[Publib] Florida Librarians Fight Back Against LSSI

[Sue Kamm]

I've been bothered by LSSI ever since they contracted with the county of Riverside, CA to operate their library.  

A bit of history:  Riverside County residents, including the city of Riverside, were served by a combined city-county system.  The city's residents decided their taxes were subsidizing library service to the rest of the county, and pulled out of the system.  AFAIK, the county supervisors made not effort to determine whether their staff could run the library before they chose LSSI.  One of the other bidders was the neighboring county, San Bernardino.

Here are some questions to be asked of LSSI (or any other private, for-profit organization) before contracts are signed:

  a.. What will be the status of current library workers?  Will they lose the benefits they enjoy under civil service (assuming they are civil service employees)?
  b.. Will LSSI be bound by collective bargaining contracts in effect?  
  c.. How will salaries under LSSI compare with other public libraries serving jurisdictions with similar demographics - number of people served, minorities, in the community, age of population, education, income?
  d.. Will the company be accountable to an elected body - board of library trustees, city council, etc?
IMO, agencies seeking to privatize their library service want to be rid of the high cost of personnel.  That cost includes health care (and where have we heard that before?) and other health-related benefits such as dental and vision insurance.  

Check Library Journal's coverage at http://tinyurl.com/lgtja8

Your friendly neighborhood CyberGoddess and ALA Councilor-at-Large,
Sue Kamm
Los Angeles/Inglewood, CA
Los Angles Dodgers Truest of the Blue, 2000
email:  suekamm AT mindspring DOT com
blog: http://suekamm.blogspot.com
"It's time for Dodger baseball!"
--Vin Scully 
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