Library foundation loses 350 members

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Following a yearlong public brawl between members of

the Newport Beach public library foundation and trustees, membership in

the fund-raising group has dropped nearly one-third, reports show.

Although the foundation’s name has been cleared since the dispute

unfolded last fall, support dropped from 1,200 members to 850, according

to a July 5 foundation report obtained by the Daily Pilot.

While membership attrition is a typical battle faced by many

nonprofits, Tracy Keys, the foundation’s administrative director, said

the recent loss is significant.

“We can assume it has a lot to do with what when on,” Keys said.

What happened is that last October the trustees sent a strongly worded

letter to the foundation accusing the group of financial mismanagement

and threatening to dissolve the crucial relationship. While the

foundation raises money, the trustees decide how it’s spent. Although an

independent audit found nothing amiss, it took some time before the two

groups formally made up earlier this year by signing a memorandum of

cooperation.

Despite the daunting task of recovering from the blow, Larry Spitz,

the foundation’s new president says he’s up to the task. It’s unclear how

much the financial loss will be, Spitz said, because the figures aren’t

out yet.

“It’s going to show a fairly substantial loss in revenue, although we

did give the library $125,000 in March,” he said. “Sure we lost the

members -- in my opinion because people are confused.”

The foundation’s main goal now will be to end any confusion and let

the community know that the library is a worthy cause for donation.

“We’re going to begin a direct-mail campaign and resell the foundation

to those people interested in keeping the library as great as it is,” he

said. “This library has been selected for all sorts of honors for a

library of its size.”

In addition to the mail campaign, board members are currently

brainstorming to come up with other ideas of how to renew the community’s

trust and increase membership.

The foundation will also refocus its efforts to raise a $2.5-million

endowment fund to weather tough financial times. While the dispute was

still brewing, the foundation put these efforts on hold.

“It isn’t as though we’re destitute,” Spitz said. “There’s about $1.5

million in the endowment fund.”