GAMERT (Gaming) Round Table

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

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Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

------------------------------
Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

------------------------------
Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

------------------------------
Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 7/13/2024 10:23:00 AM
From: LeeAnn McNabb
Subject: RE: Financial Town Hall

Original Message:
Sent: 7/12/2024 2:00:00 PM
From: Thomas Vose
Subject: Financial Town Hall

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

------------------------------
Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------

At the RTCA meeting at ALA Annual 2023 we specifically discussed "nest eggs" that certain round tables had built up (largely as a result of not spending during the pandemic lockdown period), including GameRT, to make sure that we would be able to use those funds and no one said "hey, that's not actually money that you have access to, so don't plan on that" -- so yes, the information shared at the RTCA meeting at Annual this year and during the Financial Town Hall yesterday was "hard to take in" (which is putting it lightly). We've been making plans based on believing that we have a fund balance of $20,000+. The way ALA has handled this is pretty underhanded.

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Rebecca Strang (she/they)
Children's Services Librarian
Naperville Public Library

President Emeritus, Games & Gaming Round Table (GameRT)
Co-Chair, GameRT Program Planning Committee
Chair, GameRT Game On! Grant Committee

www.ToPlayIsHuman.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 13, 2024 11:57 AM
From: Karen Schneider
Subject: Financial Town Hall

Original Message:
Sent: 7/13/2024 10:23:00 AM
From: LeeAnn McNabb
Subject: RE: Financial Town Hall

Original Message:
Sent: 7/12/2024 2:00:00 PM
From: Thomas Vose
Subject: Financial Town Hall

Hello, everyone - Several of us just attended the Financial Town Hall ALA held, and I wanted to give a brief summary of the main takeaways.  If I'm off on any of these, someone please correct me:

• The main one - We do not have any savings.  The reports we have been receiving do not represent an actual balance of funds we can access - that money was absorbed into ALA long ago -  it's just a reflection of how well we have done over the years in keeping to budgets.  The $20,000 we thought we had never really existed, according to ALA - "One ALA, one checkbook."
• New "sub-endowments" will be created going forward that will enable us to retain 25% of our net surplus each year - the remaining 75% will be clawed back to ALA's main fund.  There will be no penalty for not having a net surplus at the end of the year.
  • Donations can be earmarked for this endowment so we can retain them. 
  • Fundraisers must be earmarked for these as well, or else the money will just get swept into ALA as a unit.

It's a lot, and people (including me) were pretty pissed off.  Budgeting, and using that budget to the fullest, will be all the more important in the years ahead.

We'll post additional information as it comes to us.

------------------------------
Thomas Vose
Director
Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
------------------------------