State audit: Gary library records a mess

INDIANAPOLIS | Gary Public Library Director Sherri Ervin says she considers it a "mission of my directorship" to turn around the problems recently identified in a scathing state audit.

The Indiana Board of Accounts said in an August report that the library's financial records were so incomplete and insufficient in 2006 and 2007 that auditors couldn't even figure out how much money the library started with, let alone whether its spending during those years was appropriate.

"Because this audit addresses issues that arose in 2006 and 2007, we had already begun addressing concerns before it was finalized and publicized," Ervin said in an interview. "Because my tenure came after the audit period, I consider it a mission of my directorship to improve the audit findings going forward."

Ervin, who started as library director in November 2008, said the accounting problems stemmed from temporary personnel using difficult software.

"In 2005, the attrition and evolving of personnel included an unanticipated loss of (the) finance department's controller and both payroll and purchasing specialists. As a result, the library's fiscal records were not properly maintained," Ervin told auditors.

Auditors also discovered Patricia Thompson, a library payroll specialist, issued three duplicate paychecks totaling $1,937.76 to herself in January and February 2006. The library later received only a partial reimbursement of $495.

The audit also raised questions about library staff getting paid by the library while working with outside groups. For example, library staff received normal salaries while working with the Gary Public Library Senior Citizens Friendship Club and while emptying money from copy machines inside the library that are operated by Friends of the Gary Public Library.

"Public funds may not be used to pay for personal items or for expenses which do not relate to the functions and purposes of the governmental unit," auditors wrote.

Ervin said library staff no longer will be collecting money for outside groups on city time.

The library also violated state purchasing guidelines, failed to maintain public records properly, did not file required annual reports and did not accurately keep track of its assets, according to the audit.

The director said the library takes full responsibility for the findings and has already begun to correct the deficiencies.

"We want to assure our public that the Gary Public Library is fiscally sound and as committed as ever to fulfilling its mission as a resource in our community," Ervin said.

Download the audit at in.gov/sboa/WebReports/B34687.pdf