JoAnn Kalenak, Senior Blogger, DCCR — Delta County Library District Director LaDonna Gunn has issued a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to each of the Friends of the Library groups including: Paonia, Crawford, Cedaredge and Delta that, once again, promises to turn up the heat to 451 degrees Fahrenheit.
The draft document shared with DCCR by concerned citizens is a short but bittersweet list of demands by Gunn that essentially neuters the Friends, an independent 501(C)3 organization, of its operational autonomy, spending and voice.
Worse yet, Gunn’s proposal is a catch 22 for the Friends that attempts to hold command over the organization’s very existence by calling for dissolution if they don’t perform to the satisfaction of District management.
An MOU can be helpful when it comes to clarifying the responsibilities of participating parties. It is meant to mutually benefit and establish a partnership for collaborative work. This document goes far beyond that definition.
Gunn’s proposal gives little while stepping into every important aspect of the Friends operations by demanding two seats on their Board without reciprocation; tethering their mission to goals, strategies and a “wish list” developed with limited input; demanding public fealty; and taking every dime the group earns.
And, where is the Delta County Library Board of Trustees in all of this? More importantly, what triggered the need for this proposal? Why shatter the bell jar of collegial protection after weathering a past of severe cuts to library hours and budgetary concerns that brought the community to its intellectual knees. In other words, why alienate those most engaged in the health and wellbeing of our county libraries?
Seems to me, this out-of-balance proposal is more power grab than partnership. As the founder of a 501(C)3 myself, I’d have to be sitting in a cuckoo’s nest to sign this MOU.
READ THE DRAFT:
1. The District agrees to include the Friends in the long-term planning process to ensure that the Friends are aware of the goals and direction of the District.
2. The District agrees to share with the Friends the District’s strategic priorities at the beginning of each fiscal year and discuss with the Friends how their resources and support might help forward these priorities.
3. The District agrees to supply the Friends with a “wish list” each year that indicates the anticipated needs for Friends support.
4. The District agrees to provide the Friends with staff support to assist them with meeting coordination and Friends promotional materials.
5. The District agrees to provide public space for Friends membership and promotional materials and a book store.
6. The District agrees to provide the Friends with space in the library, if available, for collecting book donations and hosting book sales.
7. The Friends agree to support publicly the District and its policies.
8. The Friends agree to include the District Director and Library Manager as a non-voting presence at all Friends’ business meetings and to allow room on the agenda for a District and Library report.
9. The Friends agree that any and all monies raised will be spent exclusively for District or Library programs, services, and other defined needs unless otherwise agreed to by both the Friends and the District.
10. The Friends agree that District management has the final say in accepting or declining any and all gifts made to the District.
11. The Friends agree to engage in advocacy efforts on behalf of the District under the guidance of District management and the District’s Board of Trustees.
12. The Friends agree that if they cease to fundraise and promote the District and Library actively, they will disband, allowing for a new Friends group to be established in the future.
13. The Friends agree to support Library landscape, ensuring maintenance of trees, shrubs, grass, and other vegetation, and the removal of weeds and landscape debris. [CR, PA]