Bedford, TX City Council, in 4-3 Vote, Rejects Outsourcing Library to LSSI
Source: Norman Oder, Library Journal, 8/29/2007
After an intense petition campaign and facing a crowd urging that local management of the Bedford Public Library, TX, be maintained, the Bedford City Council last night voted 4-3 against outsourcing library management to Library Systems and Services, LLC (LSSI).
....... LSSI's response to the city's request for a proposal was said to be confidential, because it contained "trade secrets and/or privileged or confidential or financial information." Because that prohibited discussion at the Council's meeting, and because the topic would not qualify for an Executive Session under state law, the city asked the State Attorney General to rule as to whether parts of the document could be disclosed. Some 36 hours before the meeting last night, LSSI agreed to allow disclosure of the entire document, thus leading to details about proposed staffing and more.