tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post6758744547612869612..comments2023-09-16T04:58:07.261-04:00Comments on the Annandale Blog: Library volunteers oppose 'money grab' by Fairfax County Public LibrariesAnnandale Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543558586252790593noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-68343719359472158072017-06-15T06:57:49.151-04:002017-06-15T06:57:49.151-04:00Library Friends are expected to purchase furniture...Library Friends are expected to purchase furniture when their branches are renovated or rebuilt, as Tysons-Pimmit is being renovated and as as Reston Regional will be rebuilt. Library furniture is very expensive. They also provide carpeting and have been asked to pay for new lighting fixtures. Friends also provide ALL of the funds for youth programs in the system.<br /><br />Funds not yet allocated aren't "just sitting there." They are held in reserve for future use. Under the proposed MOU change, funds extracted from the Friends and not spent by the end of the fiscal year will be folded into the General Fund. Once in the General Fund, there is no way to track how the funds are spent. <br /><br />Library Friends are Virginia nonprofit corporations and are protected by Virginia law. I hope that the Friends will seek legal representation. <br /><br />This is a money grab by a county that has not and does not value its library as an essential service to the community. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-63373175864804520002017-06-09T14:59:15.863-04:002017-06-09T14:59:15.863-04:00At no time during the meeting did Miriam indicate ...At no time during the meeting did Miriam indicate the excess funds would be pulled from the Friends (how exactly would they do that any way...we'd have to transfer the money, and likely none of us would). She actually said they had not thought that far ahead (I suspect someone has thought about this but may not be willing to share their thoughts). There's a lot of hyperbole in this string of comments; maybe we should actually wait until the concept is a bit more fleshed out before jumping all the way to the "money grab" conclusion. I think both Miriam and Jessica learned quite a bit more about how the Friends operate during the meeting. Perhaps it's just that the BOT wants the Friends to spend the money as it was intended (having a strategic plan would of course facilitate the spending process) and ensure the Friends are protected (against fraud, liability, etc.). Just because there has been no fraud doesn't mean there won't be any. jfp<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-9297466564124227782017-06-09T14:01:07.188-04:002017-06-09T14:01:07.188-04:00If I were a board member of the non-profit, a tota...If I were a board member of the non-profit, a totally separate entity from the county, I would completely oppose this agreement. These are entities that work together for the benefit of a Library or a Park. It should not be up to the Library, Park or any other entity how money is allocated. Perhaps the county would enjoy no volunteer efforts. They seem to put no dollar value on the thousands of volunteer hours that are donated and that they are the beneficiaries of, they want more. This is completely misguided imho. The county should form it's own entity that carries liability insurance for all of these groups like the Park Alliance does in San Francisco. These problems can be solved. If the Park Foundation were not run by the Park Authority this could be a function they provide to all their friends groups who provide all these volunteer hours and services. But since they are virtually part of the county that can't happen. There's a Library Foundation that could provide benefits to their friends groups, but they'd rather have the free labor while running off with the hard-earned proceeds. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-80444506483065648252017-06-08T09:40:48.056-04:002017-06-08T09:40:48.056-04:00It would be interesting to know what has occurred ...It would be interesting to know what has occurred that inspired the County proposal, particularly regarding excess funds. I had no idea the Friends did so much - scholarships, etc., etc. If they have reserve funds, perhaps the GM Regional Library could find creative proposals for those funds, rather than simply asking for the money. Otherwise, they are pointlessly insulting the goose that lays the golden eggs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-74033424613374505162017-06-07T17:59:21.733-04:002017-06-07T17:59:21.733-04:00The "community" doesn't elect the F...The "community" doesn't elect the Friends boards. The Friends gaggles gets together and do. Stop making mountains out of molehills. Big Brother? Seriously? That's pathetic and anyone that buys into this crap rhetoric is pathetic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-70416005880022648952017-06-07T14:13:12.803-04:002017-06-07T14:13:12.803-04:00Q & A from the Library Board of Trustees ad ho...Q & A from the Library Board of Trustees ad hoc MOU Committee Meeting May 30, 2017 10:00 AM<br />http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/aboutthelibrary/2017/moumay2017minutesattachments.pdf<br /><br />6. If the proposed three times holding limit were put into place, where would the excess funds be deposited? Would there be exceptions to the three times holding limit, if something like that were put in place?<br /><br />The idea behind the holding limit is to ensure that monies raised through the sale of Library donated material, or efforts by the Friends on behalf of the Library, are spent for the FOL branch, or the Library as a whole, in a timely manner or dedicated to a specific future plan or project for the Library, rather than be held by a FOL group for an indefinite period of time. The<br />goal of transparency of the use of monies donated to the Library through the FOL groups would be served in this way. The idea of a holding limit included the concept that if a FOL group had a longer term project planned, it could share that plan with the Library to support holding funds above the proposed three times limit for a longer period of time. The question of how the holding limit would work was raised by several people and will require further work and consideration from the committee, but there is no intention for FOL funds to be diverted away from the Library.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-80181644017911673102017-06-07T10:24:30.228-04:002017-06-07T10:24:30.228-04:00Does anyone know the legality of "Big Brother...Does anyone know the legality of "Big Brother" seizing funds from volunteers of a duly recognized 501(c)3 organization which is legally compliant with all of the IRS' US Codes ? Is there any prescience of this happening in the commonwealth, specifically in Fairfax County ? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-89046296431662197062017-06-07T06:00:27.256-04:002017-06-07T06:00:27.256-04:00Who wants to bet that after demanding that friends...Who wants to bet that after demanding that friends groups hand over more money, that Fairfax County then cuts the budget of libraries further?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-56570766833085327582017-06-06T17:55:13.747-04:002017-06-06T17:55:13.747-04:00I'm sorry to see such antagonistic language us...I'm sorry to see such antagonistic language used here. "Money grab", "fighting, "Big Brother"-- library staff and our communities love our friends groups. They do so much amazing volunteer work. I'm confident that this can be worked out in a respectful way, despite this type of rhetoric.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-38468528831794936922017-06-06T16:52:45.565-04:002017-06-06T16:52:45.565-04:00Expenditures of funds raised by the library Friend...Expenditures of funds raised by the library Friends should be controlled by the community-elected boards which govern each Friends group - not by "Big Brother" Fairfax County. Beloved Communitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246743662284890173.post-15262727748992935162017-06-06T12:55:03.189-04:002017-06-06T12:55:03.189-04:00Fairfax County has proposed similar changes to agr...Fairfax County has proposed similar changes to agreements with other friends groups, including friends of parks. It seems to be a wrong-headed approach that regards volunteers as mere agents of the county. It will decidedly not motivate volunteerism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com