July 13, 2017
UPDATE:
Trustee Smolen has advised Ambassador Hays that she will holding small
group meetings with the Friends in August to discuss resolving the
various issues that have arisen about the proposed MOU. The Advocates
appreciate Ms. Smolen's prompt and gracious response to our concerns.
Information on the proposed meetings will be posted as it becomes
available.
July 10, 2017
Dear
Ms. Smolen:
Thank you again for organizing the May 30th public meeting
of your ad hoc committee on the MOU. This resulted in a useful
discussion. I've read the two different versions of your minutes and as
such minutes serve as the official record of the meeting I'm taking the
liberty to add some additional detail to present a bit more
perspective.
In
addition to yourself and Director Hudson, around fifteen
representatives of various Friends groups spoke. It is worth noting
that none of them spoke in support of your presentation. None of them.
Far from it. Emotions were heated, although proper decorum was
maintained. A large number of issues were raised by the Friends, but
none of them were answered to the satisfaction of the 50 or so
individuals present.
Speaking
generally, there appears to be continuing confusion of the part of the
County and maybe even one or two of the Trustees about what the Friends
are and do. This is not just unfortunate, it is dangerous - and
inevitably will lead to serious miscalculates. Presumably you are
familiar with the fable of the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs. If so,
you may remember the story did not end well for either the goose or the
farmer.
Fortunately,
there is a quick and easy path forward to deal with this confusion -
you could START by talking to the Friends before huddling with County
attorneys and embarking on a rewrite of a set of agreements that have
served the County, the Libraries and the general public well for over a
decade. After all, the MOUs are between the Trustees and the various
individual Friends groups. Shouldn't the other equal party in an MOU be
consulted?
It
appears from your remarks you envision a single MOU will apply to all
Friends Groups. Is this so? Please remember that each Friends group is an
independent organization with its own Board, history, mission,
volunteer base, goals, financial resources and relationship with its
respective Branch. Some Friends groups are large and well funded,
others are much smaller and more constrained as to what they can do. An
attempt to have a "one size fits all" approach seems inappropriate. In
any event, any new MOU will need to be negotiated with each Friends
group individually.
It
also appears there is confusion about what an independent 501 (c) 3
organization is. For starters, such organizations are not part of the
County government. The Friends work WITH the County, not FOR the
County. The whole point of an MOU is to define the relationship between
two entities. It does not, however, give either entity the right to
interfere in the internal operations of the other. As noted in my
earlier message, each
Friends group is in full compliance with all State and Federal laws and
regulations and produces regular financial reports which are public
documents. Please let me know if you believe the Trustees or the County
have a legal right to dictate the internal operations of an independent
501 (c) 3 organization.
There
was universal and vehement rejection of the proposal to place a cap on
the Friends funds. Speaker after speaker noted the County has no right
or justification to take such a "Big Brother" approach. One Friend
stated the County was proposing to "punish success". Several speakers
noted one of the main reasons funds accumulate is the inability of the
Library to use the funds offered. For example, the County won't accept
donations that have a "tail", that is, ongoing maintenance or service
contracts or a need for updated software, etc. Several different
Friends jumped up at this and said they repeatedly have offered to cover
all such costs. There are restrictions on buying books, restrictions
of buying machinery, restrictions on programs.
The
Friends exist to support the libraries. Many of us have long urged the
Library Administration to work with the County Administration to
broaden the ways the Friends can help. And finally, there
may be a glimmer of hope here - the message Director Hudson sent out to
the Friends Presidents last week, calling on the Friends to consider
contributing in areas previously not allowed, is a solid step in
the right direction. The fact that the tone of that message is
professional, problem solving and respectful is a bonus.
The issues of liability and insurance are complicated and deserve further study.
There
was a brief discussion of a need to update the Friends Handbook which
presumably prompted the following Q&A in the Attachment to the first
set of minutes:
-
The Library Handbook needs updating. Should the update of the Handbook come before the update of the MOU?Yes, the Handbook needs updating to reflect procedural changes as well as Library Board of Trustee policy changes. The current Handbook can be found at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/friends/friendshandbook/ and it is anticipated that it will be updated in the coming fiscal year.
I assume that by "the coming fiscal year" you mean 2018? This
is encouraging news. By dropping further discussion of the MOU until
the Handbook is updated we all have an opportunity to avoid the mistakes
and false starts noted above and begin anew - perhaps this time
engaging with the Friends first and advising where you believe revisions
are needed. And, of course, the Friends will likely have areas where
they believe revisions would advance our common objectives. Please
confirm you are suspending further action on the MOU until the Handbook
is reconsidered. Or is the statement in the Attachment incorrect?
The Friends have a long and proud history of supporting the Fairfax County Library system. As the previous Director noted:
The "Friends
have played a pivotal role in the support, expansion and enhancement of
this library system. Friends have raised community awareness of the
library; campaigned for new buildings; paid for children's programs;
lobbied for increased funding and purchased important branch supplies
and equipment.
Friends
are critical to the library's mission. As you know, the economy is
ever-changing, and unpredictable events impact the public funding
allocated to county agencies. Through boom times and lean years, we
count on our Friends to help us provide consistently excellent service
to one of the most literate communities in the world."
Why would anyone want to risk all of this?
Very best regards, Dennis
Ambassador Dennis K. Hays (ret.)
Chairman, Fairfax Library Advocates
