Overview
In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.
We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended the audit to answer, the conclusion we reached regarding each objective, and where each objective is discussed in this report.
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Objective |
Conclusion |
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No; see Other Matters |
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To achieve our audit objectives, we gained an understanding of the internal controls that we determined to be relevant to our audit objectives by reviewing applicable laws, regulations, and agency policies and procedures, as well as conducting inquiries with MBLC’s staff and management. Additionally, we performed the procedures described below.
Assessment of Completed Construction Projects
During our audit period, three Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) construction projects were completed. We reviewed all three to determine whether documentation included (1) an application, a letter of intent, a needs assessment, and grant contracts and (2) the data necessary for MBLC to perform assessments of the new or additional services provided through the projects. Additionally, we visited all three locations and met with the library staff to discuss the projects.
MPLCP Construction Project Reports
Of the 277 monthly construction project reports due MBLC during our audit period, we tested a nonstatistical random sample of 28 to ensure that each was submitted and received on time.
Consultant Site Visits for Library Services and Technology Act Projects
From the 63 annual site visits performed by MBLC consultants for Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) projects during our audit period, we tested a nonstatistical random sample of 12 site visits to determine whether MBLC consultants documented these visits on Site Visit Report forms.
Internal Control Plan
We obtained a copy of the MBLC internal control plan that was in place during our audit period to determine whether it contained the components required by the Office of the State Comptroller regarding the annual updating of the plan, the annual submission of an Internal Control Questionnaire, enterprise risk management, and a departmental risk assessment.
Data Reliability
To determine the reliability of data on MBLC’s spreadsheet of monthly reports from library construction projects, we interviewed management personnel who were responsible for the MPLCP construction reports and for the source data. We obtained original source documents, such as the monthly construction reports submitted for MBLC grant-funded projects, to validate the accuracy of the spreadsheet.
To determine the reliability of the data in the spreadsheet of Site Visit Report forms for LSTA grants, which tracks consultant visits to libraries that receive federal funds, we interviewed management personnel who were responsible for the LSTA process and for the source data. We obtained original source documents such as consultant Site Visit Report forms to validate the accuracy of the spreadsheet of Site Visit Report forms for LSTA grants. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of our audit report.
We used nonstatistical sampling to help us achieve our audit objectives and therefore did not project our results to the various populations.
| Date published: | July 10, 2018 |
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