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September 1, 2009

Library, volunteers part ways

By JANE ROH • Courier-Post Staff • August 31, 2009

For 14 years, Ken and Alice Skinner volunteered at least one day of the week at the Vogelson Regional Branch library, sorting and shelving donated books and helping out at fundraising sales.

And then they were out.
In an undated letter postmarked Aug. 14, the Friends of the Camden County Library System, a group of volunteers who worked to raise funds for the county's public libraries, were told that they and the library system were severing ties.
"The Library and the Friends have worked for several months to resolve differences about the operation of the Friends group and their relationship to the Library. Unfortunately, our visions for the future differ and we have reached an impasse. The Library Commission voted at their August 11th meeting to end our relationship," read the letter from commission Director Linda A. Devlin.
But the Friends dispute the commission's account.
The mostly senior-citizen volunteers said they feel as if they were blindsided by the commission's decision to cut them off, and are miffed by the fact that as a group of unpaid workers they've essentially been fired.
"Frankly, I feel degraded and I feel that my integrity and my character has been besmirched," said Iris Cook, an 83-year-old retiree who's been a volunteer for 20 years.
"In the last six years we've brought in about $200,000. We buy books for the library, we sponsor programs, we give money to buy books, equipment, and furniture," Cook said.
The group also said the commission's leadership never outlined what their competing vision for the library was, they contend.

Differences
In a statement released Friday, Devlin said, "It is inconsistent with the policies of the Camden County Library System to be affiliated with an organization that restricts the voting rights of its members and does not conduct periodic audits of its books."
At issue was a proposal from the commission to give all dues-paying members of the Friends -- even ones considered "inactive" -- plus library staff a vote in decisions concerning library funds.

"People who work for the library should not become voting members of the organization because it would be a conflict of interest," said Evalyn Gelhaus, a trustee in the Friends organization and a former president. "Not only for them, but it would not be fair to other branches."

Disadvantage
Since Friends headquarters was in Voorhees, Gelhaus said, commission employees based elsewhere and unable to attend meetings would be at a disadvantage.
Gelhaus and other members of the Friends leadership also dispute the charge that they weren't transparent, pointing out that their 501(c)3 tax filing status makes their finances open to anyone who wants to view them.
While the commission asked the Friends to codify annual audits into their bylaws, Gelhaus says that at the advice of their attorney they changed the language to "periodic audits."
"We could actually have audits more often, then," she said, noting that the revised language gave the commission the option to check the Friends' books quarterly.
Dear John letter
But it was while the attorney was still going over the proposed bylaws that Devlin broke things off in what Friends described as a Dear John letter.
"Our taxes go toward the library and they want us to pay $15 a year to be members," complained Bill Nieder, who with his wife Shirley has been a Friend who nearly six years. "They did this without even talking to (us], all of the sudden."
"The decision wasn't mine to make," Devlin countered. "This (process) has been going on for quite some time.
The decision was made by the commissioners formally, through continued communication with the library administration and the library commission."
Commissioners could not comment on the matter, directing all queries to Devlin.
Calls to Freeholder Riletta L. Cream, the county's liaison to the library system, were not returned.
The seven members of the Library Commission are appointed by the freeholders, but it was not clear which body the commissioners answered to, or if to anyone at all.

"As far as the county is concerned, the Camden County Library System is separate from the county. It has its own board and is responsible for its own operations," said Ron Tomasello, a spokesman for the county.

"We stand behind the fact that the library is performing its fiduciary responsibility. Ultimately it is their responsibility to make those judgments," said Joyce Gabriel, a county spokeswoman. "We do stand behind the library's administration of this."
Devlin described the library system as a "semi-autonomous" agency. Most of the library's operating budget -- $9.2 million in fiscal year 2009 -- comes from the county's library tax. The state contributed $258,000 in aid this year, and a 2008 tax filing shows that the Friends of the Camden County Library raised more than $51,000 for the library last year.
Priscilla Mahon, president of the Friends, would not comment for this article, citing a meeting scheduled next week with Freeholder Cream.
Meanwhile, in her letter, Devlin invited members of the Friends to continue on as volunteers.
"We would welcome your participation in other types of organizations under consideration where you can support the Library through book sale volunteering, advocacy, fundraising and contributions," she wrote.
But the spurned Friends exhibited little enthusiasm for sorting books and running fundraisers gratis for the commission.
"I'm done," said Skinner, a 59-year-old retired social worker in Cherry Hill. He noted that the commission changed the lock on the room where Friends met and sorted books. A page reserved for the Friends had also been taken down from the commission Web site.
"I won't go back," vowed Nieder, a 75-year-old retiree in Voorhees. "It's all volunteers. You don't get paid for it. Why would you throw them out? We didn't have a coffee pot, we didn't have a telephone, we didn't have anything up there."
Reach Jane Roh at (856) 486-2919 or jroh@gannett.com

Posted by tumulty at September 1, 2009 10:30 AM

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