Editorial: Support for libraries overdue
Source: Boston Globe (MA), March 25, 2008
FACED WITH tight budgets, the towns of Dartmouth and Tewksbury are thinking about privatizing their libraries. The impulse is understandable, given anemic revenues and spiraling costs. But libraries should remain wholly public entities.
...... Privatizing libraries elsewhere in the country has yielded mixed results. A private company can only work within the budget that it's given, and its goal is to spend sparingly, or cut back, in order to make a profit. For example, Library Systems and Services, a Maryland company, manages public libraries in California, Kansas, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas. In some cases, the company has been able to increase hours and expand collections. But in Jackson County, Ore., Library Systems had to cut staff and benefits to adhere to its contract.
....... Massachusetts is home to the nation's first free public library. That's a legacy worth preserving. Municipal belt-tightening only goes so far. It's up to the taxpaying public to make the investment - to protect a vital source of information and insight.