Trustees

Governance Arrangements 

The Books Council of Wales has had charitable status since it was established in 1961 and our governance arrangements are in line with the requirements of the Charities Commission.

On 1 April 2021, the Books Council transferred from being an unregistered charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a new Board of Trustees.

There are 11 members on the Board of Trustees, including the four Chief Officers who transferred from the Council’s former Executive Committee and seven new appointments which were announced on 1 April 2021 following an open recruitment process.  

The Trustees are responsible for the governance of the Books Council and oversee the strategic direction of the charity, supporting the work of the specialist in-house team of experienced professionals serving the book industries of Wales in both Welsh and English.

The Board holds full meetings four times a year and ensures the Books Council meets and maintains its objectives as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

Objectives

The aim of the Books Council is to promote, encourage and develop the public’s appreciation and interest in books, literature and reading in Wales without limiting the overall objectives identified but rather to further those aims and not otherwise:

• to support and assist the book industry in Wales through grant awards and other means;
• to support, promote and assist the production and distribution of books and other literary and artistic material, in whatever form it may have been recorded (whether known or as yet unknown) in the two official languages ​​of Wales, Welsh and English, or relating to Wales;
• to organise events supporting book promotion, reading and the book sector as a whole;
• to support the promotion and publication of such books and other material in Wales.

The Books Council’s Council

Under the new constitutional arrangements which came into effect on 1 April 2021, all other members of the Executive Committee and members of the Books Council’s Council – which includes representatives from the county councils and other organisations – transferred on 1 April 2021 to become ‘Council’ members of the charity.

An Annual General Meeting of the Council, which includes all members of the charity, is held once a year in July. The meeting is public and open to all.

The Books Council has three subcommittees which make decisions on the allocation of grants for publishing and reading promotion. Members of the Subcommittee are appointed as part of an open recruitment process and are independent.

All members of the Board of Trustees, the Council of the Books Council and the Subcommittees carry out their work voluntarily and do not receive payment except for relevant expense claims.