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Two firms have shown preliminary interest in running Nevada County's financially-strapped libraries and at least one plans to submit a formal proposal by the Thursday, Nov. 19 deadline.
The companies are Library Systems and Services of Germantown, Md., and Library Associates Companies of Beverly Hills.
Executives of both firms toured Nevada County's libraries this week and met with county purchasing agent Mary Ross.
“We will submit a proposal by the deadline,” LSSI west coast executive Mark Smith said Thursday. “We would be interested in some role in running the libraries.”
Library Associates company executives were unavailable for comment Thursday.
Eight companies — some of which only provide partial services to public libraries — were invited to submit proposals, according to Ross.
The proposals were sent out after the Board of Supervisors voted last month to explore the possibility of outsourcing management of the county's six libraries after a financial report showed the $2.4 million system could face at least a $400,000 budget deficit by 2011.
If no financial options are found, library hours would likely be cut and at least two branches could close, according to Nevada County librarian Mary Ann Trygg. Public library funding has been hit hard by falling sales and property taxes.
County Executive Officer Rick Haffey put the projected library budget shortfall over the next two years closer to $1 million if the current economic trends continue. He said that shortfall could even grow to $2 million by 2013 if the current trend continues.
Library Systems and Services has been providing management services for public libraries for years, operating in Tennessee, Kansas, Texas, Oregon and California. Its responsibilities include recruiting, consulting and overall management. It is able to reduce operating costs mostly through payroll, unencumbered by the government union labor agreements that, in most cases, are more costly than those within the private sector.
Library advocates who attended last month's board meeting said they were concerned about current employees losing wages and benefits if an outside firm took over, and wondered if they would be rehired.
Library officials in Redding, Riverside and Jackson County, Oregon, where LSSI took over management, said they were pleased with the transition. They also said LSSI hired most of the former government library employees back, but at reduced wages and benefits.
In 2001, the American Library Association came out against library privatization and outsourcing at its midwinter conference.
“Publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the publics they serve,” the association stated. “Therefore, the American Library Association opposes the shifting of policy development and management oversight of library services from the public to the private, for-profit sector.”
However, a June 2000 study from the association on outsourcing and privatizing library services and management done by the Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Studies differed from the statement made one year later.
“In general, we found no evidence that outsourcing per se has had a negative impact on library services and management. On the contrary, the evidence supports the conclusion that outsourcing has been an effective managerial tool,” it stated.
It also said that instances in which problems arose with outsourced library management were often due to bad contracts, or bad management.
The county has promised that County Librarian Mary Ann Trygg will be retained and will oversee any contract.
Friends of Nevada County Libraries member Jackie Wilson said she is concerned, but not dead-set against outsourcing management.
With voters passing the 1/8-cent sales tax twice to fund the libraries, “there's got to be remarkable interest out there,” Wilson said. “Why do we have government service if this is the answer?
“I don't think all the people who voted for (the tax) understand what all this means,” Wilson added. “The biggest thing is we don't know what the implications will be.”
The county has a list of questions and answers related to the library crisis on its Web site.
To view it, please log onto to https://docs.co.nevada.ca.us/dsweb//Get/Document-618738/Library%20Discussion_FAQ.pdf
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
The companies are Library Systems and Services of Germantown, Md., and Library Associates Companies of Beverly Hills.
Executives of both firms toured Nevada County's libraries this week and met with county purchasing agent Mary Ross.
“We will submit a proposal by the deadline,” LSSI west coast executive Mark Smith said Thursday. “We would be interested in some role in running the libraries.”
Library Associates company executives were unavailable for comment Thursday.
Eight companies — some of which only provide partial services to public libraries — were invited to submit proposals, according to Ross.
The proposals were sent out after the Board of Supervisors voted last month to explore the possibility of outsourcing management of the county's six libraries after a financial report showed the $2.4 million system could face at least a $400,000 budget deficit by 2011.
If no financial options are found, library hours would likely be cut and at least two branches could close, according to Nevada County librarian Mary Ann Trygg. Public library funding has been hit hard by falling sales and property taxes.
County Executive Officer Rick Haffey put the projected library budget shortfall over the next two years closer to $1 million if the current economic trends continue. He said that shortfall could even grow to $2 million by 2013 if the current trend continues.
Library Systems and Services has been providing management services for public libraries for years, operating in Tennessee, Kansas, Texas, Oregon and California. Its responsibilities include recruiting, consulting and overall management. It is able to reduce operating costs mostly through payroll, unencumbered by the government union labor agreements that, in most cases, are more costly than those within the private sector.
Library advocates who attended last month's board meeting said they were concerned about current employees losing wages and benefits if an outside firm took over, and wondered if they would be rehired.
Library officials in Redding, Riverside and Jackson County, Oregon, where LSSI took over management, said they were pleased with the transition. They also said LSSI hired most of the former government library employees back, but at reduced wages and benefits.
In 2001, the American Library Association came out against library privatization and outsourcing at its midwinter conference.
“Publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the publics they serve,” the association stated. “Therefore, the American Library Association opposes the shifting of policy development and management oversight of library services from the public to the private, for-profit sector.”
However, a June 2000 study from the association on outsourcing and privatizing library services and management done by the Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Studies differed from the statement made one year later.
“In general, we found no evidence that outsourcing per se has had a negative impact on library services and management. On the contrary, the evidence supports the conclusion that outsourcing has been an effective managerial tool,” it stated.
It also said that instances in which problems arose with outsourced library management were often due to bad contracts, or bad management.
The county has promised that County Librarian Mary Ann Trygg will be retained and will oversee any contract.
Friends of Nevada County Libraries member Jackie Wilson said she is concerned, but not dead-set against outsourcing management.
With voters passing the 1/8-cent sales tax twice to fund the libraries, “there's got to be remarkable interest out there,” Wilson said. “Why do we have government service if this is the answer?
“I don't think all the people who voted for (the tax) understand what all this means,” Wilson added. “The biggest thing is we don't know what the implications will be.”
The county has a list of questions and answers related to the library crisis on its Web site.
To view it, please log onto to https://docs.co.nevada.ca.us/dsweb//Get/Document-618738/Library%20Discussion_FAQ.pdf
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
