Letter From Mara Huston
Dear Members of the Board of Trustees and Director Esme Green,
I attended the recent Trustees meeting and spoke during the public comment period. Since then, I have reviewed the past meetings that are available on SudburyTV. I have also reviewed the role of a 501c3 organization.
After watching your meeting from December 1st, I was hopeful that you wanted to resolve the situation. At that meeting, various members discussed getting the full board of the Trustees and the full board of the Friends together for a meeting and discuss the issues. Some of you asked for specifics. One of you mentioned that Alice Levine was in attendance. You could have asked her then to have a conversation, but you didn't. The next meeting was January 19th and there was no discussion with the Friends. There were statements made, but that is not a discussion. The contents of the MOUs are not public so I can't comment on the discrepancies. According to the Friends, after reaching out to other library friends groups in MA, only 3 of the 24 responses indicated they have MOUs. According to the Trustees, all libraries have MOUs with their Friends organization. MOUs aren't the beginning of repairing a relationship, it is the result of a repaired relationship.
The Friends is a 501c3 independent private organization. By this, they are governed by state and federal tax laws. They have the following requirements:
- Have one public meeting a year - all other meetings can be private for members only.
- Elected board members are publicly known and they have fiduciary responsibilities for how the money is used.
- Publish annual financial statement (IRS Form 990).
- All donations must be used, after expenses, to the ultimate benefit of the Goodnow Library.
- Receive grant requests and respond to these requests.
- Grantees should expect to submit requests, followed by grant reports to show how the money was used and potentially return any unused money. This process could take many forms.
- Goodnow Library is the only allowed grantee for the Friends group.
I have heard several demands from the Director and the Trustees that are not appropriate:
- the Director should be an ex-officio member of the Friends board. This would be a conflict of interest. The Friends is an independent organization.
- Members of the Trustees demanded to attend Friends private meetings. This is also inappropriate. The private meetings are for members of the Friends only. The public can only attend their public meetings.
- The Director/Trustees demand monthly financial statements from the Friends. This is inappropriate also. As grantees, the Director/Trustees can request funds, but the Friends are ultimately responsible for the decision to fund any grant request. The Director/Trustees have no right to know detailed finances other than what's publicly released. The Friends don't report to the Director.
- The Friends should pay to use the Library space. This seems counterproductive. Any fee that the Friends incurs to do their work would count as an expense and therefore would limit the funds available to respond to grant requests from the Library. The Library would receive the rental revenue, but that couldn't then be used for programs. You would literally be taking money from yourself.
- The Friends are subordinate to the Trustees. This is not true. The Friends is independent of the Trustees and the Director.
- The Friends should turn over all their money to the Library. This is not appropriate. By law, a 501c3 can not simply be a conduit to give money to a public organization. The Friends have fiduciary responsibility and this demand would violate their responsibility.
- The Friends should not use the Goodnow Library name and should stop fundraising. This is inappropriate. The name of the Friends is their incorporated name. They are responsible for their own fundraising. Any money they raise, must be used, after expenses, to the ultimate benefit of Goodnow Library. The Trustees don't control the Friends.
The Goodnow Library is lucky to have two 501c3 organizations focused on supporting their mission. Based on what I can see from the public meetings, the lines have been blurred between the Library/Trustees and the Friends. I suggest everyone step back, revisit those lines and start from there. The Director/Trustees can't control the Friends, but they can recreate a working relationship that is based on the joint mission of supporting the Library.
The Goodnow Library is a cornerstone of our community and the Friends of Goodnow Library have been part of the fabric of Sudbury for over 30 years. Severing the ties with the Friends is completely unacceptable.
Sincerely,
Mara Huston
578 Peakham Road
I attended the recent Trustees meeting and spoke during the public comment period. Since then, I have reviewed the past meetings that are available on SudburyTV. I have also reviewed the role of a 501c3 organization.
After watching your meeting from December 1st, I was hopeful that you wanted to resolve the situation. At that meeting, various members discussed getting the full board of the Trustees and the full board of the Friends together for a meeting and discuss the issues. Some of you asked for specifics. One of you mentioned that Alice Levine was in attendance. You could have asked her then to have a conversation, but you didn't. The next meeting was January 19th and there was no discussion with the Friends. There were statements made, but that is not a discussion. The contents of the MOUs are not public so I can't comment on the discrepancies. According to the Friends, after reaching out to other library friends groups in MA, only 3 of the 24 responses indicated they have MOUs. According to the Trustees, all libraries have MOUs with their Friends organization. MOUs aren't the beginning of repairing a relationship, it is the result of a repaired relationship.
The Friends is a 501c3 independent private organization. By this, they are governed by state and federal tax laws. They have the following requirements:
- Have one public meeting a year - all other meetings can be private for members only.
- Elected board members are publicly known and they have fiduciary responsibilities for how the money is used.
- Publish annual financial statement (IRS Form 990).
- All donations must be used, after expenses, to the ultimate benefit of the Goodnow Library.
- Receive grant requests and respond to these requests.
- Grantees should expect to submit requests, followed by grant reports to show how the money was used and potentially return any unused money. This process could take many forms.
- Goodnow Library is the only allowed grantee for the Friends group.
I have heard several demands from the Director and the Trustees that are not appropriate:
- the Director should be an ex-officio member of the Friends board. This would be a conflict of interest. The Friends is an independent organization.
- Members of the Trustees demanded to attend Friends private meetings. This is also inappropriate. The private meetings are for members of the Friends only. The public can only attend their public meetings.
- The Director/Trustees demand monthly financial statements from the Friends. This is inappropriate also. As grantees, the Director/Trustees can request funds, but the Friends are ultimately responsible for the decision to fund any grant request. The Director/Trustees have no right to know detailed finances other than what's publicly released. The Friends don't report to the Director.
- The Friends should pay to use the Library space. This seems counterproductive. Any fee that the Friends incurs to do their work would count as an expense and therefore would limit the funds available to respond to grant requests from the Library. The Library would receive the rental revenue, but that couldn't then be used for programs. You would literally be taking money from yourself.
- The Friends are subordinate to the Trustees. This is not true. The Friends is independent of the Trustees and the Director.
- The Friends should turn over all their money to the Library. This is not appropriate. By law, a 501c3 can not simply be a conduit to give money to a public organization. The Friends have fiduciary responsibility and this demand would violate their responsibility.
- The Friends should not use the Goodnow Library name and should stop fundraising. This is inappropriate. The name of the Friends is their incorporated name. They are responsible for their own fundraising. Any money they raise, must be used, after expenses, to the ultimate benefit of Goodnow Library. The Trustees don't control the Friends.
The Goodnow Library is lucky to have two 501c3 organizations focused on supporting their mission. Based on what I can see from the public meetings, the lines have been blurred between the Library/Trustees and the Friends. I suggest everyone step back, revisit those lines and start from there. The Director/Trustees can't control the Friends, but they can recreate a working relationship that is based on the joint mission of supporting the Library.
The Goodnow Library is a cornerstone of our community and the Friends of Goodnow Library have been part of the fabric of Sudbury for over 30 years. Severing the ties with the Friends is completely unacceptable.
Sincerely,
Mara Huston
578 Peakham Road