The Family Library charity paid more than £10,000 in fees to one of its directors, latest available accounts show.

But a spokesperson for the Family Library insisted Kurt Roosen had donated ‘substantial personal funds’ to keep the closure-threatened Douglas library running.

The Family Library, based on Westmoreland Road, announced last month that it will shut its doors permanently at the end of July with the charity’s three directors blaming increasing costs and declining income.

A public appeal has been launched in a last-ditch attempt to save the much-loved facility and its associated services.

Douglas East MHK Joney Faragher has tabled a motion set to be discussed in Tynwald this week about the future of the charity.

The Family Library is operated by a company, Family Library Ltd, which is an independently audited Isle of Man-registered charity.

Its latest financial statement, for the year ending July 31 2023, shows that it paid StreamOn Ltd, a company owned and controlled by director K H Roosen, fees of £10,080 for ‘administration and executive services’ provided to the charity during the financial year.

Some £2,160 of these fees related to the next financial year.

A further £1,382 was paid to StreamOn Ltd during the year in settlement of expenses.

No directors’ fees were paid to Mr Roosen’s company nor that of fellow, and now former, director S Kissack during the year.

But directors’ fees of £4,200 had been paid to StreamOn in 2022 and £6,000 to Finchpay Ltd, a company owned and controlled by S Kissack.

Mr Roosen’s daughter was paid salary costs totalling £13,646 (down from £16,677 the previous year) from Family Library Ltd during the financial year, the related party transactions show. She no longer works for the Family Library.

Overall staff salaries cost £145,812 in the 12 months up to the end of July 2023, down from £171,941 in 2022.

Financial statements for the year ending July 31, 2024 have yet to be filed.

In a statement, the charity insisted that Mr Roosen has donated substantial personal funds to keep the Douglas library running.

It said: ‘As part of the auditing process, the library directors have to provide a statement that the company will be a going concern (i.e. have enough money to cover its obligations) for the coming 12 months.

‘In many of the last 14 years under the current model, this statement has been supported by the personal guarantee of Kurt Roosen as the core director and, on numerous occasions, he has donated substantial personal funds to sustain operations and meet obligations.

‘It is no longer possible for Kurt to provide this future guarantee and hence, in line with directors’ fiduciary responsibility, they are obliged to take responsible action and committed to a responsible and orderly closure of the company.

‘All current fundraising activities are not on behalf of Family Library Ltd, but a group of supporters and staff who are seeking to create a new entity to continue services.

‘This new potential venture will have new directors, whilst the old venture will be closed down in an orderly fashion with no debts or creditors or outstanding contracts.’

The charity’s three directors confirmed in a statement issued last month that all services, including the Children’s Library, Mobile Library Bus, Home Delivery Service and Bibliotherapy sessions, are due to cease operation on Thursday, July 31.

They described the decision as especially painful given the organisation is marking the 100th anniversary of rural library services in the Isle of Man, the forerunner of today’s mobile service.

The Family Library was originally part of the Isle of Man Government’s public library provision but was one of several services cut in 2011 following the loss of a share of VAT income from the UK.

It has since operated as an independent charity, supported by donations and limited public funding.

A five-year government funding agreement was introduced in 2022 to help support the charity while it worked to find new income streams.

That agreement began with a grant of £125,000 and will taper down to £65,000 by August 2026 - a year and a month after the scheduled closure date.

The library has more than 2,000 subscribers and continues to offer a wide variety of services for people of all ages.

A spokesperson for the charity added: ‘After 14 years of support, it is worth reiterating the commitment of the current directors to the services it provides through its excellent staff, and we will do everything we can to support the attempts to run this going forward.

‘This includes the potential donation of all of the company’s tangible assets, subject to approval from the AG office, DESC and DoI as some assets are jointly held.

‘We are committed to transparency; hence all the disclosures made in the independently audited accounts.

‘All fees are appropriate to administration expenses for performing necessary functions such as bookkeeping, HR, IT support, auditing and other administration, as well as the virtual roles of CEO, COO and CFO.

‘The library is proud of the fact all its employees are engaged in direct frontline services, so the fractional contracted use of time is by far the most cost-effective way.

‘As a company, and especially as a charity, we have an obligation to good governance and being a responsible employer.

‘Unfortunately, being “compliant” and caring as an organisation comes with an ever-increasing cost.

‘We have combatted this as much as we possibly could over the years. We have also spent as much money as we could with local and small suppliers and it is worth noting that we contribute more than £30,000 per year to the government through employment tax and NI, as well as a figure in the region of £20,000 annually in irrecoverable VAT.’