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RE: Pre-vote discussion: FY23 Budgets for ACRL & Choice

	From:	Yasmeen Shorish

	To:	ACRL Public Community Board of Directors

	Posted:	Nov 29, 2022 02:25 PM

	Message:	I have a few clarifying questions and observations to this thorough and informative document: RE: Net Asset Balance, this sentence continues to scramble my brain: "These funds represent budget surpluses that have accumulated over the years from careful stewardship by the Board and Budget Committee– they are tracked but do not represent actual cash on hand." It's my understanding, historically and from reading the document, that these have been actual dollars that could be spent. Case in point, had there been monetary penalties from the 2021 conference, the NAB would have been drawn from to pay those penalties...using actual money, not ledger fictions. Therefore, is this sentence actually indicating that ACRL can no longer treat the NAB as actual cash because ACRL does not have access to it? (something alluded to later in the document on page 4 "Because we no longer have access to the Net Asset Balances..." and restated on page 5 "In FY23, ACRL was advised by ALA that we do not have access to the Net Asset Balance.") I think membership would appreciate a more straight line in connecting the dots from the changes requested by the ALA Board with respect to the budget and ACRL's lack of access to the NAB. I am unsure why the opacity around this topic exists. Page 5 also notes the reductions in FY23 expenses, but does not indicate what the association is losing from those reductions. For example, the lack of SPOS is detrimental to Board efficiency and sense of community, the lack of adequate staffing surely has material impact on how members are supported, the reduction in stable funding for scholarships shifts the responsibility to member generosity in a time of high costs of living...and so on. We should be as transparent as possible with membership on what these reductions mean to the operations and, dare I say, joy (or potential for joy) associated with the work of ACRL. As always, much appreciation for the tremendous labor of our B&F colleagues and ACRL and Choice staff. ------------------------------ Yasmeen Shorish Director of Scholarly Communications Strategies James Madison University She/Her/Hers ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: Nov 22, 2022 03:58 PM From: Allison Payne Subject: Pre-vote discussion: FY23 Budgets for ACRL & Choice Dear ACRL Board, Earlier in November, the ACRL Budget and Finance Committee held an asynchronous discussion and virtual vote to approve the recommendation to the ACRL Board of Directors the FY23 budget with: ACRL Revenues $4,348,923 ACRL Expenses $4,260,230 ACRL NET $88,693 Choice Revenues $2,251,395 Choice Expenses $2,284,762 Choice NET ($33,367) As the ACRL Budget & Finance Committee has approved the recommendation, the Board is invited to review the attached packet regarding the FY23 Budgets for ACRL & Choice and have a discussion during the period of 11/22/2022–12/4/2022. Board members should post comments and questions regarding the FY23 Budgets for ACRL & Choice using threaded discussion in ALA Connect. Following the discussion period, the Board will vote asynchronously through a virtual vote on the FY23 Budgets for ACRL & Choice during 12/05/2022 – 12/11/2022. The Board will confirm its virtual vote at the ACRL Board I Virtual Meeting on February 3, 2023. Best, Allison Allison Payne, MLIS (she/her/hers) \|ACRL Program Manager for Strategic Initiatives Association of College and Research Libraries \| 225 N Michigan Ave., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60601 \| T: 312-280-2519 \| apayne@ala.org Registration for ACRL 2023 is now open! Join us in Pittsburgh or virtually to forge the future of the profession.