Jones Library Trustees Address Fundraising Questions

Jones Library Development Committee Chair Lee Edwards updated the Jones Library Board of Trustees on fundraising progress at their September 11 meeting.  She resolved a mystery that had arisen the previous month when the capital campaign reported that the total amount of funds raised for the $46.1 million renovation-expansion project was $1,775,928 less than had been reported one year earlier.

See related: HUD Earmark for Jones Library Comes Through. Fundraising Report Shows Worrisome Trend

The reversal, explained Edwards, results from two changes. The federal government’s cancelation in May of a $1 million Challenge Grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities accounts for part of the recalculation.  President Austin Sarat said that the Board is “keeping the paperwork in place” in case the grant revocation might be reconsidered.

Secondly, the Jones Library Capital Campaign is no longer crediting a Pandemic Escalation Increase of $1,694,158 from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) to the Library’s share of project costs.

“We [had] put those funds on the capital campaign side of the ledger because, frankly, that was where the energy had come from,” explained Edwards.

“Some of us thought it was more honorable to put it [on the state side of the ledger]. And then some of us just had an aesthetic view about how the thermometer was going to look,” she clarified.  With the source of this money reassigned to the MBLC, the fundraising “thermometer” now displays one-third of the project funding coming from the state, one-third from the library, and one-third from the taxpayers of Amherst.

“So the total amount raised hasn’t changed, but the attribution, the credit if you like, has shifted,” Edwards said.

More sobering was the report that $17,286 in gifts and pledges were raised in August, offset by $11,436 in personnel and other expenses. 

Fundraising Questions Remain
The reassignment of funding credit from library to the state and uncertain conversion of pledges to gifts has made evaluating library fundraising success a challenge.  The truest measure may be the amount that the library has remitted to the town.  The trustees have committed in a Memorandum of Agreement with the town, to transfer all funds minus reasonable expenses as soon as they are received.  This not only allows the town to postpone borrowing money for project expenses but also allows the town to accrue interest on cash received.

Library Director Sharon Sharry reports that this month the library turned over a check for $2,060,661 to Town Manager Paul Bockelman.  However, this amount is not reflected in the “Remitted to Town” total reported by the capital campaign as $2,100,000 on September 1.

Subtracting the total of $1,650,000 reported to have been transmitted to the town in the August 1 capital campaign report, the town received $450,000 in August.  The discrepancy between the Director’s announcement and the capital campaign report remains unexplained.

If Sharry’s higher figure of $2,060,661 has been transferred to the town on top of the $1,650,000 previously received, the library has thus far contributed $3,710,661 toward their share of project costs.

Assuming the sources for all funds raised outside of the Community Campaign (i.e. government grants and corporate and foundation giving) are secure, and the town’s share remains fixed at $15,751,810, the library needs to remit another $8,344,696 by the time its agreed upon share is due in mid-2028.

This works out to an average of $245,432 needing to be raised and turned over to the town each month.

Which begs new questions.  What payment schedule do the library and capital campaign predict that they will be able to meet?  And if they fall short of their fundraising goal, how will they settle their debt to the town?

George Ryan Appointed to Jones Library Building Committee
Town Councilor Pam Rooney has resigned her position on the Jones Library Building Committee (JLBC) after being recommended for a seat on the DPW Building Committee that is being formed.  At its September 8 meeting, the Town Council voted to name George Ryan as the new council representative to the JLBC.

Ryan has been an ardent advocate for town funding of the library building project and is one of fourteen volunteer members of the Jones Library Capital Campaign.

Commenting before the vote to confirm Ryan’s seat, Councilor Cathy Schoen reminded him “to be watching everything and challenging as much as possible.”

“I think that kind of scrutiny is incredibly important to take what has become a very expensive project and at least try to avoid it becoming ever more so,” she warned.

Ryan’s appointment to the JLBC was approved unanimously.