Meetings, How to behave in

What follows are some general guidelines for librarians who attend meetings...

For Attendees

• Arrive on time.
• Bring a pen and paper.
• Do your homework (if appropriate).
• Don't talk over other people when they're talking. Wait to be recognized.
  
• Pretend to be interested or at least pretend to be writing something from time to time.
• If doodling, don't draw caricatures of your fellow attendees. Also, don't draw anything too funny that might get you in trouble when people see it and laugh out loud.
  

For Moderators

• Arrive on time and have the room set up for the meeting before it is scheduled to start.
• Distribute any lengthy handouts BEFORE the meeting so that people can do their homework before they arrive. It's no fun to sit around a table while everyone reads the same document.
• Don't print multiple copies of something you can email or display on a screen.
• Keep the meeting under control. When other librarians start misbehaving, make them stop. Use force if necessary.
• THE ONE HOUR RULE: Under no circumstances should ANY meeting last more than one hour. Any remaining business should be continued at a separate meeting or disposed of altogether. Violators of this rule should have their ability to call meetings revoked.
  

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