LSSI  makes  case  for  public-­‐private  library    BY  JESSICA  WESTON  July  30,  2015    CITY  REPORTER      jweston@ridgecrestca.com      Public-­‐private  library  partnerships  can  get  a  bad  rap.    That's  the  opinion  of  Library  Systems  &  Services,  LLC  Vice  President  Robert  Windrow.  Contrary  to  naysaying  opinions,  Windrow  said,  public-­‐private  library  partnerships  can  and  do  benefit  and  enrich  the  communities  they  serve.    “What  we  do  is  we  provide  the  staffing  and  the  expertise  to  operate  the  libraries  more  efficiently  and  more  effectively,”  he  said.  “We  believe  that  if  libraries  are  well  run,  and  by  that  I  mean  efficiently  run,  they  can  make  a  very  positive  difference  in  the  communities  that  they  serve.”    Windrow  said  that  preliminary  analysis  indicates  that  LSSI  could  provide  more  services  for  the  same  roughly  $8  million  library  budget  in  Kern  County  without  losing  personnel.  Streamlined  administration  and  other  improvements  would  allow  for  more  funds  to  be  diverted  elsewhere,  he  said.  The  topic  has  been  of  public  interest  recently  in  Ridgecrest  and  Kern  County.  The  Kern  County  Board  of  Supervisors  recently  delayed  potentially  issuing  a  request  for  information  on  the  issue.  The  board  also  deferred  the  issue  to  collect  input  from  locals  in  the  forms  of  surveys  and  community  forums  on  the  subject  of  library  use.    Windrow  sat  down  with  the  Daily  Independent  Wednesday  to  discuss  the  issue.  Also  on  hand  were  public  relations  advisor  Mike  MeCey,  who  also  works  for  LSSI,  and  Tracy  Leach,  President  of  Providence  Strategic  Consulting,  Inc.  who  is  building  a  coalition  of  public-­‐private  partnership  supporters,  Better  Libraries  for  Kern  County.    To  start  with,  Windrow  said,  the  term  “privatize”  is  incorrect.  “A  definition  of  privatization  is  a  transfer  of  assets  and  control  from  the  public  sector  to  the  private  sector.  The  correct  terminology  would  be  a  public-­‐private  partnership.”    The  governing  body,  in  this  case  Kern  County,  would  not  relinquish  control,  he  added.  The  county  would  still  own  the  facilities.  “We're  not  transferring  any  assets.  So  the  buildings,  the  books,  the  computers  remain  owned  by  the  local  community,  in  this  case  Kern  County.”    In  addition,  he  said,  “we  don't  set  any  policies.”  Policies  governing  local  library  operation  would  still  be  controlled  by  the  local  governing  body,  which  would  determine  hours  of  operations,  fines,  fees    

and  so  on.    Fees  would  be  collected  by  LSSI  in  the  name  of  the  governing  body.  “We  will  collect  that  money  and  it  goes  in  an  account  controlled  by  the  governing  body.”    In  addition,  the  county  still  has  to  maintain  buildings,  provide  funds  for  staff  and  books  and  “provide  the  tax  dollars  to  support  the  library.”    What  would  change,  he  said,  is  bringing  private  sector  efficiencies  to  the  library  system.    “Our  libraries  are  not  in  good  shape.  They  could  do  better,”  Leach  said.    A  private  company  stepping  in,  Windrow  said,  could  allow  a  larger  percentage  of  library  funds  to  go  to  longer  hours,  more  staff  and  more  programs.    “We're  not  going  to  burdened  with  a  lot  of  the  administrative  overheads  and  the  work  rule  policies  that  the  library  [currently  has].  Its  not  the  fault  of  the  employees  that  the  libraries  are  underperforming.  It's  the  system  under  which  they're  operating.  They're  operating  under  a  civil  service  environment  that  was  put  in  place  in  1956.”    On  top  of  that,  he  said,  are  union  work  rules  “which  are  very  restrictive  in  terms  of  what  employees  can  and  cannot  do.  It  makes  for  a  very  unproductive  and  uncreative  environment.”    Windrow  said  LSSI  saves  money  by  centralizing  administrative  functions,  the  “back  room  activities”  such  as  cataloguing  and  processing  books  and  paying  bills,  thus  providing  “a  better  economy  of  scale  in  providing  those  services”  and  freeing  up  funding  for  longer  library  hours,  more  materials  and  better  programming.    Critics  of  the  idea  say  that  it  may  cost  local  jobs,  unsettle  the  community  and  lead  to  diminished  service  in  the  long  run.    Friends  of  the  Library  President  Sandy  Bradley  said  the  group  has  concerns  about  whether  a  private  corporation  would  provide  the  same  level  of  service  and  commitment  to  the  community  as  a  public  entity.    “A  [public]  library  has  to  collect  materials  on  all  sides  of  a  problem,  a  corporation  does  not  have  to  do  that,”  she  said.    “The  questions  that  we  would  ask  is  if  they  can  maintain  a  level  of  public  trust  that  has  been  earned  by  a  public  library.  Does  the  relationship  between  library  and  community  change  when  the  library  has  been  privatized?”    

Bradley  also  expressed  concern  that  the  library  might  lose  volunteers  if  a  public-­‐private  partnership  were  to  take  place.  The  Friends  of  the  Library,  however,  has  taken  no  official  position  and  does  not  want  to  discourage  people  from  volunteering,  she  said.    Bradley  acknowledged  that  due  to  county  funding  cuts,  the  library  has  lost  workers,  but  thinks  that  a  complete  turnover  of  staff  might  affect  quality  of  service.  “We  do  think  that  if  they  fire  everyone  that  professional  standards  and  the  quality  of  service  would  be  at  risk.”    Windrow  said  that  when  LSSI  takes  over  a  library  they  usually  hire  most  or  all  of  the  workers  necessarily  let  go  by  the  county  and  they  are  offered  jobs  and  salaries  commensurate  with  their  education  and  experience.    “We  don't  have  a  cadre  of  people  waiting  to  come  to  Kern  County  for  these  jobs.  We're  going  to  interview  and  try  to  hire  as  many  of  the  incumbent  employees  ourselves,  so  they're  not  going  to  lose  a  job.  They  will  have  a  job  that  will  just  have  a  different  employer.”    “The  elephant  in  the  room  is  there's  no  more  guaranteed  public  pension,”  Leach  said.  Windrow  said  that  his  company  does  offer  competitive  benefits  such  as  life,  health,  vision  and  dental  insurance,  tuition  reimbursement  and  a  401(k).    The  group  concluded  the  interview  with  a  summary  of  their  objective.  “The  point  we're  at  here  in  Kern  County  is  we're  not  asking  them  to  sign  a  contract  with  us,  we're  just  asking  them  to  consider  issuing  an  RFI  that  will  allow  [comparing]  what  the  private  sector  can  do  to  what  they're  doing  now  in  the  public  sector,”  Windrow  said.  “So  the  public  will  have  something  to  compare  apples  to  apples.”