The tentative Reference Round Table (RRT) bylaws presented for approval at the organizational meeting 28 March 1963 were drawn up by Richard H. Perrine, Reference Librarian at Rice University in Houston, with the assistance of Dr. Robert R. Douglas, Texas Library Association (TLA) President; Lois Bailey and David Hennington, members of the TLA Constitution Committee; and Donald E. Wright, Executive Secretary of the Reference Services Division (RSD) of the American Library Association (ALA). At the meeting, the stipulation in Article III that RRT members also had to be members of the American Library Association was dropped. Two Article III sections were noticed and the second one was renumbered Article IV with succeeding articles renumbered in succession. The indication in the new Article IV that the Vice-chairman was also the Chairman-elect was added. In the new Article VI Section 2, it was decided that one-fifth of the members may request a special meeting of the Reference Round Table. In Section 3 of the same article the quorum of members was set at one-third. In the new Article VII Section 1, that meeting reports are to be sent to the Executive Secretary of the Texas Library Association was added. In Section 2 of the same article, the Executive Secretary of the Texas Library Association was added to receive copies of written reports presented at Chapter meetings. New Article VIII was adjusted to indicate that the two-thirds vote to amend the bylaws was "of those present" at any regular meeting and the stipulation that a notice had to be given in the announcement of the meeting was dropped. The final product of this meeting was the version submitted for approval by the TLA Constitution Committee.

The first RRT bylaws were dated as finalized and adopted May 1964. Minor discrepancies exist between the existing typed versions of the bylaws and the versions published in the Texas Library Journal winter 1964 issue and subsequently in the 1971 directory issue and in the July 1973 issue. Aside from variations in capitalization, the references to the "Executive Secretary" of the Texas Library Association in the typed versions are replaced with "Administrative Secretary" in the printed versions. The title of Article II appears on the typed versions as "OBJECT" and in the published versions as "PURPOSE". Amazingly, these original bylaws remained unchanged for 13 years.

The original RRT bylaws identified RRT in Article I Name as "The Texas Chapter, Reference Services Division of the American Library Association, a Reference Round Table of the Texas Library Association". The purpose of RRT in Article II Object ("Purpose" in other versions) was "to advance the informational, bibliographic and research services in all types of libraries and at all levels within the State of Texas". The only change ever made to this statement, other than changing the "Object" to "Purpose" in the title of the article, was the elimination of "and at all levels" in 1978.

In Article III Officers, officers for RRT were to be a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman (Chairman-Elect), and a Secretary-Treasurer, all elected at annual meetings and all holding office for one year or until their successors were elected. Duties of each officer were not specified except that they "shall perform the duties usually attached to these offices". Vacancies in the Chairman position were to be filled by the Vice-Chairman, but all other vacancies were to be filled through appointment by the Chairman, and if both Chairman and Vice-Chairman positions become vacant, the TLA President would appoint a new chairman. Committees were authorized "by action of the organization". The RRT Chairman would appoint chairmen of committees and could allow committee chairmen to appoint members of their own committees.

The only required meeting of the Reference Round Table was to be held during the annual conference of the Texas Library Association to elect officers and to conduct any other business.The Chairman or one-fifth of the members could call additional special meetings. One-third of the members would constitute a quorum at any meeting and bylaws could be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any regular meeting. Reports of meetings were to be sent to three persons: the Executive Secretary of the Reference Services Division of ALA, the Chairman of the Committee on Chapters of the American Library Association (actually of RSD, but not so specified in the bylaws), and the Executive (Administrative) Secretary of the Texas Library Association. Copies of written papers presented at meetings were to be sent to the Executive (Administrative) Secretary of the Texas Library Association and could be sent to the Chairman of the Committee on Chapters of the American Library Association (once again, actually of RSD, although not so specified).

Although the RRT bylaws probably should have been amended to reflect the change in designation from "chapter" to "division affiliate", to reflect the change of name from "Reference Services Division" to "Reference and Adult Services Division", and to reflect the changes from "Committee on Chapters" to "Division Affiliates Committee" to "Relations with State and Regional Library Associations Committee", the first rewrite of the RRT bylaws did not occur until 1977. The revision of Texas Library Association bylaws in 1976 made it necessary for all divisions and round tables to review their own bylaws. Changes made with the 1977 proposed bylaws adopted in 1978 were substantial.

All references to RRT being a chapter or affiliate of the Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association were eliminated. The name of the organization was shortened to "the Reference Round Table of the Texas Library Association".

In response to a problem with chairmen in 1976/7, more specifics were added about officers in Article IV Administration. Officer terms would begin immediately following the annual conference. Elections were by majority vote of those “present and voting” at the annual meeting. A nominating committee appointed by the Chairman was to present a slate of nominees for all officer positions and nominations also could be made from the floor. A Vice-Chairman taking a vacated chairmanship would serve the rest of the unexpired term plus the following year. Vice-Chairman vacancies would not be filled until the next regular election. A Chairman appointed by the TLA President would serve until the next regular election, when both a Chairman and Vice-Chairman would be elected. Vacancies in other offices would be filled by appointment by the Chairman, but with the approval of an Executive Board. An Executive Board consisting of the officers and the immediate Past-Chairman was established to administer the affairs of the Round Table when it was not in session, with a majority of the Board members consituting a quorum and a Past-Chairman vacancy filled by appointing a former Chairman.

Article V Committees added two standing committees: a Nomination Committee to place in nomination at the annual meeting at least one name for each office and a Planning Committee to evaluate requests for assistance with bibliographic and other reference projects in the state and to recommend to the Executive Board possible projects for the Reference Round Table. Other standing committees could be authorized as necessary by the membership at an annual meeting. The RRT Chairman would appoint the chairmen and members of standing committees and the committee terms would be for one year to begin immediately following the TLA annual conference. No change was made in the authorization or appointments of other committees.

Article VI meetings were still to be held at annual conferences for the purpose of electing officers and "transacting the business of the Round Table". Special meetings could be called upon "written" request of one-fifth of RRT members or by the RRT Chairman. The quorum for transacting business at meetings was changed to "a majority of those members present and voting".

In Article VII By-Laws, the Round Table may "adopt, suspend, or amend" bylaws the same as before "provided the results of such action are not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Texas Library Association".

Within two years, another bylaws change had to be made. TLA abolished the practice of having the chairperson of each TLA unit serve as a representative on the TLA Council. Instead, each unit was to elect a Councilor to serve more than one year as the unit's representative on the TLA Council. A Councilor and an Alternate were added to the list of officers in Article IV Section 1. To Article IV Section 3 was added that at least two candidates were to be nominated for Councilor. The person receiving the highest number of votes would be elected Councilor and the person receiving the next highest number of votes would be elected Alternate to serve in the absence of the Councilor. The charge to the Nomination Committee in Article V Section 1 was adjusted to place in nomination at least one name for Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer and at least two names for Councilor. The acceptance of these changes in 1980 served only for another two years before further changes were proposed.

In 1982, changes were made to the RRT bylaws to address officer elections, specifics of officer duties, the problems of achieving a quorum for meetings, and to establish a parliamentary authority for proceedings during meetings. A cosmetic change in Article IV Section 1 was to change the format from "Vice-Chairman (Chairman-Elect)" to "Vice-Chairman/Chairman-Elect". In Article IV Section 3, the Nominating Committee, instead of being appointed by the RRT Chairman, was now to be elected by the membership and was to present a "slate of nominees for offices (except Chairman) and for a Nominating Committee of at least three members". A companion change in Article V Section 1 specified the duties of the Nominating Committee to be to nominate "at least two names for the offices of Vice-Chairman/Chairman-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer, and, every third year, for Councilor" and that the RRT Chairman appointed chairmen and members of standing committees "except the Nominating Committee". In Article IV Section 6, the RRT Chairman was specified as the person responsible for appointing a former chairman to fill a past-chairman vacancy on the Executive Board.

Article IV Section 4 was changed to spell out the duties and responsibilities of each RRT officer. All officers were required to attend both Annual Assembly and the Annual Conference of the Texas Library Association. The Chairman was required to preside at meetings of the Executive Board and at RRT business meetings, to appoint committees and designate chairmen with the exception of the Nominating Committee and the Program Committee, to be responsible for overall conference planning, and to coordinate all activities of the Round Table. The Vice-Chairman/Chairman-Elect was required to assume the office of Chairman if it became vacant, to serve on the Executive Board, and to appoint the Program Committee and serve as its chairman. The Secretary-Treasurer was required to serve on the Executive Board, to prepare minutes of all meetings, to keep records of all RRT expenses, and to make an annual financial report at the RRT annual meeting. The Councilor and Alternate were required to represent the Reference Round Table on the Texas Library Association Council, to serve on the RRT Executive Board, and to report actions of the TLA Council to RRT. The Past Chairman was required to serve on the Executive Board.

Article VI Section 3 altered the quorum specifications from a percentage of total RRT members to fifteen RRT members specifically. Tied to this change was a change in Article IV Section 3 indicating that other officers shall be elected at the annual meeting by a majority vote "when a quorum is achieved". The bylaws amending article was renumbered to become Article VIII and the vote was changed to "two-thirds vote of the quorum". A new Article VII specified Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised as the parliamentary authority for RRT.

The next change in RRT bylaws was approved 4 April 1990. Article 4 Section 3 was revised to allow mail balloting to elect RRT officers. Article 4 Section 6 was revised to reflect RRT affiliation with RASD: the Chair of RRT shall serve as the representative to RASD's Council of State and Regional Groups or the RRT Chair shall appoint a representative to attend the Council and report back to RRT membership.

In 1992, the RRT Bylaws Committee recommended that the Chair of the Nominating Committee one year also serve on the committee the following year to provide some continuity. Also recommended was the elimination of specific dates relating to nominations and balloting in favor of having ballots mailed in the fall of one year and election results announced the following spring. This change reflected the practice at the time of including the ballot in the fall issue of the RRT Newsletter and reporting the results in the spring issue. Another recommended change was to have ballots sent directly to the Nominating Committee Chair instead of to the TLA Office to speed up the tabulating process and to avoid postal delays. All recommendations were approved.

Once again, in 1994, the RRT Bylaws Committee was considering revisions: the status and placement of references to the Lois Bebout Award Committee and how to handle vacancies in the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect. The Lois Bebout Award Committee was approved as a standing committee and an Annex A covering the functions of this committee was added to the bylaws.

A revision of the text of the bylaws actually wasn't completed until 1995. The revision had been underway since July 1993. It attempted to clarify and add consistency in format and text and incorporated the 1992 amendment relating to elections. On 30 July 1995, the Texas Reference Award Committee was designated a standing committee and Annex B was appended to the bylaws to detail the functions of the committee.

Another bylaws revision was undertaken in 1997. This revision attempted to bring the format and content of the RRT Bylaws into conformance with the guidelines in the TLA Model Bylaws for TLA Units. The revision spelled out the procedures for handling tie votes in an election and who was responsible for filling vacant officer positions. The quorum specifications were redefined. The election of the Nominating Committee and annual voting on a standing committee's charge were eliminated under strong urging of the TLA Bylaws Committee. The requirement for the Councilor-Alternate to attend every Council meeting also was eliminated, except when the Councilor is absent. The most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order was designated as the parliamentary authority for meetings. The revised bylaws were approved during the RRT business meeting 1 April 1998.

During the RRT meeting at Annual Assembly in July, 2002, the Executive Board members agreed that the bylaws needed to be revised. The Chair formed an ad hoc Bylaws Revision Committee, Chaired by Ed Kownslar, which solicited feedback from RRT officers and committee members. The proposed revisions were approved by the Executive Board in March, 2004, at the TLA Annual Conference in San Antonio. The RRT membership voted to approve the revisions using the election ballot for 2005/6 officers. The revisions to the bylaws included:

1. Updating the elections process to include electronic voting;
2. Clarification on the appointments of the newsletter editor and the webmaster;
3. Clarification on meetings and quorums of the round table;
4. Clarification on the role of the Publicity/Membership Committee;
5. Clarification of the duties of the Immediate Past Chair; and
6. Designating the Lois Bebout Reference Services Award as an ad hoc committee.

Martha Tarlton presented potential revisions to the RRT bylaws at the 25 April 2006 RRT Executive Board meeting. Staggered two-year terms of appointment for members of the Program Planning Committee were proposed. Each incoming Vice-Chair/Chair-elect would appoint two new members to the committee. Martha would prepare an updated draft of the revisions to present at the next Executive Board meeting.