Glen Ridge Library Audit Finds Four Issues as Board Approves New Furniture, Whiteboard Spending

The Glen Ridge Public Library's 2024 financial audit, conducted by new auditor Samuel Klein and Company, turned up four non-material issues and resulted in what's called a "qualified opinion," a designation auditors give when they have some reservations about the financial statements. The Finance Committee responded by adopting a formal Corrective Action Plan, while deciding to keep expensing capital purchases immediately rather than switch to standard depreciation accounting practices. The audit itself cost the library $5,000.

On the facilities side, the library's chiller unit was repaired for $5,000 after trustees learned a previous maintenance company had hard-wired it to run continuously instead of properly fixing it; the repair made the unit quieter, and the director reached out to a neighbor to address related noise complaints. That repair comes on top of $3,393.88 in earlier chiller service calls billed in April. Separately, the library has $68,000 left in its LCBA (Library Construction Bond Act) grant and $2,000 in Borough funding, but still needs to finish an acoustic fix for the mezzanine and install digital signage, and must spend $40,000 to unlock the next round of grant reimbursement. As part of that grant work, the Board approved spending $2,650 to replace the Room 3 whiteboard. The Board also approved spending up to $5,000 from the library's building fund — separate from the grant — to reupholster stools and replace computer chairs on the second floor.

The library won a statewide public relations award from the New Jersey Library Association for its 2024 strategic planning survey campaign, with the ceremony set for May 29 in Atlantic City. That strategic planning work also reached the Borough Council and Glen Ridge school representatives, including Board member Betsy Ginsburg and Superintendent Kyle Arlington, with the 2026–2030 plan's goals expected to be finalized in June and the full plan approved in November.

On routine finances, the Board approved splitting its cash management fund into five separate accounts — building, grants, trustee operating, the Chapman/Griffith Fund, and trustee capital — on its auditors' recommendation, and approved closing an old Trustee savings account at Blue Foundry Bank, moving its roughly $500 balance into the trustee operating account. April's bills totaled $99,242, largely for shared costs and services with the Borough. Treasurer David Lefkovits reported year-to-date expenses running about $10,000 under budget through April, with savings in materials and part-time salaries offsetting higher-than-budgeted subscription costs. Consideration of a revised Personnel Manual was pushed back to allow the committee one more review.

Other library news included the start of a historic document preservation project, to be highlighted later with the Glen Ridge Historical Society; 100 registrants for an author event with Jamie Novack; a Friends of the Library shredding day that ended early due to equipment trouble but still raised $650, with another shredding event planned for the fall; and the Friends' announcement of an Eco Fair on May 17 and a Town-wide Yard Sale on September 27.

What to watch

• The Personnel Manual is expected to come back before the Board at the June meeting.
• The library must spend $40,000 of its remaining LCBA grant funds to trigger the next reimbursement, with the mezzanine acoustic project and digital signage still to be completed.
• The Strategic Planning Committee's 2026-2030 goals are expected to be finalized in June, with full plan approval anticipated in November.