Live Oak Public Libraries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
586000478
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Savannah, GA, USA
Phone
9126523600
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,589,640
Expenses
$18,075,603
Assets
$36,740,689
Liabilities
$15,364,757

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tanya Lola Dewitt (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tanya Lola Dewitt (Executive Director): $178,766 total reported compensation
  • Michael Fullerton (Director of IT): $149,206 total reported compensation
  • Ted Goudeau (Director of Facilities): $148,254 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The live oak public libraries consists of 16 branches. Yearly, the library checks out over 1.3 million items, answers 400,000 questions, registers over 500,000 computer sessions and presents library programs to over 40,000 children in chatham, effingham, and liberty counties.

What it reported doing in 2024

The library has two main functions of branch services and circulation management: BRANCH SERVICES includes three areas: (1) CIRCULATION AND REFERENCE PROGRAMS: THIS IS THE LIBRARY SYSTEM'S MAIN PROGRAM SERVICE ACTIVITIES. SERVICE IS OFFERED THROUGH THESE DEPARTMENTS SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. (2) PHOTOCOPIES CAN BE MADE BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR A SMALL FEE PER PAGE THROUGH THE USE OF COPY CARDS. (3) THE GEORGIA ON-LINE DATABASE IS AN INFORMATIONAL SHARING PROGRAM. Circulation Management Services maintains a bibliographic database and library user database, as well as acquires new materials for the collection and manages interlibrary lending.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2,388.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.8%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.03; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.6% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $179K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.