The Library Foundation of Los Angeles

“The organization reviewed and updated their bylaws. The updates include adding separate committees, changing titles of directors, and adding the president and chief financial officer as signing officers.”

“The form 990 is prepared by an external accounting firm under the guidance from the chief financial and operating officer (cfoo). It was reviewed for accuracy and completeness by the cfoo and board members, delegate. A complete copy of the form 990 is provided to all the board members of the governing body prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“The conflict of interest policy applies to: 1) voting members of the board of directors, 2) officers as defined in the foundation's bylaws; or 3) an employee of the foundation with a significant decision-making role in the affairs or the operations of the foundation, on an annual basis. The directors, officers or employees are required to disclose any relationships that may lead to conflicts of interest and must sign and return the policy every year.”

“An ad hoc committee of the board's executive committee determines the compensation for the president and ceo. The committee engages a compensation consultant who surveys many other comparable organizations as well as consults independent firms to determine a fair compensation. The amounts determined are then taken to the executive committee for approval.”

“The financial statements as well as the form 990 and the irs determination letter are available via the organization's website, www.lfla.org, under the "about" section, under "financials" section of the website and click on "audited financials and "irs form 990 and "irs determination letter". Those documents, as well as other governing documents are available upon request at the main office of the organization.”

“Cost of goods sold includes all costs of operating the library store.”

“Library store: the foundation has operated a gift shop located in the historic central library (the store) since 1993; store sales support the foundation. The store was remodeled in 2016, after 18 years, to refresh its appearance and bring it into full ada compliance. Historically, the store is patronized by downtown businesspeople, tourists, and regular library visitors and staff. Foot traffic in the store continues to be impacted by reduced office occupancy locally in the post-covid climate. In response, the store works actively to mitigate the decline in foot traffic by building its customer marketing list, growing its online presence, sending weekly emails, and maintaining a regular presence on social media. A sign has been erected in the lobby of the los angeles central library to draw attention to the store; additional signage to be positioned throughout the library is planned for early 2024. The store has engaged the services of a firm to evaluate its ecommerce platforms and provide recommendations for optimizing the user experience; a number of the recommendations have already been implemented, with the ultimate goal of generating increased online revenues. The store works with the library's pr department to heighten visibility among lapl constituents via the lapl website and social media platforms. The store works with the library to promote shopping to all of the city of l.a.'s employees twice yearly. In addition to in store and online sales, the store procures and sells books for the foundation and lapl programming. The store has expanded the production of branded custom merchandise and continues to offer merchandise related to lapl, los angeles, and reading and writing.”

“The foundation provides critical support to the los angeles public library resulting in free programs, resources, and services available to the millions of adults, children, and youth in los angeles. Through fundraising, advocacy, and innovative programs, the library foundation strengthens the los angeles public library and promotes greater awareness of its valuable resources.”

“As part of its recurring strategic planning process, the foundation reviews its programs and the allocation of expenses to those programs. The costs of providing various programs and other activities of the foundation have been summarized on a functional basis in the statement of activities. Therefore, certain costs have been allocated among the programs and supporting services benefited based on the judgment of management. The majority of expenses can generally be directly identified with the program or supporting service to which they relate and are charged accordingly.”

“Other management fees: program service expenses 2,323,076. Management and general expenses 128,291. Fundraising expenses 92,140. Total expenses 2,543,507.”