By Alex Robinson
The Queens Library board of trustees has rejected a call from City Comptroller Scott Stringer to open its books.
The board voted down a resolution by one trustee Thursday night to hand over certain financial records Stringer’s office has requested.
Board members also passed a resolution to just provide the records they were required to in a 1997 settlement with then-city Comptroller Alan Hevesi in which the comptroller’s office agreed to look at only the library’s records for its City Fund accounts and its fines and fees accounts.
Stringer turned to the courts in April to try to force the nonprofit to submit all of its financial records that involve public money.
“What happened last night at the Queens Borough Public Library was a disgrace,” Stringer said Friday in a statement. “It is a shame that the members of the Queens Library board who voted against their own colleagues’ resolution have continued to embrace library management’s anti-transparency policies. No public entity is above the law. Parliamentary maneuvers may buy them some time, but rest assured that I am determined to make sure that taxpayers know how their money is being spent at this library system.”
Stringer announced his audit in January after the Queens Library came under fire for allegations of fiscal mismanagement along with the revelation the library’s president, Thomas Galante, made a $392,000 salary. Since then a list of Queens elected officials have called on Galante to step down, including Borough President Melinda Katz.
“Once again the Queens Borough Public Library board has raised questions about the execution of their fiduciary responsibility,” Katz said. “By failing to pass this resolution, this board has put itself firmly on the wrong side of any resident of Queens who wishes to see their library run properly. This institution continues to move further and further away from accountability at the exact moment it should be embracing transparency.”
More than 80 percent of the library’s funding comes from the city’s public purse. The rest comes from state, federal and private funding.
Queens Library spokeswoman Joanne King said the records the nonprofit has refused to hand over do not involve city funding.
“Queens Library believes in accountability and transparency,” she said in a statement. “The library has released all requested financial documentation in accordance with the court-ordered agreement of 1997. The audit rules have been the standard for several previous administrations. It appropriately includes audit authority over every dime provided by the city, fines and fees collected and book sale funds. As an additional layer of transparency, the library voluntarily provided access to the Worker’s Compensation Fund as requested.”
Galante sent a letter to the city’s Independent Budget Office Friday afternoon, requesting that it conduct an independent review of Queens Library’s capital program.
“As you know, Queens Library has been the subject of negative media reports about its capital projects,” he said in a message to the board and staff. “The media have printed a great deal of incorrect and/or incomplete information. It is important that the full, correct facts be known.”
The comptroller’s office declined to comment on Galante’s letter to the IBO.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
