Olean Public Library
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 166000661
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Olean, NY, United States
- Phone
- 716-372-0200
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,530,757
- Expenses
- $1,483,059
- Assets
- $4,437,692
- Liabilities
- $1,976,855
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LANNA WATERMAN (PRESIDENT)
- REED MCELFRESH (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHELLE LA VOIE (DIRECTOR): $100,605 total reported compensation
- FRAN STEFFEN (TREASURER): $3,923 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Olean Public Library is to assist all people with their educational, informational and recreational needs. The Olean Public Library actively provides timely, accurate information in a variety of formats for library users. The library offers and promotes reference and information services to help users locate needed information. When information is not available locally, the library aids users in finding it elsewhere. Lifelong Learning Center The Olean Public Library supports the lifelong learning experiences of people of all ages. The library maintains a robust collection of non-fiction materials in a variety of formats in support of independent learning projects. The Library provides programs, services, and staff assistance to enhance lifelong learning skills.
What it reported doing in 2025
The olean public library provides book-lending services as well as other educational and information services to the local community.
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
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: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.1%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 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: 3.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.99; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 83.1% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.