{"id":1104,"date":"2025-10-31T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/10\/31\/2025-10-31-second-embezzlement-plagues-town-library\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:09:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:09:31","slug":"2025-10-31-second-embezzlement-plagues-town-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/10\/31\/2025-10-31-second-embezzlement-plagues-town-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Second embezzlement plagues town\u00a0library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Madelyn Braho<\/a> · Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grove City Community Library patrons received an email answering questions about an alleged embezzlement on Oct. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOL was an independent fundraising group, \u201csimilar to booster clubs for sports,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were using our tax number, which is where things got a little dicey,\u201d Carla Ligo, president of the Grove City Community Library Board of Trustees, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the board was notified that the FOL bank account was not properly set up. In February, the library\u2019s board of directors voted to consolidate the FOL bank account with the library\u2019s account because it \u201cis fully monitored and has lots of control over it,\u201d the library\u2019s interim director, Scott Amon, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization also would \u201cfunction as a committee,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

according to the February meeting\u2019s resolution. Due to scheduling complications, the account was not shut down until July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first thing we have to do is make sure the patrons know the Friends of the Library was its own thing,\u201d Ligo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t change our (financial) outlook dramatically,\u201d Amon said. \u201cSince the money was in its own separate bank account, we never factored it into our financial plans. … Of course, we didn\u2019t expect the money to not be there at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The library will have to make up for what FOL would have raised, but that was not the bulk of the library\u2019s 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\u2019s salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the goal is to reestablish trust in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do know there\u2019s a lot of concern about donating to the library,\u201d Amon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end-of-year donor letter will include answers to potential questions. Part of this will be to \u201cmake sure we have more programs and services we provide,\u201d Ligo said. \u201cThe library is not just a place where you can get books \u2014 you can get computer help, a place for your kids to have a safe, free space to hang out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The library wants to be a community space, and assuring its continued presence will depend on how well it can deliver on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have plans for the future,\u201d Ligo said. \u201cThe thing is that we need to have a future, and for that, we need the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[14,66,38],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borough","tag-front-page","tag-madelyn-braho","tag-issue-2025-10-31"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"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,","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1901,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions\/1901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}