"If we don't hang together we will surely all hang separately" .
Benjamin Franklin, America's first Friend of a Library
Dear
Friends: For decades the Friends and the County have enjoyed a
cooperative and mutually respectful relationship to the great benefit of
the Fairfax Library system and its patrons. The Friends have given
freely and generously of their time and expertise to make our Libraries a
more welcoming and efficient destination for the entire community. Our
contributions include hundreds of volunteers, thousands of
uncompensated hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars of direct
financial support each year.
Given
all of this, you would think the County would would be eager to work
with the Friends to further strengthen and intensify this relationship.
Sadly, and from my perspective inexplicably, this isn't the case.
The new MOU proposal being put forward by the County is, if anything,
worse than the original version. Have we done something to warrant
being threatened and insulted? The County's MOU proposal will steal the
independence and sap the efficiency of every Friends Group.
The
County has asked us to "update" the individual MOUs the Friends work
under. No problem with this request, but shouldn't the objective of
such an effort be to strengthen the Friends so that we can even better
serve the Library? Shouldn't the Trustees, who technically are our
co-equal partners in this first sit down with us and explain what they
are trying to accomplish? (Note: I know the MOUs are with the Trustees
but every indication is that this is being directed by the County
Library Administration, not the Trustees themselves. If anyone has
evidence to the contrary, please let me know.)
The
County's current MOU proposals are ill considered, inappropriately
intrusive and demeaning. The concerns of various Friends groups were
clearly and loudly expressed at the May 30th meeting, but have been
ignored. Before anything else, there are a number of things we can do
right away to try to rebuild the cooperative and mutually respectful
relationship we - and they - need. The following are actions already
being taken by different Friends Groups.
1.
Insist on a meeting with your Trustee. Request an explanation for the
County's actions and ask your Trustee to support their Friends;
2.
Go in person to see your Supervisor and/or their staff and alert them
to the damage the Library Administration is causing to their volunteer
base;
3. Inform local media about the issue;
4.
Send multiple members to the County's MOU meetings (these are public
meetings, the County has no right to set an arbitrary limit on who can
attend);
5.
As each Friends Group has its own unique situation and concerns,
request the Trustees schedule an additional meeting at your branch to
discuss your specific issues;
6.
The County's proposals are all take with no give. Insist on adding to
the agenda items of concern to you and your Group (see examples below);
7.
Maintain a firm and absolute line against bureaucratic overreach. The
County has no legal, ethical or operational right to dictate how an
independent 501 (c) 3 organization conducts its affairs. This is a
slippery slope issue - there can be no give on this without endangering
everything.
County's Information Sheet:
The
Information sheet provided in advance of the next meetings has little
material different from the proposal given on May 30th. A few quick
thoughts:
Sections 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8 are generally already spelled out in the existing MOUs.
Section
2 erroneously states all Friends Groups must register with the Virginia
State Corporation Commission. One Friends Group researched this and
found there is no such general requirement. This section should be
deleted.
Section
5 deals with insurance and is a significant departure from the standard
practice of past decades. The County needs to provide copies of the
"County Volunteer Insurance Program" and provide context as to who this
does and doesn't cover. It is not clear that all (any) Groups need
this.
Section
7 is unacceptable in its entirety. The County itself states in section
1 "The Friends are independent, separate entities apart from the
Library Board of Trustees and the Fairfax County Public Library". No
need for a long discussion of this - if the County can't provide a legal
basis for dictating or controlling the internal operations of an
independent 501 (c) 3 organization, this is off the table.
Section 9 is the same as 7.
Section
10 is potentially devastating to all Friends Groups. What exactly is
the County proposing here? Are we going to be charged to provide a free
service to the County? If so, how much? What will this do to our
ability to donate to the Library (as opposed to throwing money into the
General Fund)? The County needs to provide specific information about
their intentions before this goes any further.
Additions to the Agenda:
As
noted above, we are fully entitled to bring up our own issues for
discussion in any review of the MOUs. The following are illustrative,
each Group may have its own Items to propose.
Ongoing Sales:
On
request, each branch will provide sufficient space in a prominent area
of the library for a display of books and materials for ongoing sales.
The
County will provide, on a semi-annual basis, a detailed account of how
funds received from ongoing sales have been spent and how this directly
benefits the Library System.
Trustee Meetings:
A representative of the Friends will be invited to speak at the beginning of each Trustee meeting.
Space:
Each
Friends group will be provided sufficient space in their respective
Library for collecting, sorting, storing and preparing books for sale. The Library will provide adequate space for holding sales. The Friends will be given first priority on the use of space; space may be reserved up to a year in advance.
Financial:
The
County will compile and publish an annual report detailing all the
contributions made by Fairfax Friends Groups over the previous year.
The report will include an estimate of the funds saved by relying on
Friends volunteers rather than paid staff.
At
the request of Library Management, over the years the Friends have
assumed responsibility for services that strictly belong to the County.
The Friends have freely and cheerfully assumed this responsibility.
These services include paying for sprinkler systems, pest control,
gardening and landscaping, funding volunteer appreciation events (!),
etc. The County will assume responsibility for and the cost of all such
activities. The County will reimburse the Friends for the cost of such
activities incurred over the past five years.
In
keeping with the point immediately above, the County will certify that
no funds provided by the Friends will be used to offset expenses
properly attributable to the County. Exceptions may be made with the express authorization of the appropriate Friends Group.
The
Friends provide funds for the purchase of books and materials and
physical property with the understanding that the County will be a good
steward of such donations. The County will annually certify the donations continue to be used for their specific purpose. The County will notify the Friends as to the final disposition of any major donation.
Best regards, Dennis
Dennis K. Hays
Chairman
Fairfax Library Advocates
