Exeter Community Library Management Problems

29/06/2024

Free advice for the Exeter Library Association board

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19/06/2024

More violations of the Exeter Library Association's bylaws on June 10,2024:

June 10 agenda:
https://www.berkslibraries.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Exeter%20Library%20Association%20Board%20Meeting%20June%20Agenda.pdf

Violation 1:
First the board accepted the resignation of Chris Sperat which reduced the number of board members from seven to six, which is below the minimum number listed in Bylaws Article III Section 2:

The Board of Trustees shall total between seven (7) and nine (9) persons. Nominations for members of the Board may be suggested by the funding municipalities, other Board members, or the public.

Near the end of the meeting they added two new board members to increase the number back to meet the minimum requirement.

Violation 2 (Sunshine Act): The board went into executive session and did not provide any reason.

Article V: Meetings
Regular meetings of the Board shall be held at a location to be determined by members of the Board each month at such time as agreed upon by the members of the Board. All meetings will be conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Sunshine Act.

An agency may discuss certain matters in Executive Session, which is not held in public. Section 708 of the Sunshine Act enumerates seven reasons an agency may hold an Executive Session:

Discussing personnel matters;
Holding an information, strategy and negotiation session related to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement;
Considering the purchase or lease of real property;
Consulting with an attorney about active or pending litigation;
Discussing agency business which, if conducted in public, would violate a lawful privilege or lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law;
Discussing certain academic matters (this reason is specifically limited to certain institutions of higher education); and
Discussing certain public safety issues if disclosure of the information discussed would be reasonably likely to jeopardize or threaten public safety or preparedness or public protection.
The specific reason for an Executive Session must be announced in the public meeting either before or directly after the Executive Session. See Reading Eagle Co. v. Council of City of Reading, 627 A.2d 305 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993), ("[T]he reasons stated by the public agency must be specific, indicating a real, discrete matter").

Closed gatherings may also beheld "solely for the purpose of collecting information or educating agency members about an issue." See Smith v. Township of Richmond, 623 Pa. 209, 223 (Pa. 2013) ("[T]he Supervisors' four closed-door gatherings did not violate the [Sunshine] Act because they were held for informational purposes only and did not involve deliberations").

17/05/2024

Exeter Community Library Slashes Children's Library, Firing Two Employees and Cutting Programming Budget in Half


The recently resigned executive director fired two of the three employees of the Children's Library in violation of the library's HR policies without having ever executed any performance reviews, disciplinary actions, or performance improvement plans for any of those employees. Each of these three employees had worked for the library for more than seven years and never had any issues.

The 2024 budget slashed Children's Programs $40,000 to $20,000 but increased personnel spending by $43,299 (16% increase) after firing three employees. Is it more important to maintain Children's Programs or to hire new employees and/or increase the pay of current employees?

Is this good enough for the children of Exeter Township?

Exeter Township provided $300, 000 in funding in 2023 and 2024. Is management using your taxpayer dollars wisely?

Exeter Community Library Financial Problems

There are serious management problems at the library.

Apparently the executive director and board are failing in their fundraising efforts, leading to a 9.9% reduction in 2024 budgeted revenue despite a $24,254 increase in public funding. Total funding from local, county and state sources of $415,795 will represent 87.82% of the library's total revenue of $589,595. In 2023 Total funding from local, county and state sources of $493,549.28 represented 75.46% of the library's budgeted revenue of $654,084.28. Budgeted total funding from other sources has decreased from $129,000 to $49,500. This number includes all of the library's fundraising efforts and individual donations. What has management done to cause this drastic reduction?

Personnel expenses are budgeted to increase from $270,000 to $313,299. Why is the library hiring new employees or increasing pay to current employees instead of maintaining programs at their 2023 levels?

Adult programs were cut from $28,000 to $15,000 and children's programs were cut from $40,000 to $20,000.

16/05/2024

Budget for Personnel
2023 2024
270,000 313,299 16% increase after firing three employees

Other Budget Highlights
2023 2024
Total Revenue $654,084 $589,595
Local/cnty/state revenue 493,549 517,795
Percentage of budget 75.5 87.8
Other sources revenue 160,535 71,800
Percentage of budget 24.5 12.2

Total Expenses $654,084 $589,595
Total Collections 122,274 70,900 (51,374)
Total Personnel 338,460 373,495 35,035
Total Programs 75,500 35,500 (40,000)

History
August 14, 2023 Minutes:

Discussion regarding selection of new Executive Director: stated the personnel committee and staff met with candidate, and interim director, LIzabeth StavenskiBell, to become the new executive director of the library. If approved, Ms. Stavenski-Bell would start Monday, August 21, with a salary of $60,000 a year with a $400 month medical insurance stipend. She would receive 4 weeks vacation, and one week personal time for a total of 5 weeks paid time off.

Liz has started looking at the budget for next (year). Draft funding formula is present in the shared file. She is also looking at procedures for staff roles as well as staff reviews and staff pay.

September 2023 Minutes
Liz has started with budget process. She has not met with the township yet. Final version of funding formula has been shared with the board. Liz is setting a long-term goal to revise staff pay and merit raises.

Personnel: : Motion to remove Personnel from committee reports Mike Bennethum, second Ibrahim Bangura

November 2023 Minutes

Liz Stavenski-Bell reviewed her previously submitted written report. Of particular note: She met with the Exeter Township Supervisors as part of their budget planning process to speak about the work of the library. Preliminary indication is that the township will allocate $300,000 for the library in 2024. She asked the board for a brief executive session to discuss staff bonuses. Motion to enter executive session, Laura Biancone; Second, Todd Dierksheide. Motion adopted. Entered executive session at 6:49 PM. Motion to end executive session, Todd Dierksheide; second, Christie Resh. Motion adopted. Ended executive session at 6:56 PM. Motion by Todd Dierksheide to allocate money from the General Fund for staff bonuses in the amounts proposed by the Executive Director. Motion adopted. (According to 2023 budget the amount was $3,500.)
February 2024 Minutes
corrected an earlier comment during public comment. The personal committee received 6 resumes and interviewed one candidate for the position of executive director.

16/05/2024

An excerpt from my public comments presented at the Berks County Public Library System advisory board meeting, where unlike Exeter there are no restrictions on free speech and no police at the board meetings:

The executive director was the Exeter Library Association board president and had the requisite degree at the time of her hiring. The board stated that six resumes were received and only a single candidate was interviewed. On August 14, 2023 Lizabeth Stavensky-Bell was named interim director. She resigned from her full-time job and resigned as Exeter Library Association board president. On January 22,2024 the interim designation was removed and she was named executive director with a salary of $60,000 per year, $400/month medical insurance stipend, four weeks vacation and one week of personal time. Starting in April, she was out for five weeks and scheduled to return in May. The executive director resigned May 8,2024. She fired three employees on February 5, 2024 under questionable circumstances. She never completed a single performance review for a library employee yet fired three people. That must be some kind of bad management world record.

The search committee consisted of , Mike Bennethum and library employee Nancy Russo. They made a poor decision. She lasted less than nine months. These individuals should resign immediately. They absolutely should not be involved in hiring another executive director.

Ibrahim Bangura, Mike Bennethum, Chris Sperat and voted to hire the former executive director. I am also calling for their resignations.

14/05/2024

There are serious management issues in addition to the Sunshine Act violations below. There is no transparency. The executive director just resigned May 8 after five months as interim director and just over three months as executive director (including the last five weeks on leave). A restrictive public comments policy was approved last month, and last night the board had an Exeter Township police officer stand against the wall for the entire meeting.

The Exeter Library Association states in its bylaws that 'All meetings will be conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Act.' There are numerous clear violations of the Act as the executive director and board are not transparent. Compare the information that is provided on the website with the Act requirements.

May 13,2024
Violation 1
Office of Open Records requirements:

Senate Bill 554 amended the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act to include the requirement that agencies post the agenda for all public meetings at least 24 hours in advance. This change took effect August 29, 2021 and applies to all agencies covered by the Act.

The agenda requirement applies to all regular and Special public meetings, but does not include work sessions, conferences and Executive sessions where official action is not permitted.

The agenda should include all issues to be deliberated on and any planned official action, such as votes.

If the agency has a website or other social media platform that is publicly accessible, the agenda must be posted there. Postings are also required at the agency’s offices, at the meeting site; and copies of the agenda must be available for the public at the meeting itself.

Board does not provide an agenda online or for attendees from the public.

Violation 2
Office of Open Records requirements:

Must agencies keep minutes of their public meetings?


Yes. Agencies are required to record the time, date, and place of their meetings; the names of the members present, the substance of all official action taken during the meetings, and a record of how each individual voted. The minutes must also include the names of all citizens who appeared officially and the subject of their testimony.

Board: There is no record of how each individual voted. In my opinion the minutes are minimal and provide very little information



Violation 3

Can an agency have a closed meeting?


An agency may discuss certain matters in Executive Session, which is not held in public. Section 708 of the Sunshine Act enumerates seven reasons an agency may hold an Executive Session:

Discussing personnel matters;
Holding an information, strategy and negotiation session related to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement;
Considering the purchase or lease of real property;
Consulting with an attorney about active or pending litigation;
Discussing agency business which, if conducted in public, would violate a lawful privilege or lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law;
Discussing certain academic matters (this reason is specifically limited to certain institutions of higher education); and
Discussing certain public safety issues if disclosure of the information discussed would be reasonably likely to jeopardize or threaten public safety or preparedness or public protection.
The specific reason for an Executive Session must be announced in the public meeting either before or directly after the Executive Session. See Reading Eagle Co. v. Council of City of Reading, 627 A.2d 305 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993), ("[T]he reasons stated by the public agency must be specific, indicating a real, discrete matter").



Board: Met in executive session without providing the topic of discussion. You can see that in March they stated personnel as reason for an executive session.

No information is shared via hard or soft copy.

See March 2024 Minutes Library Director's report - Why are the people count and programs not shared?

See March 2024 Minutes Treasurer's report - No income statements are shared. Motions to pay bills are approved without being shared.

14/05/2024

and executive director fire three employees, including two of three children's librarians, on February 5, 2024

February 12, 2024 Exeter Library Association Board Meeting Minutes: