The Mercantile Library Association of the City of New York Inc

“We began to put into place various policies although some were finalized/adopted in 2021”

“Management reviewed a draft of the form 990 with the audit/finance committee and provided edits to the tax preparer. After this process was perfomred, the form 990 was sent to the full board of directors prior to being filed with the IRS.”

“The organization has a board approved conflicts of interest policy. Each board member must fill out an annual declaration stating they had no conflicts or identifying the nature of their interested party transactions.”

“The Board reviews the compensation of its executive director annually in conjunction with the annual budget review process. When the final budget is approved the compensation is approved concurrently.”

“Documents are available upon request.”

“We keep the events small, with a maximum of 80 students per event, so that all kids have time to ask questions, get their book signed, and have a personal interaction with the writer. KidsWrite students receive a free scholarship to our summer teen writing program. Due to the pandemic and the disrupted school year we moved our KidsRead & KidsWrite program to zoom. KidsRead students were no longer able to visit in person, but they received a virtual visit with the author and were provided copies of the book. KidsWrite classes took place over Zoom. We also partnered with the Decameron Project to sponsor writing contests. The Center gives out numerous awards every year but our cornerstone prizes support the work of early career writers. Our First Novel Prize is given to the finest debut novel of the year, with the author receiving $15,000 (finalists $1,000). Our NYC Emerging Writers Fellowship supports writers in that crucial time before they publish a book. Each of our Emerging Writers Fellows receive a grant of $5,000, an experienced editor to revise and critique their manuscripts, a place to write in our Writers Studio, and meetings with editors, authors, and agents who represent new writers at monthly dinners, which were hosted virtually in 2020. Fellows also participate in two public readings (one hosted on zoom, the other in person), receive a professional headshot for personal publicity use, publication in an anthology distributed to industry professionals, as well as tickets to our First Novel Fete and Benefit & Awards Dinner, complimentary admission to all Center events, and a 25% discount on writing workshops at the Center.We present more than 150 authors and artists annually in public performances that showcase fiction across many art forms, integrating music, dance, theater, film, and the visual arts. In January, February and early March of 2020 they took place in our state-of-the-art, fully accessible, 140-seat auditorium with a large stage and LED film screen. Due to the mandatory shut-down of our space for Covid-19, we successfully pivoted our events to online and had robust programming from late spring through the end of the year.”