North Country Library System

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
150617698
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Watertown, NY, USA
Phone
3157825540
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,151,089
Expenses
$3,029,659
Assets
$4,791,854
Liabilities
$840,360

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROLYN MOSIER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • CAROLYN MOSIER (PRESIDENT)
  • GINGER TEBO (VICE PRESIDE)
  • EMILY BLAUVELT (SECRETARY)

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

The north country library system is governed by the education law and other laws of nys and provides library services to the general public through its member libraries located in jefferson county, lewis county, st. Lawrence county, and parts of oswego county in nys.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide deliveries, technology, database maintenance, consulting and training services for public libraries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 54.7%; rating input score 55; 21st 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 3.9%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.9% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 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.

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.