By Madelyn Braho · Staff Writer
Grove City Community Library patrons received an email answering questions about an alleged embezzlement on Oct. 18.
However, it was not further information about the potential theft by former Director Amy Gallagher, but a new situation entirely. According to WFMJ and the Grove City Police Department, 45-year-old Meghann Rigney, former president of the disbanded Friends of the Library (FOL), allegedly committed several felonies in fraudulently withdrawing almost $10,000 from the FOL bank account.
FOL was an independent fundraising group, “similar to booster clubs for sports,” according to an email sent to library patrons. It held events to raise money for the library apart from its direct fundraising efforts, such as the annual book sale. FOL also had an independent bank account from the library.
“They were using our tax number, which is where things got a little dicey,” Carla Ligo, president of the Grove City Community Library Board of Trustees, said.
Earlier this year, the board was notified that the FOL bank account was not properly set up. In February, the library’s board of directors voted to consolidate the FOL bank account with the library’s account because it “is fully monitored and has lots of control over it,” the library’s interim director, Scott Amon, said.
The organization also would “function as a committee,”
according to the February meeting’s resolution. Due to scheduling complications, the account was not shut down until July.
When the account was closed, it was discovered that none of the expected nearly $10,000 was in the account. Later investigation determined that a series of withdrawals had occurred between March and July, emptying the account entirely. FOL then dissolved, and on Oct. 9, its former president was charged.
“The first thing we have to do is make sure the patrons know the Friends of the Library was its own thing,” Ligo said.
Until February, FOL was a mostly self-governing organization responsible for its own finances. In reorganizing fundraising and finances to secure the library from future theft, they accidentally opened themselves to this recent embezzlement.
The library changed multiple aspects of how it handles money, and the board elected new members, with only two holdovers from the previous board. The idea was to bring a fresh perspective and energy to the board.
“It doesn’t change our (financial) outlook dramatically,” Amon said. “Since the money was in its own separate bank account, we never factored it into our financial plans. … Of course, we didn’t expect the money to not be there at all.”
The library will have to make up for what FOL would have raised, but that was not the bulk of the library’s funds previously. State money, which comes from the federal Department of Education, only contributed $38,000 this year, which, according to Ligo, does not cover even one employee’s salary.
Now, the goal is to reestablish trust in the community.
“We do know there’s a lot of concern about donating to the library,” Amon said.
The end-of-year donor letter will include answers to potential questions. Part of this will be to “make sure we have more programs and services we provide,” Ligo said. “The library is not just a place where you can get books — you can get computer help, a place for your kids to have a safe, free space to hang out.”
The library wants to be a community space, and assuring its continued presence will depend on how well it can deliver on that.
“We have plans for the future,” Ligo said. “The thing is that we need to have a future, and for that, we need the community.”
