The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., recently was awarded the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, a service of Candid.

By sharing metrics that highlight progress the Brown Library is making toward its mission, the organization is helping the public move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.

“In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work, we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner,” said Barbara S. McGary, Executive Director of the Brown Library. “By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar’s online audience, which includes donors, grant makers, our peers, and the media.”

To reach the Platinum level, the Brown Library added extensive information to its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, the Brown Library has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate nonprofit performance.

The library focuses on several metrics for success, including the number of participants attending programs, the number of people who walk through the doors, and the total of public computer and wi-fi usage. The Library’s profile is available at https://www.guidestar.org/profile/24-0799180.

The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. The profiles are populated with information directly from nonprofits, the IRS, and other partners in the nonprofit sector.

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The James V. Brown Library is open for browsing and holds pick up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. To place a hold, visit http://www.jvbrown.edu or call 570-326-0536 during the library’s operating hours. The library also is open for public computer usage and for services such as printing, faxing, copying and scanning. Walk-in passport services are now available.

The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, Pa., is the place to go to learn, connect and grow. Founded in June 1907, the library champions the love of reading, opens new doors to lifelong learning, provides a haven to those who seek and ensures the preservation of public library services for future generations. The library has more than 225,000 visitors in a year and circulates a half-million items annually. A member of the Lycoming County Library System, the James V. Brown Library participates in PA Forward, a statewide initiative to promote literacies in our communities to power a better future for everyone.