Bethlehem Area Public Library

What it reported doing in 2024

During 2024, the bethlehem area public library successfully supplied the citizens of the city of bethlehem, bethlehem township, borough of fountain hill, and hanover township with library materials including books, periodicals, electronic resources, dvds, books on tape, books on cd, audio cds, and playaways (mp3 players loaded with spoken books) for informational, cultural, recreational, and educational purposes.the administration, circulation, and technical services departments are involved in many library activities. Responsibilities include all the procedures involved in the circulation and housing of library materials; maintenance of patron records; purchasing of supplies, equipment and furniture; library-wide publicity and promotion; fundraising; book sales and other special events; coordination of volunteers; bookmobile services; building renovations; repair and maintenance of library buildings and vehicles; deliveries to the branch and district libraries; and various other general administrative duties. The district consultant is designated by commonwealth libraries as being the liaison for the bethlehem library district with its three other designated libraries - the memorial library of nazareth, the northamption area public library, and the hellertown public library. The district consultant offers consulting services and workshops for all four libraries in the district.the finance department is responsible for the maintenance of all financial accounts and bank account records; producing monthly operating funds reports and the annual budget; employee attendance records; vacation schedules; personnel records and payroll; management of the library's fringe benefits program; maintaining the lehigh valley library system financial records; administrating state grants; and maintaining the database of library contributors.the adult services department is made up of the information department and the interlibrary loan department. Together, they are responsible for providing the best possible reference service to the library's users. Reference questions are answered in person, on the phone, by mail, online, and by e-mail.in addition, the information services department also handles maintenance of the periodicals collection and the local history room; interlibrary loan services not only for library patrons, but also for other district libraries; and a new offering of educational and entertaining adult programming. The department also cooperates with the linderman library of lehigh university on the bethlehem digital history project, which was previously managed by moravian college. The site features images and transcripts of primary source material relating to bethlehem's first 100 years.the main responsibilities of the technical services department are to continually maintain the library's adult book collection, to keep it current and comprehensive as outlined in the "materials selection policy, and to order, receive, classify, and prepare all library materials (adult, children's and audio-visual) accurately and promptly. This department orders all adult materials (print and non-print) and is responsible for keeping the collections balanced and current. Reviews need to be read, and subject areas that need updating are identified. Outdated books are discarded and replaced with updated editions, if applicable. All children's and young adult materials are also received, catalogued, and processed in this department.the youth services department is responsible for ordering and maintaining materials for children and young adults, as well as a parenting collection. They provide extensive children's programming including story times for all ages, educational and entertaining programs of a huge variety, family place programming (a national initiative), summer reading programs, and an active teen advisory board. In addition, they work closely with area schools, daycares, and headstart programs and do outreach programming outside of the l

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
• Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $68.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Fail
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings