We have read in our course work over this week and the last about outsourcing and the damage that it can do to libraries. Collections development and management suffer when jobs that are usually done by library employees, who are knowledgeable of the public that they serve, are given to companies that just buy bestsellers to add to the library shelves. Contract companies that are hired for collections development are usually distant and uninvolved in the community that they are serving. This distance affects the quality of the materials they provide and the satisfaction of the patrons.
Another concern for us, being future professionals in the library field, is what outsourcing means for our jobs. Will the jobs that we do have be taken away or will it be harder to find jobs that provide reasonable pay and benefits considering contract workers will work for less.
These are all legitimate concerns centered around outsourcing and in this article, from Library Journal, the issue is brought up in conjunction with libraries in Josephine County Oregon. The article talks about four libraries in Josephine County that were closed down last year on account of not having enough funding. The money for the libraries decreased when there was a drop in federal timber payments, which caused many counties that relied on that money to make cut backs. Naturally the libraries were some of the first things to go in this situation. Over a year later however, the libraries are being reopened under the management of a private nonprofit group called the Josephine County Libraries, the JCLI. The article mentions that raising funds for their reopening in addition to trying to sell the community on the new outsourced “NPR model” was difficult. One reason for this could be because of the bad connotations that usually accompany the term ‘outsourcing’.
No matter what the reason is though, these four county libraries will be reopened because of this new management and administration that is stepping in. If the county had to wait until it had sufficient government funding to reopen these libraries who knows how long it would have taken. These county libraries are already competing for dwindling funds with public safety and human services, so who knows if they would have ever been able to be reopened at all. A library in the surrounding Jackson County had to close down last year only to reopen a few months later under the management of a private contract company, much like the libraries in Josephine County will be doing. Even amongst the damage that outsourcing can do to collections development, and the uneasiness that it stirs up in the library job market isn’t it worth it in cases like these? Cases where turning things over to private management seems to be the only way that these libraries will be able to reopen. After last week conversation about how beneficial public libraries are to socialization of children, public education, creating lifetime learners, helping to further career and educational endeavors, and even being a way to pursue the American dream, it seems a shame to let them sit closed when there is something that could be done to open them. Outsourcing might not be the best of friends with libraries and librarians all the time but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and there just isn’t the government money to keep them open isn’t it a handy plan B? Especially since the article states that if and when the County is ready to take over the libraries the JCLI would step aside and let that happen.
9 comments:
I agree: this seems like this is a good example of a “middle position” on outsourcing. What I like about this is that the outsourced agency is a) non-profit and b) willing to step aside when (or if) the county becomes able to run the library system again.
Sometimes, outsourcing can be a smart cost-cutting measure. One article from this week’s reading talked about a matrix for deciding what to outsource. Core responsibilities, the things that relate to the identity of the agency, should not be outsourced. But little things that might be better or at least more cheaply managed if hived off to a specialist firm can be considered for outsourcing.
One concern I have, along with a lot of longtime library practitioners, is when outsourcing library operations become a form of union busting. Many librarians, as public employees, are unionized and hence make decent salaries and have decent benefits. (And of course, when some libraries are unionized, this forces other libraries to have to raise salaries to compete.) Just because it is a public institution doesn’t mean anyone should have to do it out of the kindness of their hearts. People do better work when they are valued. But labor costs are always an issue in every enterprise. So some worry that when expert functions (like cataloging and collection development) are outsourced, the primary cost savings comes from reduction in hourly labor costs and benefits packages. Sometimes firms taking on these responsibilities hire non-MLIS labor to do it—sacrificing the professional status librarians and professional organizations like the ALA have worked long and hard to cultivate.
The other issue is quality, and it is related to the above comment. I know catalogers who have noticed a steep decline in quality control in MARC records that directly correlates to the outsourcing of cataloging functions to vendors like OCLC and Baker & Taylor. And B&T was involved in the scandalous Hawaii state library system outsourcing scam. Collection development was outsourced to B&T, and they essentially dumped remainder copies of titles on Hawaii while neglecting local needs. (OCLC is primarily non-profit with some for-profit subsidiaries while B&T is for-profit.) Hawaii prevailed in a lawsuit against B&T, and state librarian Bart Kane left shame faced. (Please note that non-profit doesn’t mean good and wholesome necessarily, simply that there will be less incentive for some kinds of management practices that create profit by skimping elsewhere.)
Now of course, many Americans recognize “outsource” as a management term that signals the demise of good, living wage jobs and low quality substitutions. My own take-home message is to outsource with smarts the non-essential functions of information agencies, but with close oversight and with living wage guarantees for workers who are taking over the outsourced work. Now is the time to reevaluate what works (besides just saving money) and what doesn’t, and do it better.
“Outsourcing” and “contract employees” are now considered the new trade in the world business. Governments around the world are switching between long term employees how have high salaries and benefits, to contractors. The weakness of long term employees from a business view point is that while they get high salaries, they become less productive with age. However, contractors get only what they work for, and when they become less productive they will be substituted by another young employee with a small salary. This is happening everywhere in the world, in France the people voted against the introduction of the contract employees’ law in the public sector. Also, in Lebanon we are suffering from this new business, where police and army are employing using a year by year contract basis.
Libraries are facing the same problem. Hiring contractors and outsourcing almost everything is a great idea in term of funding. However, this is a real problem for human rights. The long term struggle of workers and syndicates from the French revolution till now seems to be vanishing.
On the other hand, the outsourcing can be a solution for the funding problems in libraries. Many services in libraries can be outsourced without any problem (printing, binding, cataloging…). However, I am totally against collection development outsourcing, since collection development decisions is made in connection to local issues and needs, that may not be understood by big companies.
The idea that the libraries are managed by non-profit organizations seems very overwhelming. Yet, other substitutes can be a solution of library funding. Usually when some small companies are facing financial problems, the best solution to continue is to merge with other biggest companies (Compaq and HP). This can be a solution in libraries facing financial problems. They can be merged with biggest libraries that will provide them with many services (cataloging, reference materials…). Also, professional librarians in biggest libraries can offer consulting services and professional seminars for employees in smallest libraries.
In conclusion, I think that outsourcing and contracting will not affect library professionals profoundly, they will move from working in libraries into biggest companies that run multiple libraries at the same time. However, the picture is still not clear enough to decide how our profession will be affected.
After looking at the readings from last week, it seems many librarians are worried about the complete privatization of libraries. For example, they are concerned private institutions would be able to develop their collections however they see fit with a disregard for “neutrality.” Since public libraries value developing well-rounded collections and remaining “neutral,” in this sense, privatization would cause a problem. Another large concern is that libraries will begin focusing on being a business as they become more privatized rather than focusing on serving the community.
I think it is really important for librarians to look out for their patrons and I admire those who do.
However, privatization is not always a bad thing and this article is a good example. In this case, people who wanted the library funded it and allowed for its reopening. People did have a general concern for the library and sought to reopen the library without help from the government.
This article also reminds me of some of our previous discussions about the role of “Hybrid Professionals” as well as other professionals who never received and MLS degree. If librarians are worried about staying competitive with these other professionals, librarians need to figure out how to emphasize the skill sets they possess that the other professionals don’t possess. These other professionals seem more marketable and librarians should figure out why. How can MLS holders convince people they are valuable (without just citing there degree)? If librarians can’t make a convincing argument for their purpose and the purpose of the library, the quality of the library will be lost to the budget crunching answers.
Consolidation and outsourcing is a fact of life for many organizations both public and private. If five people are doing the job of two, three employees should be eliminated so long as it does not impair services. Having too many people performing overlapping duties can impair services due to inefficiency and encumbering the library with bloated overhead.
Outsourcing can provide employment to many folks who are not able to commit to full time work and those who look only for temporary work; not all people want to work full time.
It appears to me that the library did not identify the potential of having a non-profit "friends" types group that could supplement monetary means in the first place. This is a common practice all over the country. Perhaps there should be a review of the administration ...
Also, I think that an 8 dollar a month property tax increase is not that much to ask. Perhaps the taxpayers could be encouraged to donate another 8 bucks a month and take the write off.
I am surprised that politicos who serve the county and state couldn't find a way to earmark a few bucks to kick in.
Outsourcing really is a balancing act. I think as long as the "structural integrity" of the organization, the core values, remains intact then it can be a valuable resource when cutting costs which is becoming more necessary as our nation's economic strength slowly withers away.
The Hawaii incident illustrates the potential dangers involved. I dread to imagine a day when this might become the norm...
Outsourcing is definitely a word that stirs up a lot of feelings, especially now, as many people are losing their jobs and having difficulty finding steady work that pays a livable wage. Budget cuts are inevitable and an easy way to cut a lot of money is to cut staff and benefits.
I agree with everyone that some outsourcing at the library is not terrible. In a small library, it might even be preferable to bring in specialized help for certain tasks that the staff is not equipped to handle. In general, I think that is the way outsourcing should be done in a library setting – for certain tasks, not outsourcing the entire library.
However, the scenario here warrants a different view. It is better to have a library outsourced than to have no library at all. I think it’s great that there is a solution available to the community.
I like that the company taking over the library is non-profit. This could help keep them from making poor decisions for purely monetary reasons. As the library is non-profit and hoping to serve the community, one can hope that the non-profit organization taking over is also committed to serving the community and ultimately carrying out the mission of the library.
I agree with nearly everyone that it's a good thing the nonprofit company only plans to run the library until the county can take it back over. However, I am curious as to the credentials of the nonprofit organization. Their board of directors doesn't list one person as having a librarian background--these people are all listed as bank presidents, attorneys, and other professions. Hopefully the original librarians would still be kept on (though, I admit, I'm not sure how unions work here), to keep the library system running smoothly and to keep quality control as high as possible.
However, this reminds me of our readings as to the relevancy of the MLIS degree. To quote: "The JCLI Board members represent a knowledgeable, professional cross-section of the Josephine County community and have the expertise to hire experienced library staff who will train volunteers and run the library in accordance with the goals and objectives that are emerging as priorities for this community." (from the JCLI web site: www.josephinelibrary.org)
Hopefully they will hire people with MLIS degrees, but are they qualified to make that decision at all? What do they know about actually running a library and how will it impact the quality? I also agree with Elizabeth that this might cause problems with neutrality in the future.
In one of my other classes the professor mentioned how they outsourced their "authority control records" because it was more cost effective. In the age of consultants and contract workers, jobs no longer seem secure. I have worked at both a union and non library. The morale was noticeably lower at the non union library.
Nowadays, the word outsourcing brings to mind huge corporations shipping our jobs out of the country for cheaper labor.
Outsourcing is often brings to mind other scary words like job loss, and poor service. However, it doesn't always have to be this way, which is what I think this article is getting at.
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