CONSTITUTION

Article I. Name

The name of the Association shall be the Archivists and Librarians in the History of the Health Sciences.

This Association is established exclusively for educational purposes to serve the professional interests of librarians, archivists, and other specialists actively engaged in the librarianship of the history of the health sciences by promoting the exchange of information and by improving standards of service.

To accomplish these ends, this Association is committed to the following:

a. to identify and make contact with persons similarly engaged;

b. to provide opportunities to hold meetings on appropriate occasions;

c. to issue a newsletter and such other materials as may seem appropriate;

d. to cooperate with other similar organizations in projects of mutual concern;

e. to provide opportunities for educational and professional growth programs

Any person interested in the history of the health sciences may become a member of the Association by complying with the provisions of the Bylaws.

Meetings shall be held as provided in the Bylaws.

Section 1
Elected officers shall consist of such officers as provided in the Bylaws, who shall be nominated and elected as provided in the Bylaws.

Section 2
Appointed officers shall be such officers as provided in the Bylaws, who shall be appointed as provided in the Bylaws.

This Constitution may be amended or rescinded as provided in the Bylaws.

Dissolution of the Association for any cause may be initiated by the same mechanism used for amending the Constitution. Dissolution must be in accordance with the applicable regulations of the 1954 Internal Reveue Code, Section 501, or any amendments thereto.

After the payment of any outstanding debts and obligations, the residue of all funds or other assets of the Association including any rights to funds, present or future, contingent or actual, shall be irrevocably assigned and transferred to the American Association for the history of Medicine, which has qualified as an exempt organization under Section 501 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, or any amendments thereto.

BYLAWS

Article I. Members

Section 1
Membership shall be open to librarians and archivists with responsibilities for collections and services in the history of the health sciences, and to any other persons interested in health science history collections.

Section 2
Dues shall be set by the Steering Committee and approved by majority vote in a mail ballot submitted to the membership nine weeks before the Annual Meeting. Dues shall be payable upon joining the Association, and shall be assessed on an annual basis for the period of the fiscal year.

Section 3
The fiscal year of the Association shall be the calendar year.

Section 4
Rights and Privileges: Members in good standing shall be eligible to hold elective office, to be appointed to committees and to vote in Association elections and business meetings.

Section 5
Suspension and Reinstatement. If dues are unpaid two months after the renewal date, the dues shall be considered to be in arrears and the member shall be suspended from all rights and privileges of membership. Rights and privileges shall be reinstated upon payment of the arrears. If a member who has been suspended for unpaid dues does not reinstate membership within a twelve-month period following suspension, a new application for membership must be made.

Section 1. Officers

1. Officers of the Association shall be President, President-Elect, Immediate Past-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and four Members-at-Large.

2. Officers shall take office at the close of the Annual Meeting and serve until the close of the Annual Meeting at the end of their terms of office.

3. The term of office of the President shall be one year as President-Elect, two years as President, and one year as Immediate Past- President. President-Elect shall be elected in odd numbered years, at the beginning of the second year of the sitting President's term of office. The term of office shall begin at the end of the annual business meeting. The past president must wait two years from the completion of a presidential term of office before being eligible to serve as President-Elect.

4. Both the Secretary and the Treasurer shall each serve a term of two years. The Secretary shall be elected in even years and the Treasurer shall be elected in odd years. No member shall serve more than two consecutive terms as either Secretary or Treasurer.

5. The Members-at-large shall serve terms of two years, two being elected each year.

Section 2. Vacancies

1. A vacancy arising in the office of President shall be filled by the Immediate Past-President, if during Year One of the President's term, or by the President Elect, if during Year Two. The President-Elect shall serve out the unexpired term of the President and continue as President for the full term as elected.

2. All other vacancies shall be filled by the Steering Committee.

Section 3. Duties

1. The President shall act as Executive Officer of the Association and shall preside at all meetings of the Association and the Steering Committee. The President shall serve as ex officio member of all Committees.

2. The President elect shall perform the duties and exercise the functions of the President during the President's absence or inability to act during the second year of the President's term of office.

3. The Immediate Past-President shall assist in the orientation of the President perform the duties and exercise the functions of the President during the President's absence or inability to act during the first year of the President's term of office.

4. The Secretary shall keep the correspondence and records of the Association, record votes and decisions, and supervise the updating of the membership directory.

<5. The Treasurer shall receive dues and pay the Association's bills. A statement of accounts shall be submitted to the Steering Committee nine (9) weeks prior to the Annual Meeting.

6. The Members-at-large shall assist the President in conducting the business of the Association.

The Nominating Committee shall prepare annually a slate of nominees for each office whose incumbent is completing a term of office. The slate shall be submitted to the membership nine weeks in advance of the Annual Meeting. If the slate contains a single name for an office, the ballot shall provide for write-in nominations.

Section 1. Standing Committees

A. Standing Committees of the Association shall be the Steering Committee, Program Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Awards and Recognitions Committee, the Newsletter Editor, and the Website Editor. The President shall serve as ex officio chair of the Steering Committee and shall appoint a chair for each additional Standing Committee.

B. The Steering Committee shall consist of all elective officers of the Association and shall conduct the business of the Association between regular membership meetings.

C. The Program Committee shall be responsible for planning the Annual Meeting program.

D. The Nominating Committee shall recommend members to serve in the positions of a. President-elect b. Secretary c. Treasurer and d. two Members at Large. New members shall be appointed to the Nominating Committee each year, with no member serving consecutive years.

E. The Newsletter Editor will be responsible for publication of The Watermark and will appoint a member to handle advertising for the publication.

F. The Website Editor will be responsible for maintenance of the ALHHS website and will appoint a member to handle maintenance of the listserv.

G. The Awards and Recognitions Committee will be responsible for determining the recipients of all grants and honors bestowed by the organization.

H. The Travel Scholarship Committee will be responsible for awarding scholarship(s) for attendance at annual meetings by students and early career professionals, or to members in general to defray travel costs relating to research projects.

I. The President shall appoint an auditing committee three months prior to the Annual Meeting. The Committee shall review the Treasurer's account books and report to the Association at the Annual Meeting.

Section 2. Other Committees

With the advice and consent of the Steering Committee, the president shall appoint such other committees as are necessary for the work and enhancement of the Association.

Section 1. Regular meetings of the Association shall be held yearly, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine, unless otherwise ordered by the Association or the Steering Committee.

Section 2. A quorum of twenty percent of members in good standing shall be required in order to transact the Association's business.

Section 1. The Constitution and Bylaws of the Association may be amended by an affirmative vote of two thirds of the members, by mail ballot or at any regular meeting of the Association, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing to the membership at least nine weeks prior to the meeting. Any proposed changes to the bylaws must first be approved by two- thirds vote of the Steering Committee.

Section 2. The Association may be dissolved by an affirmative vote of two- thirds of the members, by mail ballot or at any regular meeting of the Association, provided that the motion has been submitted in writing to the membership at least nine weeks prior to the meeting. Dissolution of the Association must also be approved by two-thirds vote of the Steering Committee. In the event of the dissolution other than for purposes of operation of law, none of the property of the Association nor any proceeds thereof nor any assets of the Association shall be distributed to any members of the Association but after payment of the debts of the Association any residue of the property and assets shall be donated to the American Association for the History of Medicine.

Adopted after ratification by mail ballot, Summer, 1989.
Article I. Members revised at the Annual Meeting, 1994.
Article II. Sections A. and F. revised by the membership at the Annual Meeting, 1996.
Article V. Section 2 revised by the membership at the Annual Meeting, 1996.
Bylaws Revised November 2000.
Bylaws Revised April 2003.
Bylaws Revised January 2004.
Bylaws Revised October 2009.
Bylaws Revised October 2010.
Bylaws Revised November 2015.

[Website last updated 15 March 2016]