Library System of Lancaster County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232495408
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lancaster, PA, USA
Phone
7172070500
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,410,069
Expenses
$4,975,853
Assets
$3,277,754
Liabilities
$527,971

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW EBERTS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KARLA TROUT (EXECUTIVE DI): $128,913 total reported compensation
  • MARK SANDBLADE (IT MANAGER): $106,242 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provide resources, services, and expertise in a collaborative manner to and with the member libraries in order to effectively serve our communities

What it reported doing in 2024

To provide the following network of support services to 14 member public libraries on the lancaster county system, which serves over 545,000 residents. The network of support services include collection services, it equipment support, providing youth and business special programs, promoting services and providing administrative support. There are approximately 218,500 county residents with library cards with over 3,995,000 items being checked out each year. The online catalog which the library system maintains includes over 939,900 library holdings that are shared throughoutthe county. The lancaster county library system databases are accesseed remotely from homes, businesses, schools or work. Direct services are provided via an effective network of technology, facilities and resources to meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of all of the residents of the county. The library system ensures that a network of support services is provided to member libraries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 57% for direct work, and 43% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $223.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 14 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.