Boston Library Consortium Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042605198
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Franklin, MA, USA
Phone
6176690550
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,784,573
Expenses
$1,589,351
Assets
$2,454,716
Liabilities
$1,383,706

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK NEWTON (PRESIDENT - ELECT)
  • BRYN GEFFERT (PRESIDENT)
  • CHARLES BARLOW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHARLES BARLOW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $220,710 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Boston library consortium, inc. (the organization or "blc") was incorporated in 1977 as amassachusetts not-for-profit corporation. Blc is a library consortium serving public and privateuniversities, liberal arts colleges, state libraries, special research libraries, and public librariesprimarily in the northeastern united states. As of may 31, 2025, blc had twenty-five member institutions inmassachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as one affiliateinstitution in California. Each member, excluding the affiliate institution, is represented on the board of directors by the chief librarian ofits principal library. Blc empowers a collation of libraries to share knowledge, infrastructure, andresources at scale.

What it reported doing in 2024

Professional developement - blc offers regular webinars and workshops designed to facilitate sharing expertise, highlighting the work of librarians and library staff across the blc member institutions. Blc coordinates the activities of more than 30 membership communities across a wide range of library practice areas. Blc communities include representation from across the blc membership and range from groups focused primarily on networking and sharing experiences with colleagues to those that are involved in a specific initiative or project. Blc also manages a signature leadership development program, blc leads. Blc leads builds shared knowledge through collaborative inquiry around a series of foundational leadership competencies and questions explored in weekly virtual activities and four in-person experiences over the course of six months. In 2024, blc received a laura bush 21st century librarian program grant award for the bipoc leadership academy for support staff (blass) from the institute of museum and library services (imls). Blass is a professional development retreat empowering library professionals through leadership training, community-building, and wellness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Some filed totals do not add up and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.9%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.3% of revenue deployed · 76.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $221K · 26 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $150K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.