Pamunkey Regional Library

 

Goochland Branch Library

The Goochland Branch Library is part of the Pamunkey Regional Library, a consortium of the counties of Hanover, Goochland, King William, and King and Queen counties. Jurisdictions own the buildings and contribute to PRL on a per capita basis. As part of PRL, Goochlanders have access to a wider range of materials and services than would be possible as a stand alone library.

Goochland has two representatives on the PRL Board of Trustees, Barbara Young, who is currently its chair, and Barbara Slone. They used citizen comment at the November 1 Board of Supervisors’ meeting for an update on PRL matters. The concerns raised are serious. The library trustees should be on the board agenda in the future.

Young said that the PRL board is dealing with the departure of King and Queen (K&Q) County from PRL. This was initiated in April by K&Q for financial reasons and was expected to occur at midnight on June 30, 2023, the close of the fiscal year. Based on the PRL agreement, K&Q requires the consent of the remaining three counties to leave PRL without a two-year notice.

K&Q did not depart at the end of June. Its budgeted PRL contribution for FY24 was $236,540. K&Q agreed to pay $139,894, which would have allowed its library to stay open until December 31, 2023. To date, said Young, this payment, which was due on September 30, has not been received by PRL, which was informed that the money was “on the way.”

Young said that PRL Director Tom Shepley met with K&Q officials on October 26 to discuss closing its library, on December 1. This would allow PRL staff to pack up all items owned by PRL. K&Q owns the shelves, tables, and chairs. PRL owns the library collection; all equipment such as computers; all IT licensing; all subscriptions to newspapers and magazines; and electronic material sources.

To make the transition as smooth as possible, PRL has offered to sell the K&Q its part of the collection, valued at $240k, for $20k. PRL employees would be offered jobs in the K&Q library.

Young said that PRL has had issues with K&Q for several years, including very delinquent payments even though they continue to have voting members on the board of trustees.

“It is our understanding that board of supervisors in each participating county must address these issues,” said Young. A memorandum of understanding between PRL and K&Q is being drafted and will be reviewed at a special called meeting of PRL trustees on November 8 at the Ashland Branch Library. Closing of the K&Q library will also be discussed.

Young asked the supervisors to weigh in on whether K&Q should continue to have voting trustees on the PRL board if that county has not met its financial obligations.

Slone informed the board of a delay in audits for PRL. On September 24^th, said Slone, Hanover County Administrator John Budesky sent a letter to Shepley and Young stating that a required audit overdue for nearly 12 months is not acceptable.

The PRL board, said Slone, was aware of the delayed audit, but not to that extent. The PRL website (Pamunkeylibrary.org) indicates that the last completed audit is for the year ended June 30, 2021.

Reasons given by PRL for the delay include changes in Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) that resulted in a significant increase in the number of required audit pages; changes in the capitalization of leased equipment; and the involvement of several different auditing firms who presented conflicting changes and insufficient time for PRL to respond to information requests. The PRL staff is small and needs help with financial statement preparation.

Slone said that the PRL trustees formed a committee that attends weekly meetings with PRL and Hanover County staff. PRL is the only entity under the Hanover County audit contract that does not have a CPA on staff. Going forward, the PRL board has requested detailed audit reports be part of the library director’s report at its meetings. The finance committee needs to understand and oversee the PRL adherence to the audit timeline and evaluate resources to help PRL stay on schedule by outsourcing a CPA or accounting firm to produce financial statements on time.

Slone said that the Goochland Branch Library is fortunate to have an active Friends of the Library who often attend PRL board meetings.

She repeated a statement she made at the September Board meeting about book banning.

It has come to the attention of several Board members that certain members of the public are concerned that this board is in the business of banning books. Not only is that false, but it has never been discussed as a part of official board business. The rumors circulating that this board has any intent to remove books from any Pamunkey Regional Library is completely untrue. Accusations of Hitler-like activities by this board have been overheard and are absurd and is a misguided attempt to rally forces to support an agenda of which the board has no participation whatsoever.

Thanks to Young and Slone for bringing these matters to the attention of the public and working to resolve the issues.