Guidelines for Participation

We believe that the clarification of expectations serves us all well. In that spirit, and as a guide rather than a set of regulations, we offer the following guidelines for participation for our corporate members.

We encourage:

• Full participation, including voting in ULC elections, service on Strategy Groups, the Executive Board, and committees, as appropriate, by corporate chief strategy officers.

• Participation at each ULC event by the chief strategy officer and one guest….the same general rule that applies to library members. Exceptions are generally made if the nature of a specific event suggests it would be richer and more beneficial if other persons were to be included. Such persons are usually those with specific roles in the library or corporation i.e. heads of children's services, human resources directors, etc.

• Financial sponsorship of specific ULC events, if it serves corporate purposes. For each such event, a Memorandum of Understanding is crafted by the ULC staff to clarify expectations relating to recognition, etc. ULC's corporate members receive “the right of first refusal” to sponsorship of ULC's events, before the opportunity is offered to non member corporations.

However, we discourage:

• Behaviors that could be reasonably understood to be related to sales of the corporate member's products and/or services. This includes such things as bringing numbers of sales staff to receptions and general meetings, handing out brochures about a company's product, etc.

• Displaying evidence of the corporation's membership in ULC in any way that could reasonably be construed as an endorsement by ULC of the company or its products. This includes presenting the company's membership in ULC as a part of its Web site, advertising copy, or any other communication. “ULC Member” ribbons will be made available for wearing at national library conferences, but should not be used on other occasions.

• ULC will not sell any lists of members to its corporate members, or to other corporate bodies, nor should the membership directory be used for marketing purposes.

Exceptions, Issues, or Concerns.

ULC staff interprets the policies and directives of the Executive Board in all matters. Corporate members (as well as library members) are always invited to initiate conversations with ULC's President if they are unclear about the guidelines, or if they need to explore the suitability of a flexible interpretation. If staff members are unclear about what might be appropriate corporate member participation, the Executive Board will be consulted, acting through its Chair and/or a small group of volunteer advisors on corporate participation.