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How to become a national branch - Advice, guidelines, and conditions

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How to get started

  1. Arrange a meeting for as many people as possible who are interested in starting a national branch. Try to make your selection as wide as possible; IAML is not just for librarians and archivists, membership is open to anyone with an interest in our work. This will include academic librarians, public librarians, orchestra and broadcasting librarians, archivists, librarians in national libraries, conservatory libraries, etc.
  2. Elect or appoint in interim Committee to work on the organization of the branch, and download a copy of the IAML constitution, to use as a basis to construct a constitution of your own. You will need a headquarters; this should probably be the place of work of one of the officers (usually President or Secretary). It will help matters if the institution concerned is prepared to cover all or part of costs such as postage, stationery, faxes, telephone calls, and so on.
  3. Elect/appoint branch officers. A minimum of three members is suggested, e.g. President, Treasurer, Secretary. The President must be elected, but you may wish to appoint officers such as Treasurer, and Secretary, to ensure that the incumbent has the appropriate expertise and facilities.
  4. Submit to the IAML Board a copy of your constitution, the names of your officers, your anticipated membership base, together with a request to become a national branch of IAML. If the Board approves, the submission will be sent forward to Council for their approval.
  5. Start to collect annual dues from your members. Individual and institutional annual dues for each member at the current rates should be submitted to the IAML Treasurer as soon as possible, plus a list of all members, giving names, addresses, plus telephone and fax numbers, and email addresses when available. You may charge a sum in excess of the IAML dues for your own annual dues if you wish, in order to get funds to run your branch. You may keep twenty per cent (20%) of the dues. Once the money has been received by the IAML Treasurer, you will become an official national branch of IAML.

Conditions to be fulfilled to be accepted as a national branch

  1. There must be a constitution, which must not conflict with the IAML constitution.
  2. The national branch itself cannot be a IAML member. The individual and institutional members of the national branch are the members of IAML.
  3. There is no minimum number of members required, but the branch must have at least two officers. The President must be an elected officer. Other officers such as Treasurer, and Secretary, may be appointed.

Having become a national branch

  1. The branch annual report should be submitted to the Editor of Fontes artis musicae and to the IAML Secretary General. The Secretary General should be informed of any changes in branch officers.
  2. The branch is entitled to one voting representative on the IAML Council, who may attend the Council meetings at the IAML conferences. This is usually the President, but if he/she cannot attend, he/she may designate a delegate.