The New Canaan Library Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Learning programsadultsas the community's platform for lifelong learning, the library provides programs to support the creativity and curiosity of our youth and adult populations. We strive to support and promote our community's pursuit of lifelong learning through thoughtful and varied programs curated by our professional team, designed to ensure that many different styles of learning are available including lectures, workshops, classes, hands-on, discussion groups and more.new canaan library offered 727 total programs and classes to our adult community in fy 2025. 20,031 individuals attended these programs. Of particular note:- we welcomed high profile speakers such as ambassador john sullivan, sebastian smee, carl safina, emily rubinfeld, ed burns, brooke shields, naomi watts, and more to capacity audiences of 300 each- we fostered partnerships with many town nonprofit organizations, cosponsoring many community programs with a variety of local organizations- we have brought an array of introductory, hands-on arts classes for adults, which have proven immensely popular and highly sought-after- we activated programming on the library green, including dance performances with nead and our second annual groove on the green music celebration that brought 900 people- we implemented new instructional courses to increase technological literacy, covering topics such as microsoft office, google suite, and canva- we instituted several language instruction and conversational classes in french, spanish, and esl- we ran six librarian-led book groups per month as well as supported over 20 private book groups in the communitychildrenour learning programs for children 0-12 are professionally developed and delivered as part of a curriculum of literacy development that includes developmentally appropriate, scaffolded learning experiences for children from 6 months - five years and then further age appropriate literacy development for older children with book groups and a summer reading program which is both wildly popular among our families and ensures that students in our local schools do not lose ground on their reading comprehension during the summer months. In addition to literacy development programing, we also offer a breadth of other learning and cultural programs on topics including math, science, creative writing, steam programming, as well as strong arts programming with music and visual arts, and much more.during fy 25 our children's team delivered 893 learning programs for children with 34,618 attendees. Highlights of our programming for families include: - 1,117 children and teens participated in our summer reading program in the summer of 2024- we welcomed beloved children's authors including jan brett, dan gutman, alan katz, lauren tarshis, and more to full and enthusiastic crowds.- we conducted programs in coordination with our multicultural parents committee to educate and inform community members about various cultural celebrations and traditions including diwali, hanukkah, ramadan, lunar new year, and more - we continued to support services and programs for families of children with disabilities, including a monthly parenting meet-up and a regular rotation of adaptive programs designed specifically for the needs of this demographic- our professional librarians conducted 10 weekly storytimes for ages birth - five, serving well over 500 children and parents per week for storytimes alone. Teensour programming for teens is primarily conducted by our teen services librarian and our technology education coordinator, who devise programs that are responsive to and informed by the particular needs of the teen demographic. During fy 25 our team delivered 186 learning programs for teens with 1787 attendees. Highlights of our programming for teens include: - popular and devoted recurring programs for teens include d&d/role-playing sessions, painting and visual arts instruction, cooking and baking classes, knitting, sewing and crochet, a

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
• Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 74
• Fundraising efficiency: $13.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: -2.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.89; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings