Another point to be considered is whether the library board should be elected by the citizens at large, or appointed by the mayor or selected by the board of education. Election by the citizens of members to such a board should be absolutely non-partisan. Women should have the right to vote and should be eligible to the board. The board should have power to fill vacancies which may occur by death or resignation, until the next general election, in case the board is elected by the citizens at large. Of course, if the members are elected by the board of education, vacancies could be filled at any time by that board, and if they are appointed by the mayor he could fill a vacancy. Your committee believes that it is unwise for a public library to be governed by a board which elects its own members, or a majority of its own members: in other words, a "close corporation" is not the form of governing board that is best for a library belonging to all the people of the community. This would not apply where cities make a terminable contract with an existing institution. It is generally unwise for the corporate name of a municipal public library to bear the name of an individual. It should bear the name of the city, and the charter should fix its name. The charter should provide for the organization of the library board by the election of a president and vice-president, with the city treasurer as the ex-officio treasurer of the board and the city comptroller as the auditor of the board's accounts. It should also provide for a secretary or clerk, who should be an employee of the board rather than a member of the board, and it is highly desirable that this officer should be the librarian. In any case his powers should not conflict with those of the librarian. The charter should give the library board full power to hold trust funds which may be placed in its hands, to administer the same, and to accept and to hold gifts of real and personal property for the general purposes for which the board was created. The charter should provide, if the state law does not do so, that the library should not receive less than a minimum fund for its maintenance, based on the assessed valuation of the city. It ought never to be possible for a council so to cut a library's budget that it is necessary to close branch libraries or abandon established work for a year or more, thereby cutting off for the time being all normal growth and sometimes crippling the library so that it takes years to recover. This has happened in more than one American city. The whole idea of a minimum tax for the maintenance of a library is in line with the thought expressed in many of our state constitutions: namely, that the educational interests of the community are paramount. The library board should have full legal rights for defense in the courts, etc. The charter should provide that the chief law officer of the city should be its legal representative.