Huntington Beach considering privatizing library operations

The Huntington Beach City Council will consider privatizing public library operations by allowing an outside company to run the service, with city staff asking the council to allow them to solicit bids from contractors.

Interim City Manager Eric Parra, who is also the police chief, placed the item on the City Council’s agenda for its March 19 meeting. The city was approached by Library Systems & Services, a private company that manages other libraries throughout the country, earlier this year to operate Huntington Beach’s “at a substantial annual cost savings for the city,” according to the agenda item.

During city staff’s review of the proposal, they learned that other contractors may also be able to provide similar services prompting the suggestion the city release a request for proposals, officials said.

“While the city has been approached by Library Systems & Services, the purpose for issuing (a request for proposal), should the City Council approve, would be to identify other agencies/contractors that provide library management services,” city spokesperson Jennifer Carey said in an email.

If the city does move forward with changing management of the library, it would have to meet with labor unions representing library staff.

Carol Daus, a member of the nonprofit Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library, said she doesn’t expect the “vast majority of our 900 members” to feel comfortable volunteering at a library run by a for-profit company.

“You cut all the volunteers out, you are going to have a real hollowed-out library in terms of community support, books and services,” Daus said.

The Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library gives the library around $250,000 a year through sales from its used book store and gift shops inside the library, Daus said.

She said she expects the Maryland-based Library Systems & Services would win a bid since it has “virtually no competitors.”

“When you get into a national company coming in and trying to use its business model for providing services for the community, it becomes quite different than what a public library is,” Daus said.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2011 that prevents cities privatizing library operations from agreeing to contracts that would cause library employees to lose their job, wages, benefits or hours.

Other communities in California have made the move to use Library Systems & Services. Riverside County in 1997 was the first in the nation to have its libraries run by a private company. In the years since, the cities of Simi Valley, Escondido and Palmdale have done so as well.

The City Council meets on Tuesday, March 19, at 2000 Main St.