LibraryLinkNJ January 11, 2019 Town Hall Meeting

LibraryLinkNJ is holding a series of virtual Town Hall meetings to inform the membership about our budget crisis, its impact on services, and the future sustainability of the Cooperative.

These meetings are open to all interested staff in LibraryLinkNJ member libraries, as well as the general public.

LibraryLinkNJ’s fiscal year began on July 1, 2018. We are operating under the parameters of an FY19 (July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019) budget approved by the LibraryLinkNJ membership at our Spring Membership Meeting on June 13.

LibraryLinkNJ’s existence is threatened by a budget crisis. If we can’t close the current budget gap of $370,000, the Executive Board will ask the membership to approve the dissolution of the Cooperative by June 30, 2019.

For more detailed information, go to our support page.

The Town Hall meetings apprise you of developments in our advocacy efforts.

Registration is required, as virtual seats are limited. A group of colleagues from one or more libraries can attend jointly using a single connection. We will send an access email to all registrants the day before the virtual meeting.

The Town Hall meeting will be recorded and the recording will be available on this page.

Registration will close when full or at 5 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2019, whichever occurs first.

Based on your questions during our previous Virtual Town Halls, we have prepared an FAQ for easy reference. The FAQ covers questions about Funding and Services, Advocacy, and Delivery. We will update it regularly as new questions arise, and as we have more information to share.

Background 
LibraryLinkNJ is in a precarious financial situation, and we are now at a crisis point. If we cannot secure sustainable funding, the Executive Board will propose that LibraryLinkNJ dissolve and cease operations by the end of FY19.

• Since FY11, the Cooperative has been flat-funded at $1,840,000 and has supplemented the State Contract with monies from our cash reserves.
• The cash reserves were funds transferred by the State Librarian to LibraryLinkNJ in 2010 from the three disbanding cooperatives.
• State Contract monies are administered to us by the New Jersey State Library and come from the New Jersey State Budget for the New Jersey Library Network.
• The New Jersey State Library has tried, without success, in other budget years to secure an increase in network funds.
• Our projected delivery costs for FY19 have increased by 45% from $940,000 to $1,360,000.
• The FY19 (July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019) budget draws on all remaining LibraryLinkNJ reserve funds.
• LibraryLinkNJ is unsustainable as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization without receiving ongoing additional funding. The budget gap in FY19 is $370,000.
• Since March 2018, Executive Director Kathy Schalk-Greene, former Executive Board President Kimberly Paone and current Executive Board President Ranjna Das have met regularly with State Librarian Mary Chute, State Library Chief Financial Officer Sheri Shafer, and Associate State Librarian Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer, as well as presenting LibraryLinkNJ’s budget situation to NJLA’s Public Policy Committee and Executive Board.
• The FY19 budget includes an additional $93,060 in one-time supplemental funding from the New Jersey State Library

Absent sufficient funds to continue services through the end of FY19 and a plan for sustainable funding in the long term, the Executive Board will propose to the Membership by early 2019 that we dissolve LibraryLinkNJ as a nonprofit and cease all operations by the end of June 2019.