As U.S. Libraries Are Outsourced, Readers See Public Trust Erode
- Maryland's LSSI runs 82, finding efficiencies amid the stacks
- `Companies have a right to do whatever they want,' critic says
Patrons use computers at the City of Santa Clarita Public Library Valencia Branch in Santa Clarita, California.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A Maryland company that runs public libraries has more than doubled in size in the past decade as governments seek savings. Bibliophile residents complain that an investment in knowledge and culture is being milked for profit.
Library Systems & Services LLC is running into opposition as it seeks to add the 24 libraries in Kern County, California, to its portfolio of 82 in six states, allowing the county to shed a unionized workforce of 118. The county north of Los Angeles would be the largest addition for LSSI since the firm, which is owned by Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Argosy Capital Group Inc., got into the book business in 1997.