Library professional speaks out on possible library privatization
January 28, 2009 9:25 AM

To the Editor:

I recently read Dartmouth's Privatization Study Group's report recommending that the town consider outsourcing our public library services to Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI), a Maryland based firm. The committee recommends that the town "initiate an RFP to get all the facts out on the table"; however, the report itself reads more like a brochure for LSSI than an unbiased policy recommendation. It is incomplete, contains only information from LSSI, and repeatedly makes subjective and unsubstantiated claims. In some instances, the report is even factually incorrect. I hope this letter helps our town's leaders and the study group get the "facts on the table."

There is literature on the outsourcing of library services that provides us with reasons to be suspicious of LSSI's claims. In his article "The Outsourcing of Public Library Management" LSU Professor Robert Ward found that "achieving gains in efficiency, and citizen satisfaction, are questionable." In his research, Dr. Ward discovered that in the LSSI-run Riverside, California library system, the library's budget rose 18% from FY 1997-98 to FY 2001-02. Meanwhile services such as circulation decreased significantly, and the unit cost for service delivery increased by 58%. Paying more and getting less is neither more efficient for the municipality, nor is it more satisfying for citizens.
Matt Sylvain
Dartmouth
(Editor's note: Mr. Sylvain is the Assistant Librarian at the Claire T. Carney Library, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth)
For the complete article:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090128/PUB02/901280372