I apologise to all who couldn't read my attachment on this subject in a
recent post. It isn't long, so here it is.
WORCESTERSHIRE
County Council
Cultural Services County Hall Spetchley Road Worcester WR5
2NP
Web Address: http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk
GUIDELINES FOR SETTING UP
A FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY GROUP
These are some points that should be considered when setting up a
Friends of the Library group. They are intended as guidelines which can
be applied to
any group rather than a fixed model.
Legal and Administrative Matters
Charitable Status
This is time-consuming and unnecessary in most cases. Its main use
would be for cases
when large donations from other charities are expected.
Health and Safety
Friends should need to be made aware of Health and Safety issues
and operate within the regulations whilst on library premises.
Similarly they need to
be aware of fire and emergency procedures.
Insurance
Friends working on library premises for events or as volunteers
should be registered on staff files as Volunteer Staff. This ensures
that they are covered by
Employers Liability and Public Liability Insurance.
Security
Allowing access to the library to Friends has implications for
the security of the building. Most Friends and volunteer staff will not
need security codes,
but if they know the codes to libraries they need to be aware of
security issues.
Auditing
Responsibility for financial matters should be established with the
Friends group. We need
to ensure that the library staff or the County Council is not liable for
any losses incurred.
Money may be kept on library premises, but must be separately accounted
and audited. It
is not covered by the County Council s insurance policy.
Politics of the group
Independence
The group needs to establish a measure of independence from the
library. This provides
the group with freedom of voice and allows them where necessary to go
against
Worcestershire County Council policy. A group very closely linked with
a library would have
to comply with council policy on issues.
This means that while the library can have ex-officio committee members
or other input into
the group s decisions, they have no control.
Staff membership
Library staff who become members of a Friends group have to bear in mind
their contractual obligations to Worcestershire
County Council.
Use of staff and resources
It is important to define the level of support the library can
practically give to Friends groups.
This could be financial support, access to stationery and photocopying,
administrative
support, postage and staff time. It needs to be balanced by benefits
received by Cultural Services.
Use of funds raised by groups
Friends groups themselves decide how to spend the money they raise, but
we can suggest
how it might benefit the particular library.
Money may be best used to finance specific projects such as equipment
and events, rather
than stock which would be moved around the County. This would add value
to the library
service, rather than subsidise standard services.
There are particular implications for groups which have charitable
status, on how they can
spend their money.
Organisation and setting up of group
It is important to have a committee to take responsibility for running
and administering the
group. There is a need for key people to steer and develop the group.
People joining Friends groups will expect to receive something in
return, especially if a
subscription or joining fee is charged. Mailing with details of events,
a newsletter or a
discount on charges for activities are possibilities to consider.
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