Safeguards and protection for your library

1. Safeguards andprotection for your library Policies and Procedures

2. Table of contents • Slides 2 – 14 Introduction and overview • Slides 15 – 39 Fiscal responsibilities • Slides 40 - 61 Library Facilities, including security and disaster planning • Slides 62 – 76 Personnel • Slides 77 – 86 Collection policies, including Children’s Services • Slides 87 – 95 Intellectual Freedom • Slides 96 –101 Public Access Computers

3. Can you answer these questions? • Does your library have up to date policies? • What common policies don’t you have? • Is there a process in place to regularly review policies? What is it? What should it be? • Do you have an ethics policy? • Why does our library need policies and procedures?

4. What’s the difference between a policy and a procedure? • A policy is a course of action on a specific topic adopted by a library. • Procedures are the steps to be followed in implementing the policy.

5. Library Policies • Policies are the rules of the Library • Policies should be developed thoughtfully and revised regularly • Policies provide you and the library with legal protection • Policies are useless unless you and your patrons know them

6. Categorizing policies Internal Policies • personnel, disaster planning, etc. External Policies • dealing with the public These areas can be further broken down to suit your library’s particular organizational structure.

7. Essential Policies Board Policies • By-laws • Meeting Protocols • Continuing Education • Ethics and conflicts of interest • Friends Groups • Financial accountability

8. Essential policies, continued • Security and Emergencies • Public Safety • Crisis Management • Inclement Weather • Facilities • The Library Building and Grounds • Meeting room and Displays • Equipment

9. Essential Policies, continued • Personnel Policies • Staff Manuals • Union Contracts/Contracts • Employee acknowledgement • The Library as a “Limited” or “Designated” Public Forum

10. Essential policies, continued • Operational Policies • Library hours and days open • Lending rules, library cards, etc. • Patron behavior • Collection Management • Selection • Weeding

11. Essential policies, continued • Intellectual Freedom Challenges to library material • Public Computers • Sample Policies • http://www.owlsnet.info/L4L/policies/sample.asp • http://winslo.state.oh.us/publib/policies.html

12. Ethics and the Public Library Conflicts of Interest • General Municipal Law; Sec. 800 • “no officer or employee shall have an interest in any contract with the municipality of which he is an officer or employee…” • Inclusion of family members • “Free” services prohibited • Application to Association Libraries

13. Friends Groups, the Library Director and the Library Board • Common understanding of library’s goals • Roles of the library administration and the Friends • Importance of communication

14. When conflict arises • Address conflict ASAP • Working toward the same end • Clarify roles • Establish liaisons • Contact Empire Friends

15. Fiscal ResponsibilityTWO THOUGHTS “Oh, don’t bother me,” said the Duchess, “I never could abide figures.” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland We are responsible public managers. -- Sandra Nelson, Planning for Results

16. Financial policy • involvement of a financial professional, • a public budgeting process involving both Board and staff, • good accountability, • appropriate levels of support for the library and compensation of its staff, and • the necessity for political work on behalf of the library

17. BEST PRACTICES FOR FINANCIAL PROCEDURES • The library manager attends all Board meetings • The manager is involved in budget preparation and reporting • Enough people can sign on the bank accounts so that the required number of signatures always is available to sign payroll and other deadline expenses.

18. BEST PRACTICES, con’t. • The library’s financial records are kept in the library, not on the treasurer’s dining room table, nor in the treasurer’s computer. • This applies to all business records.

19. WHOSE JOB IS THIS? • The manager and treasurer draft the budget together. • The finance committee may review the draft. • The draft reflects the Board’s decisions in goal setting. • The Board reviews, amends, and adopts the budget by resolution.

20. FINANCIAL REPORTING Think of it as a cycle: • The Budget tells you what you’re going to do – it forecasts. • Monthly Reports tell you how you’re doing – they are snapshots of the present. • The Audit looks back to tell you how you did.

21. FINANCIAL REPORTS • Prepared monthly • Show opening balance, transactions, and ending balance for each fund • Show actual versus budget for the month and the year-to-date. • Include a balance sheet for an overall picture of the library’s finances. • Include notes to comment or explain items as needed.

22. THE AUDIT • An annual evaluation of the library’s financial records and procedures. • Vital to our responsibility of public accountability. • Brings professional expertise and advice to the increasingly complex world of financial management.

23. DO WE NEED ONE? • The short answer is, YES!! • The longer answer is, for a very small library, a professionally conducted CPA’s audit is expensive. • Where’s the cut-off? • What are the alternatives?

24. YOU SHOULD HAVE A CERTIFIED AUDIT BECAUSE: • Beginning in 2009 for the 2008 fiscal year, all non-profit agencies are required to file an IRS Form 990 tax return. YOU NEED A CERTIFIED AUDIT IF: • you take in $25,000 or more annually.

25. ALTERNATIVES TO THE CERTIFIED AUDIT • Ask an accountant for a review rather than a certified audit. • Appoint an audit committee of Board members • Find qualified community members who will check the library’s books on a volunteer basis.

26. FINANCIAL PROCEDURES • Goal setting: manager recommends, Board reviews and revises; adopts by resolution • Budget development: manager and treasurer draft, reflecting Board’s direction. • Finance committee (all Boards should have one) reviews, revises. • Board adopts budget by resolution

27. FINANCIAL PROCEDURES:PAYING BILLS • Authorization to purchase goods • Receipt of goods • Approve payment • Write the check • Sign the check • File the records

28. VOUCHERS • The voucher authorizes payment. • It shows: • Who is being paid • How much • Charged to what account • Signature or initials of authorizing individual

29. CHECKS • The library manager approves most bills and prepares checks for treasurer’s signature. • Checks above a certain amount of money may require two signatures. • Checks should be paid on a regular schedule, generally twice a month. • A check may be written outside that schedule if payment deadlines require.

30. PAYROLL • Payroll is complex and if filings are not done in a timely manner, the penalties are expensive. • Use a payroll service such as Paychex or ADP, or be sure your payroll software is updated annually to reflect current tax law. The Library System provides payroll services for member libraries employing seven or fewer people. • A payroll service will insure that payroll taxes are paid on time.

31. DOCUMENTATION OF PAYROLL EXPENSES • Time sheets are the basis of payroll documentation and all paychecks should be prepared from them. • The library needs to be able to establish the person, date, and times worked. • This is necessary for accurate handling of workers compensation claims, Human Rights Commission investigations, and so forth. • Time sheets also keep track of sick and annual leave balances. • They should be signed and dated by the employee and by the person approving the payroll and kept forever.

32. BANK ACCOUNTS • Keep a file of the current signature cards and be sure they are changed every time signers change. • Open additional accounts in separate banks as needed to keep deposited amounts within the FDIC insurance limit. • Banks will bid on banking services: ask them for a free safe deposit box, or a sweep account, or free checking for employees . . . See what they will do for you.

33. FINANCIAL CONTROLS FOR THE SMALL LIBRARY How can you protect your library from theft or fraud? • Separate financial duties as much as you can. • If the manager prepares the checks, then the treasurer should do the bank reconciliations.

34. MORE CONTROLS • Use the voucher system vigorously. It provides 4 points of approval for every expenditure. • Use consecutively numbered checks, purchase orders, and vouchers. • Keep unused checks locked up at all times.

35. STILL MORE CONTROLS …. • Use second signatures on large checks. • Have written financial policies and procedures and follow them. • Establish a by-laws clause about self-dealing and profiting from library operations.

36. AND FINALLY . . . . • Periodic review of financial controls by the finance committee • Annual scrutiny of financial controls by the auditor ASSUME NOTHING

37. BEST PRACTICES FOR FINANCIAL CONTROLS • Each check is signed and supporting documentation reviewed by someone other than the check preparer. • The library’s financial records are kept in the library. • Blank checks are kept locked up and no checks are written out of number sequence. • Copies of the audit are mailed by the auditor directly to the Board President and executive committee.

38. HOW PEOPLE STEAL MONEY Because the bad news is that sometimes they do. • They steal cash receipts from fines or fund-raisers. • They write checks to library vendors like the phone company, but for their own bills. • They falsify financial reports and audits. • They make side deals with vendors.

39. WHAT YOU CAN DO Be sure that: • the Board understands the financial reports and the library’s financial situation. • both Board and staff understand and are following all policies and procedures. • people doing financial work take scheduled vacations during which their part of the work is performed by someone else. ASSUME NOTHING!

40. Library Facilities

41. The Building and Entrance The Library Board and the Director must be able to answer: • Does the Board have a “Building and Grounds” or “Facilities” committee? • Are there Building and Grounds/Facilities policies that includes clear-cut procedures?

42. The Building • Who does the library call or contract with for routine repairs? • Is there a plan in place for exterior maintenance of the library that includes regular inspections of the roof, windows, siding, and gutters? • Does the library budget include money for routine maintenance as well as reserve funds for building emergency repairs?

43. Meeting Rooms • Policies • Forms • Scheduling Mechanisms

44. Meeting Rooms:Other Considerations • What technology (i.e., equipment, sound systems) is available? • Is there an outside entrance to the meeting room? • Is there a kitchen in or close to the meeting room? • Are there restrooms close to the meeting room? • Can the meeting room, kitchen, and restrooms be used when the library is closed? • Is there a storage area in or adjacent to the meeting room for craft supplies, equipment, and chair or table storage?

45. Exhibits, Displays and Bulletin Boards

46. Equipment for Patrons New York State minimum standards require that all public libraries have: • telephone • photocopier • microcomputer and printer • telefacsimile machine • other equipment necessary to facilitate access to information

47. Additional Equipment • Microfilm or microfiche reader/printer • Ellison or similar die-cut machine • Typewriter • Digital camera • Laptop computers • Media projector • DVD or Video Cassette Player

48. Equipment Policies • It is essential that policies for use of library equipment are in place and reviewed regularly. • Questions to ask when developing an equipment policy include:

49. Equipment Policy • What may be used by the public? • Is age a factor for use? • “Use of Equipment Policy” separate from “Computer Use Policy” ? • Is there a charge? (copier, printer, fax machine) • Can staff use personally? • How will exceptions be granted?

50. The Grounds The Library Board and the Director must be able to answer these questions: • grounds maintenance • safety for patrons and staff • lighting