Final Chapter Closes On Friends Of Rancho Mirage Library

Members of Friends of the Rancho Mirage Public Library will meet today to approve the dissolution of the fundraising organization.

The decision is part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the city of Rancho Mirage last fall. The settlement would give the public library nearly all of the organization’s assets.

Rancho Mirage sued the fundraising branch of the library last year, with the two jawing over how funds were collected and distributed and whether the group violated its charter.

According to the settlement agreement, the Rancho Mirage Public Library Foundation — which was created when the lawsuit was filed in September — will assume full control of fundraising and spending operations. The Friends organization was to give $310,000 to the public library to cover library programs and improvements, while keeping $150,000 in order to cover legal expenses and finance the dissolution of the group, according to the agreement.

The Friends’ remaining funds — approximately $1.8 million — will be given to the Rancho Mirage Public Library Foundation once it is granted tax-exempt status and the California Attorney General’s Office waives objections.

Today’s final meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. at The Arthur Newman Theater in Palm Desert, where the organization will approve the settlement agreement.

As terms of that pact, all 1,200 members of Friends were made automatic members of the new foundation. The library will also adorn the organization — which operated for nearly 15 years — on its donor recognition wall and maintain a “reasonably sized plaque” to recognize Friends’ contributions, according to the settlement agreement.

The dispute began in fall 2008, when the Friends board approved a $25,000 sponsorship of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. That angered some city leaders, who said the foundation should only spend money on library improvements.

City officials also alleged that Friends had changed its bylaws without approval, allowing the organization to stockpile funds rather than spend the money on the library.

Library supporters have credited the Friends of the Rancho Mirage Public Library with improving the level of programming, hosting film screenings and discussions of historical events.