Nonprofit Executive Director/CEO Evaluations – A Best Practice

On its website, www.councilofnonprofits.org, the National Council on Nonprofits highlights 5 Basic Good Governance Practices as follows:

5 Basic Good Governance Practices

1. Maintain minutes of all board meetings (and committee meetings for committees that are authorized to act on behalf of the board, such as an executive committee). (See IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 8)
2. Annually review a written policy and complete a questionnaire about conflicts of interest. (See IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12) and document in minutes of board meetings when the policy is invoked.
3. Approve the executive director/CEO’s compensation and benefits, and document how the board determined that the compensation is appropriate, and not excessive. (See IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 15)
4. Require the board to review a copy of the IRS Form 990 before it is filed. (See IRS Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 11) For smaller nonprofits that only file the Form 990-N, make sure the board knows about the annual filing requirement.
5. Disclose to the public the nonprofit’s three most recently filed annual returns with the IRS, as well as its application for tax-exemption and related correspondence and attachments.

Relative to #3, the Council states that a board of directors is responsible for hiring and establishing the compensation (salary and benefits) of the executive director/CEO by identifying compensation that is “reasonable and not excessive,” but that also is attractive enough to retain the best possible talent to lead the organization. The recommended process for determining the appropriate compensation is to conduct a review of what similarly-sized peer organizations, in the same geographic location, offer their senior leaders. Nonprofits filing IRS Form 990 must describe the process they use to approve executive compensation as part of the nonprofit’s responses on the annual return, IRS Form 990, Section VI, Part B, line 15.

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At Tweed-Weber, we believe strongly that the overall performance of the nonprofit executive director/CEO should be evaluated by the board on an annual or biannual basis as a companion to the peer review. To that end, we have developed an evaluation tool and turnkey process that “leaves the driving to us.” We can help you Know More, so you can Do More. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

A New Approach to Market Research Reports?

A recent research project we had in-house for a national not-for-profit presented a number of unique challenges, both in scope and in the style of suitable presentation. While we know each project we take on will be unique in many ways, we are usually assured of a number of commonalities among them – statistical significance, willing participants (be they customers, suppliers/vendors, or prospects), and a data analysis and report writing process that has been internally standardized. Unfortunately, nothing really could prepare us for what awaited.

We very loosely looked at this project, at least from our sixth floor office in Reading, PA, as a Market Opportunity Assessment (MOA), with a few interesting twists to it. Data collection was an interesting process via telephone calls in and of itself (the details of which this writer will spare you, the reader), and yielded a total of approximately 80 interviews, simply because there were no other possible interviewees. As the package of reports we were intending to deliver included eight individual reports, each focused on one state, and an overall data summary, we realized rather quickly that we would have to alter our typical MOA report style, lest we have a report with two observations and another with twenty-three.

After careful consideration during the data collection process, we decided to be focused less on charts, graphs, and tables and more on telling the “story” of the interviews—a goal for which we strive anyway, regardless of the number of observations. Eric Whipkey, in May 2014’s edition of Quirk’s Marketing Research, makes the case that journalists can teach a valuable lesson to those of us engrained in the “traditional” market research report writing process.

“Executives increasingly do not care for nor expect research to meet the standards set by science (e.g., statistical significance for every finding). […] The new expectation is that market research has a business mind-set intent on providing quick and actionable insights that add to the bottom line, rather than one focused on hypothesis testing, test-and-retest and taking three to six months to complete a project.”

To do this, Whipkey calls for writers who are able to “craft compelling nonfiction stories…[that look] very much like old-school investigative journalism or, more specifically, progressive journalism or computer-assisted journalism.”

At the end of the day, the finished product was, visually, unlike anything we had delivered in recent memory; but it did contain everything for which we have been known for over twenty years—actionable research and analysis that will help our client gain and sustain a competitive advantage in its market. We were able to step somewhat outside of our comfortable “box” and enter a realm into which none of us had ever ventured, while providing the valuable information we were tasked to obtain.

Market research comes in many different shapes and sizes, and we have also learned it comes in many different tones and presentation styles, too. Whether it’s a quantitative data-driven report or a qualitative-laden/observational “story,” Tweed-Weber has the research solution that will help you Know More so you can Do More. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com, and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

About the author: Michael Thompson has been with Tweed-Weber, Inc. since 2008 and serves as Project Manager. He handles all internal aspects of market research projects, including implementation, database creation, data analysis, and report writing.

Pete's Conundrum

By Al Weber, President, Tweed-Weber, Inc.
 

How does Pete, a not-for-profit Chief Executive, get a raise when his board chair won’t appraise his performance?
 

This is the real story of Pete (not his real name, but he really exists). Pete was the Chief Executive of a highly successful, not-for-profit human services firm (he recently retired as he had planned). During his 12 years as CEO, his organization more than quadrupled its annual revenue and the people it served. It consistently generated a surplus. Its endowment increased five-fold. As if this financial success were not enough, during his leadership, his organization became recognized as a clear leader in its field in all of the areas in which it operated.

So, what’s the problem you might ask? Very simply, his board chair (we’ll call him Bob) would not give him a performance review. No matter how many times Pete asked, Bob would not take the time to evaluate Pete’s performance. I approached Bob as a “friend of the organization” and asked him why he wouldn’t let Pete know, in even a semi-formal way, how he was performing. Bob answered, “Heck, I don’t even appraise my own employees’ performance. I wouldn’t know where to start.” At the end of the day, since there were no performance reviews, there were no pay increases for Pete.

Every year, Pete would award raises to his truly superior executive team as part of his annual budget. Every year, the board would unanimously approve that budget. But for all those years, there was never a raise for Pete. He operated under the principle that he could not give himself a raise, only his board could do that. However, after many years without a raise, Pete finally reached his breaking point and included a raise in the budget for himself. That’s when the noise began.

Being the ultra-high integrity guy that he was, he didn’t try to sneak it by his board. As part of his budget presentation that year, he announced a recommendation that he receive the same percentage increase he gave his direct reports. When he did that, you would have thought he announced he was going to raid the entire endowment and move to the south of France to live a life of luxury. Many board members questioned his right to give himself a raise, while several board members whispered that he was “greedy.” One even suggested, in out-of-the-board-room phone calls, that he be removed from his job. When the dust cleared, he was given the raise he asked for, and certainly deserved, but the entire experience had ranged from unpleasant to downright nasty.

What could Pete have done differently? Simply put, he could have taken the lead on his own performance review. The real issue to Pete’s conundrum was found in Bob’s answer to my question about why he wasn’t giving Pete his review. He didn’t know where to start. 
Bob is not alone in this area. Many board chairs do not have experience in giving performance reviews. With 1,080,130 charitable and religious tax-exempt organizations in the U.S., and 82.3 percent of them operating on budgets of less than $1 million, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Bob’s experience in this area is not uncommon.

To complicate matters only slightly, some board chairs that do appraise the performance of their Chief Executive don’t always do a very good job of it. I have seen and heard of CEO performance evaluations that were poorly constructed and awkwardly delivered. In smaller not-for-profits, it’s not uncommon for these CEO evaluations to include only the assessment of the board chair or an Executive Committee. Many, if not most, CEO performance evaluations don’t contain the thinking and opinions of the entire board. To say the least, this provides limited, if not flawed, feedback to the Chief Executive. Under any circumstance, it’s certainly not a governance best practice.

If you’re a not-for-profit Chief Executive and you are not receiving the quality CEO performance evaluation that you believe you need/deserve to merit a pay increase and improve your performance in the future, click here and learn more about the process we have developed that will instantly solve that problem for you. It’s a turnkey solution that’s easy and inexpensive to implement. Who knows, when it’s over, it just might help you avoid, or put an end to, Pete’s conundrum.

If you would like to know how effective your current customer survey process is, or if you’d like to be proactive in starting a new customer survey initiative, give us a call. We can help you Know More, so you can Do More. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

 

Why is Nonprofit Board Member Engagement Critical to Success?

If you are a director of a nonprofit organization, a board chair, and/or a board member, it is your duty to care for the organization in a way that helps to ensure its current and future success. Having engaged board members is crucial to how well your nonprofit organization performs and achieves its mission. Having a disconnected, disengaged board will result in a disconnected, underperforming organization.

At Tweed-Weber, we have a tried-and-true method for conducting a Nonprofit Board of Directors Assessment. It is essential to get answers from each board member relative to the following (just to name a few):

• Do they support the organization’s current mission/purpose?
• Do they believe the organization’s work activities are aligned with its mission/purpose?
• Does the board believe there is a strategic vision of how the organization should be evolving over the next three to five years?
• Does the board have a common understanding of the organization’s planning objectives?
• Does the board regularly discuss how the organization should meet new opportunities and challenges?
• Do board members understand what information they need to make informed, responsible decisions?
• Is the board provided with the information they need to make informed, responsible decisions?
• Do board members have a complete understanding of the organization’s current work activities?
• Do board members understand the key measures that are used for tracking progress toward the organization’s goals?
• Is the board involved with developing strategies for generating resources?
• Are appropriate financial controls in place to ensure the organization’s stable operations?
• Does the board ensure that the budget reflects the priorities established in the annual plan?
• Is there an effective process in place to nominate and select new board members?
• Does the board’s composition reflect the diversity of background, expertise, and other resources needed by the organization?
• Is the size of the board appropriate for effective governance?
• Do board members feel actively engaged in the work of the board?

Whew. That’s a lot. But there’s so much more to be learned in addition to the questions above. Conducting a board of directors assessment has become a best practice of highly successful, highly regarded nonprofit organizations. The collective voice of the board should be heard as a regular part of board management and the way the board functions.

If you would like to learn more about Tweed-Weber’s Nonprofit Board of Directors Assessment, feel free to contact us. We will help you Know More, so you can Do More. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

Nonprofit Board Assessments – An Essential Best Practice

The following is the latest edition of our e-newsletter: Know More. Do More. Our e-newsletter highlights the uses and benefits of business-to-business research and brings you timely examples of how companies are using research to achieve a competitive advantage.

It is commonly said that behind every strong nonprofit organization, you will find a strong board of directors. Why? Because the strength of the organization as a whole is a reflection of how well the board operates in its governance function. Virtually every list of best practices for nonprofit boards today includes an annual board self-assessment to allow board members to study their own behavior and lay the groundwork for self-improvement. Also included as a best practice, is an annual performance evaluation of the executive director/CEO conducted by board members. Participation in performance evaluations is a fundamental responsibility of all board members.

At Tweed-Weber, we conduct nonprofit board self-assessments and nonprofit executive director/CEO evaluations. Each one is a turnkey process implemented by Tweed-Weber that takes the work off the plate of board chairs and/or executive directors, so they can focus on the core work and mission of the organization. Tweed-Weber recently conducted board assessments for three local nonprofit organizations. In this edition of Know More. Do More., we share, in Q&A style, feedback from the following nonprofit leaders:

Nonprofit Leader	Function	Organization	Board of Directors Self-Assessment	CEO/Executive Director Performance Evaluation
Nancy Yocom	Board Chair	Berks Encore	X	X
Tammy White	President	United Way of Berks County	X	X
Tim Daley	Executive Director	Habitat for Humanity of Berks County		X

Begin Q&A…

As a board chair, why did you feel it was important to conduct a board assessment and/or a CEO/executive director evaluation?

Nancy Yocom: A board evaluation measures a board’s ability to effectively govern and to work together to fulfill the organization’s mission and vision. Identification of strengths and weaknesses gives the board chair and the executive director the needed knowledge to improve and amend practices and strategies, engage the entire board, and create a healthy and energized board.

Tammy White: The CEO evaluation provides a snapshot of how the board feels I’m doing as a leader of the organization. That is extremely important to me, so I can meet the expectations of the board. The board assessment helps me understand how the board feels about our operations and how United Way is performing in the community against our mission.

Tim Daley: I think board evaluations represent that special time to look much deeper into the organization and those who are responsible for its success. At the executive director level, much professionalism is required and expected. Many objectives are resting with that position. In order for the board of directors to take a comprehensive look at their executive director, they need a professional tool to articulate their responses to questions asked about their executive director’s performance. Many boards have diverse members and would need a professional organization to filter information so that all members can understand the results.

Why is it important to have a formal review process of the CEO/executive director that involves the full board? 

Nancy Yocom: The performance of a nonprofit’s executive director is critical to the organization’s mission. The executive director directly influences the organization’s success and financial health. It is incumbent on the board of directors to set standards and objectively and fairly evaluate the performance of its executive director. Well-established performance goals are important, so the entire board and its executive director are in agreement. Because each director has a different experience, all members must participate in the ED’s performance evaluation.

Tammy White: It provided an opportunity for me to get first-hand feedback from the board in terms of my performance. It lets me see where the board thinks I’m performing well, but more important, where there are opportunities for improvement. It is essential to involve the board in this evaluation because it is my responsibility to meet the expectations of each and every board member.

Tim Daley: I think an executive director can feel a sense of respect that a formal, comprehensive process is being used by the board to evaluate their performance, no matter the results. It takes away any ambiguity to the responses when it’s a formal, structured process. Knowing that certain criteria were being examined helped to compartmentalize the answers for better understanding.

What benefit(s) did Tweed-Weber’s board assessments provide for you?

Nancy Yocom: Tweed-Weber provided an online survey for all board members to participate in a board self-assessment and the executive director’s evaluation. The surveys were a great way for all board members to provide confidential responses. The staff at Tweed-Weber assessed the board responses and provided valuable, meaningful, unbiased data. The data gave us a snapshot of the health of the board, and a tool to effectively assess the ED’s performance. Through the board assessment, we learned our board meetings needed to be more strategic, forward thinking, and that all board meetings should contain an educational component. Because of the assessment, I believe our directors’ board experience and the way our board provides leadership has improved. The ED’s performance evaluation provided specific goals for improvement and a benchmark for further evaluations.

Tammy White: It provided an opportunity for United Way as an organization to know where there are opportunities to strengthen board engagement and involvement, and what we need to do to make board members feel stronger in participation and oversight.

Tim Daley: Besides letting me know in very clear terms how I am performing, the evaluation was telling of board members. Certain answers indicated that some members are no longer part of a team, but rather isolated by their responses, even though individual names were not included. It’s a good tool to get everyone on the same page again.

What advice would you have for other nonprofits that have never conducted board assessments before?

Nancy Yocom: Conducting a board self-assessment can feel a bit daunting, but a board assessment gives all board members a voice. The assessment helps the board to improve its own work. It allows board members to better understand their roles and responsibilities, and how they can fulfill their obligations more effectively. The process can develop the board’s team building skills, provide structure for problem solving, and increase accountability within the organization.

Tammy White: There is absolute value in both the board self-assessment process and the performance evaluation. To be a strong nonprofit organization, you must take a step back and hear the voices of your board members, so the organization can be the best it can be. As President, it is my job to manage board needs and expectations, and it most certainly is my responsibility to do all that I can to excel in my position. Board assessments are invaluable in helping me do both. But the important thing is not just doing it and then walking away. You have to grow from lessons learned.

Tim Daley: I would advise executive directors to embrace a formal, independent evaluation as an opportunity to create a win-win situation. It gives the executive director a great tool to guide their professional development, and the board can express their thoughts with full knowledge that the independent evaluator will appropriately reduce the information in a professional manner.

End Q&A

In order to support all board members, whether new to the role or more seasoned in the responsibilities of the position, it is essential to provide a vehicle for gathering their feedback. They need to feel a sense of belonging to the organization and an ongoing contribution to its mission and success.

It’s always a pleasure to work with nonprofit leaders like those highlighted in this article that have a strong belief in proactively engaging board members. For them, it’s not just a best practice, but a routine part of how their nonprofit organizations operate. All of us at Tweed-Weber genuinely appreciate the opportunity to serve the nonprofit community.

We invite you to learn more about the nonprofit board self-assessment and the nonprofit CEO/executive director performance evaluation provided by Tweed-Weber. We can show you how a structured board engagement process can support the mission of your organization. You will Know More, so you can Do More. Call us toll-free at 1-800-999-6615, email us at mail@tweedweber.com and/or visit us on the web at www.tweedweber.com. Also, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.) and Twitter (@TweedWeber).

The Role and Responsibilities of a Director: Not-for-Profit Governance Best Practices

By Al Weber, President, Tweed-Weber, Inc.

Given the number of not-for-profit organizations we work with, it is not uncommon for the leaders, both professional and volunteer, to ask us for some guidance as they develop their boards of directors. They typically want to get a better idea of what their (the board's) responsibilities are and exactly what they need to do to fulfill their fiduciary and governance responsibilities. Additionally, they want some idea of how they can function more effectively. Below is a checklist addressing the common role and responsibilities of a board member and the best practices that should be adopted by a board to help ensure those responsibilities are fulfilled.

 

Over the coming months, we will address these areas in greater depth through our blog. In the meantime, feel free to download your own copy* and incorporate them into the governance dialog within your organization.

*If a preview does not appear on your screen, click "File," then "Download." You will need Adobe PDF.
 

 

Role of a Director

 

The role of a director is to serve as a steward of a community asset. Effective stewardship requires the commitment of time, talent, and treasure. 

 

Responsibilities of a Director

• Hire and manage the President/Executive Director.
• Approve the mission and strategic direction of the organization.
• Approve the budget/financial plans of the organization (to include borrowing, capital expenditures, investments, etc.).
• Oversee the performance of the organization (relative to established plans, defined standards, and required regulations).
• Promote/represent the organization in the community.
• Provide advice and assistance as requested.
• Participate in the assessment and perpetuation of the board.
• Support the organization financially.

 

Governance Best Practices

• Develop a board matrix and recruit directors based on it.
• Establish and enforce term limits.
• Define, in writing, expectations of board membership.
• Conduct new board member orientation.
• Conduct “industry” training for all board members.
• Provide board members with ongoing industry and good-governance information.
• Conduct a board self-assessment on a predefined basis.
• Evaluate each director prior to re-nominating him/her.
• Evaluate the Executive Director annually.
• Establish standing committees with written charters and annual goals.
• Develop board and committee meeting formats.
• Produce and distribute (widely) board and committee meeting minutes/reports.
• Evaluate committee performance annually.
• Develop board and committee leadership succession plans.
• Engage board members in strategic and annual planning activities.
• Provide board members with opportunities to socialize.

 

If you would like information on how to conduct a board self-assessment or a CEO/Executive Director performance evaluation, feel free to contact Tweed-Weber through any of the following methods: via telephone at 1-800-999-6615, by email at mail@tweedweber.com, on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.), or on Twitter (@TweedWeber).

Tweed-Weber Announces a Turnkey, Cost-Effective Nonprofit Executive Director/CEO Performance Evaluation

Reading, PA - As of September 2012, there were 1,080,130 charitable and religious tax-exempt organizations in the U.S. 82.3 percent of them had operating budgets of less than $1million.* Each of these organizations, however, has an Executive Director (President/CEO) who plays an essential role in the organization and materially impacts the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission and create sustainability for future generations. Without an effective Executive Director, the organization is leaderless and, without a leader, the organization and its future are in jeopardy.

 

As we enter the fourth quarter of the year, not-for-profits operating on a calendar year are once again faced with the essential task of evaluating the performance of their Executive Director. This activity may be among the most important tasks a board is asked to perform. It is on virtually every governance best practice list.  

 

While few boards would question the need to evaluate their Executive Director’s performance, many might ask how it should be done. Implementation considerations include:

• What questions should be asked on an Executive Director’s evaluation? 
• How should those questions be answered? What kind of a scale should be used?
• How can every board member participate in the process? 
• How can the performance evaluations be collected? 
• How can the results of the evaluations be aggregated and analyzed? 
• What should the final evaluation look like once it is completed?
• How can the process be as complete and professional as possible?

Tweed-Weber, Inc. has developed and tested a turn-key performance evaluation process for not-for-profit Executive Directors that answers these questions. It has facilitated this evaluation process for a wide range of not-for-profit organizations, and the outcome delivers to these organizations the information they need to evaluate and communicate their Executive Director’s annual performance.

 

The evaluation enables the board to evaluate its Executive Director in the following areas:

•  Knowledge and experience
• Judgment 
• Community leadership
• Organizational leadership
• Communication
• Initiative
• Fiscal responsibility
• Strategic direction
• Adaptability
• Planning
• Employee development
• Overall performance 

 

It also provides the opportunity for directors to answer three essential open-ended questions regarding the Executive Director:

• Most important accomplishments during the past year
• Areas of focus for the coming year
• Personal skills, capabilities, and/or characteristics worthy of development 

   

This evaluation is conducted online and a complete report is submitted to the board within ten days of the survey’s “close” date. It is a complete one-stop process that makes it simple and easy for a board to fulfill this important governance responsibility and acknowledged best practice. Because Tweed-Weber understands the budget constraints of most not-for-profit organizations, especially the 82.3 percent of small not-for-profits operating under $1 million in revenue, it is offering this entire evaluation process from beginning to end for just $595.

  

For more information, contact Tweed-Weber through any of the following methods: via telephone at 1-800-999-6615, by email at mail@tweedweber.com, on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.), or on Twitter (@TweedWeber).

 

   

*National Council of Nonprofits.

Tweed-Weber Announces a Turnkey, Cost-Effective Board Assessment Survey

Reading, PA - As of September 2012, there were 1,080,130 charitable and religious tax-exempt organizations in the United States. Of them, 82.3 percent had operating budgets of less than $1 million*. Each of these organizations, however, has a board of directors that has an enormous impact on the organization and its ability to fulfill its mission and remain financially viable for future generations. It is not oversimplification to say, no not-for-profit organization ever became great without a great board of directors.

As the summer winds down and not-for-profit boards begin to reconvene, board leaders and organization executives begin to confront the continuing issues of board focus, engagement, and effectiveness. Questions that inevitably emerge include:

• Are board members clear about the mission of the organization?
• Do board members believe the organization's work activities are aligned with the mission?
• Is the board fulfilling its oversight responsibilities?
• Do board members receive the information they need to serve as effective governors of the organization?
• Do board members believe their talents are being used effectively?
• Is the board properly engaged in its work?
• Is the board configured in a way that will deliver the best results for the organization and its key stakeholders?

There is only one way to be sure of the answers to these questions: ask the board members.

Tweed-Weber, Inc., a business consulting firm in Reading, PA, with extensive experience in the not-for-profit community, has developed and tested a board assessment survey reflective of governance best practices.** It has conducted this survey for a wide range of not-for-profit organizations and found it delivers to these organizations the information they need to determine what, if any, changes are needed to ensure they are functioning as good stewards of the community organization for which they serve.

The assessment enables the board to evaluate itself in the following areas:

• Knowledge of the organization's mission/role/purpose
• Involvement in organizational planning
• Oversight of the organization's work activities
• Resource adequacy
• Fiscal oversight
• Marketing and public image/reputation
• New board member selection and orientation
• Board configuration and operations
• Overall organizational status

This survey is conducted online and a complete report is submitted to the board within ten days of the survey's "close" date. It is a complete turnkey process that makes it simple and easy for a board to learn about itself while satisfying an acknowledged best practice. Because Tweed-Weber understands the budget constraints of most not-for-profit organizations, especially the 82.3 percent of small not-for-profits operating under $1 million in revenue, it is offering this entire process from beginning to end for $595.

For more information, contact Tweed-Weber through any of the following methods: via telephone at 1-800-999-6615, by email at mail@tweedweber.com, on LinkedIn (Tweed-Weber, Inc.), or on Twitter (@TweedWeber).


*National Council of Nonprofits.
**McDermott, Will, and Emory list as board best practices the "establishment and maintenance of director orientation, training, continuing education, and self-evaluation programs, with particular emphasis on (i) the effectiveness and adequacy of the Board and its committees; (ii) the sufficiency and timeliness of the information provided by management to the Board; (iii) the background and qualifications of individual directors; and (iv) the contributions of each director to the Board and to mission effectiveness."

A Tipping Point for Libraries

By Al Weber, President, Tweed-Weber, Inc.
 
At a meeting in the summer of 2012, the chair of the board of a county library system made an observation that fundamentally changed my thinking about libraries. She said (and I’m going to paraphrase here, but only a little), “The Internet is having the same impact on libraries today that the Gutenberg press had on libraries in the 15th Century.” It turns out this individual, whose intellect and insight I am growing to admire more and more with each additional interaction we have, sent me down a thought path that’s worth sharing.

First, a little history. In 1439, Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, known to us as simply Johannes Gutenberg, printed 180 copies of the Bible, in the first production run of his invention with mechanical moveable type, what we now call the printing press. Prior to this time, all books were manuscripts, hand-written one at a time, taking months, if not years to produce. Availability of these “books” was to say the least, limited. To make the point, in 1300, 139 years prior to Gutenberg’s world-changing invention, the Vatican Library listed 443 “books.” It is thought to have been the largest library in the world at the time. By 1500, 61 years after those first Bibles came off the press, that number had grown to over 3,500 volumes. By today’s standards, that would be a small community library. By the standards of the time, however, that number kept the Vatican Library solidly in first place.

Libraries throughout the world began to grow. In 1598, Bodleian Library at Oxford University, one of the larger libraries outside of the Vatican at the time, contained 2,500 volumes. Over the next 250 years, Bodleian’s collection grew to the size, where by 1849 the library housed 220,000 books and 21,000 manuscripts. It took only 65 more years for Bodleian to pass the one million volume mark (in 1914).

1981, 67 years after Bodleian reached its historic, seven-figure level of books, marks the year in which IBM brought personal computing, one of the earliest versions of electronic information machines, to the non-expert masses. This represents yet another “disruptive” technological moment in history. Since then, information technology has become faster, smaller, cheaper, and dramatically more user friendly. Knowledge and information has become available in massive quantities to enormous numbers of people. 

The degree of change in available reading material created by Gutenberg’s press pales in comparison to the proliferation of reading material available today. In 2010, less than 30 years following the introduction of the IBM personal computer, 2.7 million titles were self-published in the United States and electronic books (e-books) have enabled over 295,000 publishers to bring even more books to the e-market. Learning, once the province of the privileged, can be experienced by virtually anyone who wants it.

Add to this, the growth of access to the Internet. Wikipedia (which I accessed on line of course) says of the Internet, “There is no consensus on the exact date when the modern Internet came into being, but sometime in the early to mid-1980s is considered reasonable.” Which makes it reasonable to say that in 1983, just 30 years ago, there were virtually no Internet users. Wikipedia also reports that, “As of June 2012, more than 2.4 billion people—over a third of the world's human population—have used the services of the Internet. To make things even more exciting, the Pew Research Center reports that as of August 27, 2013, 70 percent of Americans have high-speed Internet connections at home.*

What does this mean for libraries? At the risk of repeating the title of this posting, they have reached a tipping point and having done so, will never be the same again. There will certainly be a continuing demand for printed books. Libraries will still need to provide printed copies of best sellers and other books to the millions of people who enjoy reading them that way. (In a recent survey of over 1,700 library patrons, 71.7 percent of respondents reported they believed books would be very important in five years, while 57.1 percent reported that e-books would be very important.) But I think the writing is on the wall (as well as this posting) that library leaders will be faced with the continuing challenge of learning what their communities need and finding innovative ways to meet those programs, services, and resources.

*Kathryn Zickuhr and Aaron Smith. "Home Broadband 2013." Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (August 26, 2013) http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_Broadband%202013_082613.pdf, August 29, 2013.