Editor does not complete his/her term, the President, with the approval of the Board, shall appoint a new Editor to complete the remainder of the term.

(c) The CEAL Statistics Coordinator/Chairperson of the Statistics Standing Committee shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Board for a three-year term of office to coincide with the three–year term of the officers other than the President. This appointment may be renewed to additional three-year terms by succeeding Presidents, with Board approval. If the Statistics Coordinator does not complete his/her term, the President, with the Board's approval, shall appoint a new Statistics Coordinator to complete the remainder of the term. Unlike the JEAL Editor, the Statistics Coordinator heads a Standing Committee and thus is a voting member of the Board.

Section 2. Terms of Office

(a) The Vice-President/President-Elect shall be elected from the membership of CEAL and shall serve for a two-year term as Vice-President/President-Elect, a two-year term as President, and a one-year term as immediate Past President. Every other year there would be no Past President on the Board, dropping the officer component by one for the second half of a President's term.

(b) Members-at-Large are elected directly to the Board in overlapping three year terms, with elections held annually for those whose terms are expiring. Members-at-Large shall be nominated and elected in accordance with procedures set forth in Article VIII.

(c) If a vacancy occurs in the office of Vice-President/ President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, or Member-at-Large, the position shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the person who received the next highest number of votes for that position in the prior election. A vacancy in the office of Immediate Past President can be filled on a voluntary basis by the person who had last held that office; otherwise it will remain vacant until the President assumes that role. The Secretary will retain the tally of votes for each elected officer and Member-at-Large position for three years.

Article VII. Committees

Section 1. Establishment and Discontinuance
The President, in consultation with the Board, may establish or abolish CEAL committees.

Section 2. Standing Committees

(a) There shall be three area Standing Committees of CEAL, each having as its focus of concern one of the three major geographical areas of East Asia, here defined as China, Japan, and Korea. The other Standing Committees are Library Technology, Membership, Public Services, Statistics, and Technical Processing.

(b) Each Standing Committee Chairperson shall submit to the Board for its approval a statement of functions, a plan for organization, and a set of procedures to be followed by his/her committee.

(c) Particular Standing Committee Charges

(1)The Committee on Library Technology shall manage the Council on East Asian Libraries Web site (http://purl.oclc.org/net/ceal). This includes keeping the Web page contents current, monitoring it and fixing broken links, and adding new pages.  The Chair of the Committee on Library Technology shall either serve as the CEAL Web Master, or recommend to the Executive Board a qualified CEAL member for this role.  The approval of the Board is mandatory in the latter case.

(2)The Chair of the Committee on Library Technology shall also either serve as the CEAL Meeting Equipment Coordinator, or recommend to the Executive Board a qualified CEAL member for this role.  The approval of the Board is mandatory in the latter case.

Section 3. Special Committees and Task Forces

(a) The President, in consultation with the Board, may establish (and/or abolish) Special Committees for temporary assignments relating to the work of CEAL as a whole.
(1) Chairpersons of the Special Committees shall be appointed by the CEAL President with the approval of the Board. Within two weeks of the appointment of the Special Committee Chairperson, the President in consultation with the Board will give the Special Committee its charges.

(2) The life of a Special Committee shall be limited to two years, unless otherwise approved by the Board in which case the President may extend the appointment until the task is completed.

(b) Standing Committee Chairpersons may establish (and/or abolish) Task Forces for temporary assignments relating to the specific work of their committees, with approval of the President in consultation with the Board.

(1) Chairpersons of the Task Forces shall be appointed by the Standing Committee Chairperson with the approval of the CEAL President. The Chairperson of a Task Force shall be a liaison to the sponsoring standing committee, if he/she is not already a member of it. Within two weeks of the appointment of the Task Force Chairperson, the Committee Chairperson will give the Task Force its charges.

(2)The life of a committee-affiliated Task Force shall be limited to two years, unless otherwise approved by the committee Chairperson, in which case the Chairperson may extend the appointment until the task is completed.

Section 4. Functions of Special Committees and Task Forces

(a) The Special Committees and Task Forces shall investigate specific areas of concern as charged and present findings and recommendations to the Board or sponsoring committees respectively for consideration and action, and assume responsibility for the performance of specified functions or services. Every Special Committee and Task Force shall have its charges and functions specified in the minutes of the Board or committee meeting respectively in which it was established.

(b) The organization and procedures of each Special Committee and Task Force shall be determined by the nature of the assignment. The Special Committee or Task Force Chairperson shall submit to the Board or sponsoring committee respectively for its approval a statement of functions, a plan for organization, and a set of procedures to be followed by his/her Committee or Task Force.

(c) CEAL, through the Board, shall provide assistance to all committees and task forces in facilitating their work, including fund-raising and other assistance necessary to promote the effective performance and successful completion of their assignments.

Section 5. Appointments and the approval process

(a) Chairpersons of any Committees or Task Forces may appoint two to eight CEAL members in good standing to serve for a single, three-year term, subject to approval by the Board. In order to ensure a broad and balanced representation, the appointment of any Committee and Task Force members shall give due consideration to geographical areas, research interests, size of East Asian collections, and length of membership in CEAL. Board members proposed for committee membership shall abstain from any Board votes related to approving that committee's membership. Under exceptional circumstances, the Board may approve an appointment for a term other than three-years or two in the case of members of Special Committees and Task Forces.

(b) No limit will be placed on the number of committees in which a CEAL member can serve.

Section 6. Terms and Conditions

(a) All Standing Committee members, including the Chairperson, shall normally serve a term of three years. Unless otherwise specified, terms will begin at the conclusion of the annual meeting.

(b) Committee and Task Force members may include non-CEAL members as advisors, whose professional knowledge and expertise are judged to be essential to the proper functioning of the Committees and Task Forces.

(c) The Chairperson of each committee may solicit prospective committee members through such mechanisms as paper or electronic-based requests for volunteers, or committee preference sheets distributed during the CEAL general meetings or via the Internet.

(d) The CEAL President shall serve as an ex-officio member of CEAL Standing Committees, Special Committees, and Task Forces.

Article VIII. Nominations and Elections

Section 1. Nominating Committee
(a) The Executive Board may constitute itself as a Nominating Committee or may appoint such a committee. The Chairperson of the Nominating Committee shall normally be the immediate Past President. The Nominating Committee members may not be active candidates for office.

(b) If the Executive Board chooses to appoint a Nominating Committee, the Committee shall be comprised of at least two members. They will serve for the duration of the election and will not be eligible for immediate reappointment.

(c) As part of its duties, the Nominating Committee shall invite nominations from the membership.  Self-nominations are allowed.

Section 2. In drawing up the list of nominees for the elected offices, the Nominating Committee shall give due consideration to the geographical areas, specialties/ research interests, and sizes of East Asian language holdings represented in CEAL in order to insure a broad and balanced representation.

Section 3. The Nominating Committee shall first obtain consent from all nominees running for election, and then prepare the list of nominees for the following vacancies on the Board: Vice-President/ President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Standing Committee Chairpersons and Members-at-Large. Elections for Vice-President/President-Elect shall take place every two years. Secretary, Treasurer, and Standing Committee Chairpersons shall be elected every three years. One or more Members-at-Large shall be elected every year for a three-year term overlapping the ongoing terms of the other Members-at-Large.

Section 4. Additional nominations

(a) Additional nominations may be made by petitions signed by no fewer than ten members.

(b) Nominations-by-petition should be filed with the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee in sufficient time, but no later than 45 days before the annual meeting.

Section 5. Whether nominated by the Nominating Committee or by petition, a candidate for election to any office or committee chairmanship shall be a CEAL member in good standing, and shall submit a written consent to the Nominating Committee Chairperson.

Section 6. A candidate for election to any office or committee chairmanship, including those nominated by petition, shall file with the Nominating Committee Chairperson a short statement relating the background of the individual seeking this post, and reasons why the individual would like to be considered for this responsibility.

Section 7. Final Nomination List

(a) The Secretary, in consultation with the President and the Nominating Committee Chairperson, shall prepare and distribute via paper or electronic-based ballot the final list of nominees along with their candidate's statements, to all members in good standing, no later than 30 days before the next Annual Meeting.

(b) The document received by each voting member shall be in the form of a ballot, to be marked and returned before the established closing date of the annual election..

Section 8. Secrecy

(a) The ballot shall be so prepared that it is anonymous and yet enable the President to prevent irregularities.

(b) The voting process shall be handled by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee and the CEAL Secretary, unless otherwise approved by the Board. The election results shall be announced at the Annual Meeting.

Section 9. Voting

(a) Voting for all Standing Committee Chairpersons shall take place simultaneously and on the same ballot as the Secretary and the Treasurer once every three years. Members shall be allowed to vote for the Chairperson of only one of the three "area committees". Chairpersons of other Standing Committees, however, shall be elected by a vote of all members in good standing.

(b) If a Standing Committee Chairperson is unable to complete his/her three-year term of office, current members of that committee shall choose one of their members to complete the reminder of the term, with the approval of the CEAL President in consultation with the Board.

Section 10. Tie provision
A tie vote in the election of an officer or Standing Committee Chairperson of CEAL will be broken by a secret ballot conducted among the current Board members present at the first Board meeting of the Annual CEAL Meeting. If this secret ballot vote also results in a tie, the Executive Board shall add as an agenda item for the CEAL Plenary Session the need for a special election conducted by secret ballot at that Session to break the tie.

Article IX. Bylaws Adoption and Changes

Section 1. Adoption and amendments Bylaws may be proposed (1) by the Board, or (2) by means of a petition signed by ten percent of the voting CEAL membership in good standing.

Section 2. Notice of adoption and amendment

(a) Amendments shall be effective immediately upon adoption unless the Amendment itself provides otherwise, and shall be published in the Journal of East Asian Libraries.

(b) Amendments to the CEAL Bylaws shall be submitted to a vote via paper or electronic-based ballot by all members in good standing, and shall be approved and adopted with a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.

Article X. Guiding Rules

The latest edition of parliamentary authority designated by the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. shall govern CEAL in all cases in which it can be applied, and in which it is not inconsistent with the Bylaws of CEAL or the Constitution and Bylaws of AAS. Adopted in March 1960. Revised in March 1980. Amended in March 1984, March 1991, October 1993, and July 1996. Revised in August 2003 from CEAL Procedures to CEAL Bylaws.