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Board of Trustees Policy Manual

The purpose of this manual is to provide to the members of the Fairfax County Library (FCPL) Board of Trustees, the Library Administration and staff, all of the basic statutes, regulations and policies pertinent to the overall direction of FCPL

Policy Regarding Gifts to and Alliances with the Library System

  1. Gifts to the Library
    1. Authorization
      1. Virginia Code 42.1-35 states in part: ... the Board shall have the right to accept donations and bequests of money, personal property, or real estate for the establishment and maintenance of such free public Library systems or endowments for same.
      2. The Board of County Supervisors, at its meeting December 21, 1955, ... agreed that should anyone desire to donate land for Library purposes and specifies that it should be titled in the name of the Library Board and not the County, that the Library Board should first come back to the Board of County Supervisors and get its permission on whether the land so offered as a gift should be accepted and that the same procedure should also be followed whether the land is donated or to be purchased.
      3. Gifts to the Fairfax County Public Library may be tax-deductible.  
      4. In February 1995, the Fairfax County Public Library Foundation, Inc. was established.
        1. The Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization established as 501(c)(3) for the sole benefit of the Library.
        2. Gifts to the Foundation are tax-deductible.
        3. The Fairfax Library Foundation and the Fairfax County Public Library should not pass funds through each other; they should maintain separate financial holdings.
    2. Library Director's Authority
      1. The Library Director shall accept or reject gifts within the scope and limitations established by the Library Board; The Library Director complies with county policy and procedure.
      2. All gifts of books are to be handled at the discretion of the Library Director. Appropriate notations may be placed on them at the discretion of the Director.
      3. The Library Board has sole authority to accept or reject any gift. When accepting gifts from any source, the Library Director acts as the agent of the Library Board.
    3. Appraisals
      1. The Library will not assign any value.
      2. For most donations, the fair market value is the donor's estimate of the donated item's worth.
      3. To establish extraordinary value, the cost of the appraisal should be borne by the donor.
    4. Expenditures
      1. System Gift Funds are those funds collected by the Library on behalf of Friends Groups from their ongoing book sales proceeds.   These funds are considered unrestricted.
      2. Unrestricted Library Gift Funds shall be spent for any purchases designed to enhance operations of the Fairfax County libraries.
    5. Compliance
      1. FCPL shall follows all procedures/policies outlined in county policy and procedure.
  2. Alliances
    1. The Library will pursue agreements with federal/state/local agencies, industry, academia, and other organizations, to build cooperative alliances which are beneficial to the Library.
    2. Alliances must relate to the Library's mission and be structured to enhance a library program, service or product.
    3. The Library Director shall report to the Board on a regular basis about system alliances.

6/14/2017

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