Exeter Community Library Management Problems

08/02/2025

Exeter Community Library listed $286,135 in assets other than real estate in its 2023 tax return (see below). The nonprofit's 2024 net gain will be around $146,000 (as reported at the January 13, 2025 board meeting) bringing total assets other than real estate to about $ 432,135. That amount would cover 77% of its 2025 budget. Why did the library fail to provide YTD income statements and a complete list of assets when requesting $300,000 at the budget meeting on October 22,2024? The library did not provide ANY financial information at that meeting. The chairman had to request financial information. Unfortunately he did not ask for specific reports. Audited financial statements for 2024, YTD income statements and a current list of assets should be provided at every annual budget meeting. Where is the library's transparency? The 2025 township budget provided $298,100 to the library but that decision was made based on 2023 year end statements when the library reported a net gain of $12,197, not on income statements disclosing a $132,949 gain through September at the time the budget meetings were held:

October 2024 Minutes
Treasurer’s Report: Christy Resh shared the treasurer’s report.
September 2024 YTD revenue was $501.9K. Revenue for the month of September 2024 was
$5,091.08.
September 2024 YTD expenses were $368,950.63. Expenses for the month of September 2024
were $28,771.87.

YTD gain was $132,949 through September at the time the budget meetings were held.
Maybe the new executive director will bring transparency to the organization. I would expect the township supervisors to have very specific financial reporting requirements during the budget meetings this year.

0990 reports for 2021 through 2023 are available upon request from the library ([email protected]).

24/01/2025

Exeter Community Library (non-profit) has a record gain of $181,042.37 through end of November

From the November 2024 minutes available on the library's website in the About Us section:
Treasurer’s Report: Christy Resh presented the treasurer’s report. The report included information on total cash available as well as revenue and expenses for November. November 2024 YTD revenue was $644.2K for 2024. Revenue for the month of November 2024 was $4.5K. November 2024 YTD expenses were $463,157.63 for 2024. Expenses for the month of November 2024 were $30,952.29.

18/11/2024

Ibrahim Bangura has resigned from the library board effective November 11, 2024. He is the third board member to resign in 2024.

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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").