California Area Public Library

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
251408644
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
California, PA, USA
Phone
7249382907
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$211,932
Expenses
$54,877
Assets
$272,833
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOY HELSEL (PRESIDENT)
  • CANDACE TRESER (VICE-PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JOY HELSEL (PRESIDENT)
  • LINDA WOHAR (SECRETARY)
  • AMELIA GAJAN-MITCHELL (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

California area library provides service to borrowers of books; periodicals; etc. And computer access to the public for period ending

What it reported doing in 2025

As a free library, cpl grants access to over 100,000 items through the Washington library network. These resources include reference materials, books; periodicals; serials; a/v material and manipulatives to be used at home or in the space at the library. Cpl evaluates the collection in order to provide relevant materials to the community. These resources engage the public in lifelong learning....

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 29.3%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 74.1%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.97; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 29.3% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $55K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.