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