Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Outsourcing Libraries - Public Library as a Private Enterprise

"Once known as staid, quiet repositories for books, some institutions are coMedia Credit: KRT Two people in Newport beach, Calif., enjoy wireless internet and comfortable furniture at their local public library. Such luxuries are typical in libraries to attract patrons.pying business models on how best to attract and keep 'customers.' Jeff Overly "


Outsourcing Libraries: @ OntheCommons.org, Tue, 11/06/2007 , by David Bollier's blog
"There may be no more eloquent statement about the erosion of our civic connectedness than the news that public libraries around the country are starting to outsource their daily operations. Yes, public libraries are being privatized. This should not be entirely surprising, given how jails, highways and even military operations are being privatized these days. Yet it does raise the distressing question – If libraries are vulnerable, where will this momentum for dismantling our civic institutions end? ... http://faithcommons.org/feeditem/outsourcing_libraries
See also on the same shelf:

  • Outsourcing Library Operations in Academic Libraries: An Overview of Issues and Outcomes, by Claire-Lise Benaud, Sever Bordeianu
  • Outsourcing in private law libraries since the Baker & McKenzie action, Kevin Miles, The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, 1996: 9:2
  • Meditating Librarian: Outsourcing libraries?

  • DRAWERS DROPPED: Mission Viejo Library visitors search for books by computer instead of card catalog. RYAN HODGSON-RIGSBEE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Libraries take a page from business world:
    By JEFF OVERLEY, The Orange County Register
  • Union unveils plan to reopen libraries (The Mail Tribune): (Outsource your chores via the Net (Berkshire Eagle) @ Outsource-Hub.com

    The Bottom Line: “library” includes a children’s library, but does not include a library conducted by private enterprise for profit. Source: LIBRARY BOARD OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA ACT 1951 - SECT 3
  • Friday, November 09, 2007

    THE SAD SIDE OF REMEMBRANCE DAY 2006


    November 10, 2006 [News from Ontario Library Association]


    After the tremendous surge of support for Remembrance activities in 2005, it is sad to see the growing number of stories in the media involving the theft of donation boxes this year. These stories are being offset by people rising to the occasion to replace the stolen money but it is a measure of the shock. A robber made off with a Remembrance Day poppy box that had been set up at the circulation desk at the Elmvale Acres branch of Ottawa Public Library. In an Ottawa Citizen story, library spokesman Alan Roberts said Friday the staff were "mortified" by the robbery and they, like so many others, are pitching in to replenish the money that was stolen.


    See also: ola meeting spaceCommunity BlogOLA Headline Stories