Viewpoint from the Chair - September 2011

As Amigos seeks to find ways to utilize its expertise in areas that benefit the organization – and by extension, Amigos Members – we are looking more and more at the value of the kinds of services Amigos can provide to consortial groups, whether or not they are Amigos members.

Such efforts are in line with the current Amigos Strategic Plan. Goal Three of the Plan is "to enhance member libraries' benefits by extending selected services to affiliated organizations". One of the strategies for accomplishing this goal is that "Amigos will provide fiscal services to library affiliates as well as to members".

What types of fiscal services can Amigos provide? A good example would be the organization’s role as a fiscal partner to various incorporated nonprofit groups. We’ve found, for example, that many such groups benefit from outsourcing administrative functions rather than employing staff and incurring salary and benefits expense.

Also, many informal nonprofit consortia contract with third parties for fiscal services so they can legally enter into agreements. Without the ability of a consortium to sign vendor agreements, for example, the terms of those agreements would become the responsibility of one or more individual consortium members, a risk most members might understandably be reluctant to assume.

An excellent example is Amigos' longstanding role in TExpress, the interlibrary loan courier service for Texas libraries offered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), for which Amigos serves as the administrative partner. Among its many TExpress responsibilities, Amigos subcontracts with a courier company to provide expedited five-, three-, or two-day pickup and delivery of interlibrary loan and other materials to participating libraries. The partnership between Amigos and TSLAC is vital to the success of the TExpress service. The infrastructure that was developed to support TExpress served as the foundation for Trans-Amigos Express, from which a great many Amigos members now benefit. Here at Oklahoma State, we’ve benefitted to the tune of over $9,000 in annual savings.

The revenue Amigos derives from providing fiscal and administrative services to consortia of different sizes helps Amigos to maintain our financial viability and allows us to continue our mission of promoting resource sharing and obtaining innovative services for members more affordably through collaboration.

As an Amigos Member I truly believe that if a rising tide floats all boats, as the old saying goes, a healthy Amigos lifts us all.