Frequently Objectionable Additions: Letter from Dennis Hays to Friends

Dear Friends:

Yesterday the Library Administration sent out an "FAQ document" purportedly to answer questions about the County's draft MOU .  The information sheet does address some issues, but raises other new ones.  Overall, the FAQs are a step backward and represent further unwarranted - and counterproductive - overreach by the County.

1.  CONTROL OVER FRIENDS RESOURCES:  In section 3, paragraph 3 the County states: "The Library has a responsibility to oversee those public resources and to support transparency and accountability.    That includes having some oversight of what use is made of those resources and how a group's financial records support that use."  

This asserts a "right" not found in the MOU or permitted under state or federal laws.  The County cannot dictate how independent 501 (c) 3 organizations organize themselves or choose to allocate their resources.  This is the same assertion the County has been trying to make for years but has never succeeded in obtaining because they have no legal leg to stand on.  If the MOU and this "FAQ" are accepted they will have gotten the Friends to do to themselves what the County lawyers haven't been able to.    

2.  WHAT RESOURCES ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?  The authors of the FAQ (and MOU) have a very skewed understanding of how the Friends operate and how the value we produce is created.  Simply put - the Friends produce value - hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the Library and the County - because all the work we do is done by unpaid volunteers.  Thousands of Friends put in tens of thousands of hours every year AT NO COST TO THE COUNTY.   The County does provide workspace, which is appreciated and useful, but the County gets back between six and ten times the value of this space as DIRECT SUPPORT FOR COUNTY PROGRAMS.   No one with even a passing familiarity with the Friends thinks that "discarded library books" have any real value and extremely few are ever accepted by the Friends.  Donations from the community are the raw material we often use to create wealth and it is important to remember the County's role in this is limited to having convenient deposit spots in the Library buildings.  The public gives the books to the Friends - not the County - and ALL the value above a few pennies per volume comes from the sweat and managerial expertise of the Friends.   

3.  SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE, SAUCE FOR THE GANDER:  Section 5, paragraph 2 states, "Any amendment to the MOU would apply to every Friends (sic) that has signed an MOU, and therefore each Friends would have to agree to the amendment --- ".  By this logic, this should apply to every Trustee also.  Thus, if they believe this, the Trustees should set an example by getting unanimous agreement on any changes to the current MOU.  This didn't happen and thus the January 10th draft should be recalled until all Trustees approve the draft language.  It would then be forwarded to the Friends, who also would need to have 100% agreement before a new MOU takes effect.  

4.  THE REAL REASON FOR SECTION 5, PARAGRAPH 2:  The discussion in point 3 above is pertinent only if the Trustees and County considered  the Friends to be equal partners in the MOU that establishes our relationship.   Sadly, there is no evidence to support this (with the exception of a couple of individual Trustees).  The Trustees consider the Friends to be employees - at best.  Thus, the purpose of this section is to make it very difficult to impossible for the Friends to ever propose amendments to the draft MOU.  That is, experience has shown there will always be a "teachers pet" or two among the Friends Groups who will do the County's bidding, no questions asked, and deny the Friends the unanimity this calls for.  Further, given that the County has been unwilling to meaningfully discuss the Friends' concerns during the drafting of the MOU, how likely is it that they would listen to us after one signs on the dotted line?    

5. CONFUSION OVER THEIR RESPECTIVE ROLES:   In the opening paragraph the FAQ states, "This document will hereafter use the term "Library" to include both the Board of Trustees and the Library Administration."  The Board of Trustees and the Library Administration are two separate entities with very different roles and responsibilities as laid out in statute and regulation.  This "blending" that has been evident throughout the MOU discussion is inappropriate and probably in violation of both the spirit and letter of Trustees' Policy Manual.

6.  MORE INAPPROPRIATE OVERREACH:  In section 3, paragraph 3 the County states "Periodic access to underlying records provides the Library the required oversight of financial record keeping"     This directly contradicts language in section 3 paragraph 2 which states " it is the Friends' determination what records and in what format, are sufficient to support the Group's tax exempt status."    Nothing about "underlying records" in paragraph 2.  But then, the real issue here is that the County has no right to demand any of this in the first place.  

7. ENGLISH GRAMMAR: A minor point, but indicative of a bigger problem.  Try saying out loud, "The Friends understands that it needs to maintain copies --" (section 3, first sentence) Shouldn't organizations involved with Libraries be able to figure out subject/verb agreement?   Actually, the purpose of this fractured English is the County wants all Friends - regardless of size, focus,, volunteer base, resources, etc. - to be treated exactly the same and thus considers "Friends" to be singular.   

Others may have additional objections to specific sections of the FAQ, but these are the ones that jumped out for me.  Again, all of this could be avoided if the Trustees would just agree to meet with the Friends as equals.    

Best regards, Dennis 

Dennis Hays

Chairman

Fairfax Library Advocates

 

 

 

 

Letter from Dennis Hays to Sharon Bulova: Economics of the Friends

Dear Sharon: 

Sorry to keep bothering you but the issue of accountability keeps coming up and I think it important you have an accurate picture of what the various parties involved contribute.      

• The Friends receive no cash or funding from the County.           
• The County does provide space to the Friends, which certainly has value.  
• In return, the Friends give the County hundreds of  thousands of dollars in direct and indirect support..    
• The County gets back at least six or seven times the value of all support provided to the Friends.           

Over the years the County has received millions of dollars of "free money" from the Friends.  The margins we produce are not possible under any other arrangement.  

BACKGROUND:  You may remember all of this started four years ago when the Friends asked for an audit of the Library Director's Gift Fund due to reported irregularities.   We have never received a response to this request.  Instead, the County turned around and initiated an attempt to audit the Friends!  This was dropped only when an attorney for the Friends hammered home that the County had no right to demand an audit of independent, 501 (c) 3 organizations.  

A year later came the initial attempt to unilaterally modify the MOU.  This fizzled when the Trustees were unable to say why the existing MOU wasn't serving all parties well and what the purpose of the new MOU would be.  

Now comes yet another attempt to intrude negatively on the Friends operations.   

The Economics of the Friends:  

The following pertains specifically to the operations of the Friends of the Reston Library.  Each Friends Group is different, of course, and there may be unique situations here and there, but in general all Friends Groups operate under similar circumstances.      

What the County Gives to the Friends:   In general, books discarded by the County are of zero value.  They tend to be soiled, torn, dog eared, outdated, missing pages, etc.   As a rule, we don't accept books from the County.  There are, however, a few excepts - occasionally we will accept a book, generally non-fiction in the categories of hard science (physics, math, biology) or history as these books (sadly) are rarely checked out and thus are in much better shape.  I wish to correct my statement in an earlier message that Reston sells no books from the County.  My apologies.   A more accurate statement would be we sell extremely few books originally purchased by the County.  The books received from the County contribute an amount of less than one third of one percent of our sales.

      

What the Friends Give to the County: It is important to note the public donates their books to the Friends, not the County.  Many of our books are collected directly from patrons' homes.  I know some dispute this, but this is at best a difference without a distinction as the books all go to supporting our common goal of helping the Library.  This is only an issue if someone wants it to be.  There is more to story, however - the County provides us with a list of desired titles (mostly popular current fiction) and we hunt down these titles, tidy them up, and give them to the County.   In fact, library staff are welcome to take desired volumes at any time, including in the middle of a sale.   Whatever the source, a donated book has an initial value of three to five cents (wholesalers pay two dollars for a large box of random books)   ALL of the subsequent increase in value is due to the work of the Friends.  

Space allocation:  Here the County does provide a vital service:  The Reston Friends occupy roughly 450 square feet of space in the Reston Library on a continuing basis.  Comparable space in Reston goes for between $2.00 and $2.50 a sq ft per month.  Taking a mid-point value of $2.25, the value of the space we occupy would be about $12,000 a year.

Return on Investment:  Last month we authorized over $70,000 in contributions to the Reston and Herndon libraries.   We sponsor speakers, put on children's programs, buy books, support English language training, purchase makerspace equipment, buy garden supplies, purchase furniture, pay for periodicals, put on SAT workshops, support the page program, provide budget supplements,  fund volunteer recognition, pay for library outreach materials, replace easels and carts, fund pre-school programs for children with sensory needs, provide educational opportunities to school aged children during holidays, supply bottled water service for the staff, etc. etc.  

Putting on a Sale:   Each year we hold two large general sales, two childrens' and young adults sales, a holiday sale, a puzzles and games sale and a mystery books sale.  Plus, of course, the ongoing sales.  We have a year round operation with hundreds of volunteers.  A very conservative estimate of the volunteer hours needed to accomplish all of this is between 5,000 and 6,000 hours.  The State of Virginia values volunteer service at $26.71 an hour. 

BOTTOM LINE:  ALL the flow of money goes FROM the Friends TO the County.  And we ask nothing in return other than some space to do our job.  

For over a year all we have asked to be treated as an equal partner - is that too much?  

  

Sincerely, Dennis Hays 

Fairfax Library System Treats Friends Groups Unfairly

https://www.insidenova.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/letter-fairfax-library-system-treats-friends-groups-unfairly/article_a0f58994-84f0-11e8-8939-4b1fa7967c54.html

Editor: Thank you for your June 28 article [“Revised Library Requirements Irritating Some ‘Friends’ Groups”].

The story is not accurate in that neither the Tysons Library Friends or Reston Library Friends are “refusing” to sign the library’s memorandum of understanding (MOU). The deadline for signing the MOU has not passed and no final decisions have been made by either group.

Nor are the Tysons and Reston library Friends the only groups who take issue with the MOU. Several other library Friends groups also have serious concerns, and are weighing whether to sign.

Library Friends continue to seek compromise and cooperation rather than the heavy-handed, unilateral approach the county government has consistently pursued toward us.

Charles Keener, Oakton

Statement from Dennis Hays Regarding Library MOU

It is our belief that the County is looking to control the finances of the Friends, dictating where the money we raise goes.  A couple of points:  As 501(c)3 organizations will are required to annually file a variety of state and federal financial forms that list income, donations, assets, expenditures, etc.  

These are public documents available to anyone with an internet connection (or they could ask us for a copy).  Further, Library Branch Managers are ex-officio members of each Friends board and sit in on all our meetings, including our budget and program meetings.  

What the County is asking for is much more intrusive and would be extremely time consuming to provide.  The Library Director was asked if the County wanted to see every Costco receipt - she said yes.  At present the Branch Manager gives Friends a "wish list" that the Board reviews and usually approves in total.  In Reston we give the Library around $70,000 a year plus we help support the Herndon Library, too.  

We buy furniture and rolling carts, replace carpeting, pay for pest control, pay for speakers, buy books, support children's literacy programs, etc.  What the County wants is for us to pay for big ticket items on the County level - items they identify that may or may not fit with our by-laws.  

The debate over the MOU has been painful and frustrating.  

All we have ever asked is that they treat us as equal partners in the MOU (which we are) and sit down and discuss areas of concern.  For over a year they have refused, instead holding "meetings" where we are told what they have already decided.  

Additional comment:

There are many specific issues of concern here as each Friends groups has its own by-laws, mission statement, volunteer base, financial resources and elected Board of Directors.  One of our major objections is the County is trying to bind all of the Friends groups into a single contract, ignoring specific concerns and treating large and very active groups the same as very small groups.  

What would be humorous if it weren't so serious is that for years we have been trying to get the County to better account for the funds we provide them.  Please remember that the flow of funds goes only in one direction - from the Friends to the County.  In Reston we don't accept any books from the Library itself - all the books we sell are donated by the community to the Friends.  We collect them, sort them, mend them, discard old or damaged volumes, categorize them, store them, price them, sell them, etc.  

ALL the value of the books (tens of thousands of books a year in Reston alone) is derived from the work of hundreds of volunteer Friends.
   

With the funds we raise we (the Fairfax Friends groups) give our Branches and the central library system hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.  As mentioned earlier, we fund everything from SAT prep courses, English as a second language, new furniture, speakers programs, children's programs, bottled water for the staff, pest control, shelving, books and e-books, book carts (surprisingly expensive), periodicals, support for libraries in rural Virginia and overseas in developing countries, and the list goes on and on.  The Library as we know it wouldn't exist without the Friends.

The Friends and the Library are equal partners in our existing MOU.  This has worked well and without problems for decades.   The County now wants to rip up the old MOU and impose a restrictive and intrusive set of requirements on us.  You might ask why the County refuses to provide to us the same level of detailed financial accountability as they are asking from us - particularly as all the money is from us to them!   All we have ever asked is to be treated as equals in developing a document that we are an equal partner to.  A little appreciation for all we do might be nice too, but we'll settle for equal treatment.

Dennis Hays

Chairman, Fairfax Library Advocates

Falls Church Patch: Fairfax County to Evict Friends of Libraries

https://patch.com/virginia/fallschurch/fairfax-county-evict-friends-libraries

Fairfax County is in the process of evicting the Library Friends from several library branches.

The County demands that all library Friends sign a new contract which many feel violates our consciences, goes against the advice of our legal counsel, and tramples our rights as independent non profit organizations.

Library Friends work with the County.

Library Friends do not work for the County.

But the County has been determined to ram through a new "Memorandum of Understanding" contract which would put the library Friends in an inferior position.

Several library Friends groups have asked to meet with the County to discuss reasonable changes/modifications to the MOU that would make it more fair to library Friends.
But the County - through library Director Jessica Hudson and library board Chair Miriam Smolen - has been completely unwilling to consider Friends concerns or make ANY changes to the MOU approved by a divided library board earlier this year.

Instead, library Friends are being bullied and threatened with eviction if they do not sign a contract they are not comfortable with.

Library Friends have been given a deadline of July 31 to sign away their rights or be thrown out.
Such a "my way or the highway" approach is unbelievable being directed at volunteers who have served their various library branches for decades and donated millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to support library collections, facilities, programs, staff, grounds and other needs.

It is not too late for the County to reconsider this wholly destructive and counterproductive approach and to start treating the library Friends as valued partners instead of problems needing to be crushed and brought to heel.

If this attack on library Friends troubles you please let those who can make a difference know : County Board Chair Sharon Bulova sharon.bulova@fairfaxcounty.gov , County Executive Bryan Hill Bryan.Hill@fairfaxcounty.gov , Library Board Chair Miriam Smolen miriam.smolen@fairfaxcounty.gov , Library Director Jessica Hudson jessica.hudson@fairfaxcounty.gov