As of next week the libraries of Jackson County, Oregon will have been closed to the public for 6 months. No storytime for kids, no books, movies or cd’s for the residents, no book clubs and no internet access for the people most in need and most importantly one less place for people to get information.
In April, the libraries ran out of federal money and were left to their own devices to fill the gap.
In May, for the second time, voters failed to approve a tax increase that would have reopened the 15 libraries.
The interim library director, Tom Stark, left in August after seven months on the job, two of which the libraries were closed. In addition to Stark, five former managers have either retired early or found other jobs.
So were are we now?
Ashland, the bluest beacon in a dark red county, was excised from from the county process when they declared they will have their own vote on a levy to reopen their library. Jackson County commissioners told Ashland officials that they will not be allowed any say in the county’s negotiations to outsource the running of the library system to a private company. Ashland voters passed the levy.
The city council of Talent, OR followed by enacting a utility surcharge to pay for full library service to their community.
and the rest of the county?
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted to essentially privatize the libraries by outsourcing their care to a company in Maryland. Library Systems and Services (LSSI) was given a 5 year contract to operate the libraries though “the county anticipates it will be able to fund the libraries for two-and-one-half years to three years.” Hours for all branches will be reduced.
One need to look no further than the current Blackwater fiasco in Iraq to get a sense of the potential dangers of having a private company meddling in areas that were the domain of the public sphere. It can’t work.
Mark Smith, transition team leader for LSSI, says “the company makes every effort to create a library system that offers the same or better level of service as they received previously.” Every effort is far from a guarantee.
All you need to do is look at this picture to get a sense at how misguided such an approach is.
Here is Laurel Prchal, a Talent branch manager for 5 years and a library employee for 15 years, waiting for her interview with LSSI to see if she can get her old job back!
Shameful.
Previous Book Patrol posts on the Jackson County Library Closure
Southern Oregon’s Mail Tribune has been following the story closely