Library Systems & Services, LLC comes forth with its proposal to manage Sarasota County’s libraries
May 14th, 2009 by Cooper Levey-Baker in Books, Editor's Desk, News, Politics, Sarasota-Manatee
On April 14, we broke news that Sarasota County had issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit proposals from private companies interested in contracting to manage the county library system. As we noted, an RFI does not require companies to submit specific pricing guidelines, and leaves the bidding stage for a later date. But there was a cutoff for interested parties: Larry Arnold, the executive director of community services for the county, set a May 1 deadline for all proposals.
That deadline has come and gone, and it turns out only one company took the time to respond: Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI), a multi-million firm based in Germantown, Md. You can download the business’s 20-page response here:
LSSI response to Sarasota County RFI
So, what does it say? And what does it mean for Sarasota County libraries?
It’s difficult to say for sure, because the LSSI proposal is rough, and does not detail specifically how it thinks it could improve Sarasota library management. The company has not been provided with a detailed assessment of where our current system stands. But the report hammers home a few key themes:
- Contracting with LSSI in no way means the company is responsible for setting library policy. Our local government would retain complete control over book collections. “Outsourcing the management of the library will have no impact on the setting of policies by the local authority,” the report states.
- LSSI gives current library employees first priority in staffing decisions: “Over the course of the past decade we have found that typically we hire 80-90% of the existing library employees.”
- Most of the cost-cutting LSSI offers is in library support systems: “Typically, for example, LSSI offers improved effectiveness and efficiency to public authorities through centralized or regionally supported IT departments.”
The LSSI document is a pitch for business, and we need to treat it with healthy skepticism. Take point two for example: While LSSI may draw most of its hires from the existing pool of librarians, it says nothing about maintaining those employees’ current salaries or benefits.
It’s also worth noting that LSSI has found itself in hot water before, and that it has not been a stranger to contentious local politics. A proposal to run the libraries in Linden, N.J., ran into trouble when allegations surfaced that the mayor was negotiating the deal as a way to oust an uncooperative library director, allegations that also included evidence that LSSI had donated to the mayor’s campaign fund.
So what’s next in the process? The county is forming a committee — made up of “knowledgeable library professionals, stakeholders and senior management” according to Arnold — to take an objective look at the proposal and make recommendations to the County Commission about whether or not to proceed. Assuming the committee likes what it sees from LSSI, commissioners would then decide whether or not to start the bidding process.
Obviously, this story is far from finished.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
[...] — Analyzing one company’s proposal to manage Sarasota’s libraries. [...]
June 11th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
[...] up on a story we broke back on April 14: This past Tuesday, a county committee finished evaluating a proposal issued by Library Systems & Services, LLC to privately manage Sarasota County’s…, and County Administrator Jim Ley emailed the results to county commissioners later that same day. [...]