Valley Cottage Library

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
136128677
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Valley Cottage, NY, USA
Phone
8452687700
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Libraries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,704,806
Expenses
$2,713,664
Assets
$9,356,432
Liabilities
$2,527,878

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANK DWYER (President)
  • MARJORIE MCLOUGHLIN (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTY BLANCHETTE (Executive Dir.): $157,500 total reported compensation
  • ASHLEY MARAFFINO (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR): $105,903 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Valley Cottage Library (the Library) a not-for-profit corporation chartered by the New York State Education Department in 1959. It is organized to serve the educational and cultural needs of the community of the Nyack School District. It is concerned with providing materials for literacy, education, and cultural purposes and serves as a community and neighborhood meeting place. The Library is chartered to serve the residents of Valley Cottage (population. 9,038 as of the 2020 US Census) and it also provides equal services to all Nyack Residents. For the year ended December 31, 2025, the Nyack School District provided approximately 96% of the Librarys funding primarily through tax assessments. Operating under a seven-member Board of Trustees, the Library participates in community-driven initiatives and enhancement efforts through developing partnerships within our service area for the benefit of all residents within our chartered area

What it reported doing in 2025

Primary Library Service RolesProviding Current Topics and Titles making materials available in a wide range of current formats (including print, electronic media and audio visual) that will appeal to individual needs for cultural and social trends and the desire for recreational experiences. The Library also serves the needs of our community through a variety of non-traditional materials lending such as cake pans, lawn games and board games. Providing General Information meeting the needs of its customers for information and answers to questions on a broad array of topics related to work, school and personal life, including consumer information.Serving as a resource center for Lifelong Learning The Library provides opportunities for personal growth and development which includes various programs for youth and adults. Library staff engage in digital literacy training both formally and informally for all. Children ProgramsThe library provides programs for children from birth through fifth grade. Programs include: story times & literacy-based programs for babies, toddlers, kindergartners and elementary school children; book clubs, STEAM programs, early literacy programs, movies and performers for all ages.Teen ProgramsBook discussion, gaming programs, college preparation courses, and volunteer opportunities for teens. Adult programsThe library sponsors informative and entertaining talks, demonstrations, audio-visual presentations, workshops, crafts, concerts and other special event. Onsite programs such as the Cookbook Club and offsite programs such as Book and Pub allow staff to bring our community of users together over a shared experience of books and food.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Expenses are high relative to revenue and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 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: -0.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.45; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.9% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $158K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 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.
  • 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: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.