Library situation good opportunity for communication

Let’s have a frank talk about the library. In case you’ve missed it, one of the options the Spokane Valley City Council has left on the table is outsourcing. Rather than continue its contentious partnership with the county, the city may contract with a for-profit business, possibly from out-of-state, to take over the day-to-day operations of the Valley library. A quick Internet search reveals we are not the first city to consider such a drastic move. Municipalities across the country are being hit by flat or declining revenues on the one hand and rising operational costs on the other. In this climate there appears to be no agency or department that is not a potential candidate for outsourcing. At this point in the city’s evaluation process, two different outcomes have been mentioned: more services for the same cost; and the same services for less cost. These are political catch phrases that mask a harsher reality. The heart of the matter is, how do you run a library for less money? How do you improve services without spending more? Let me suggest some of the obvious answers. First, reduce labor costs. As with most successful businesses, people are the library’s biggest asset and number one expense. The 2003 annual report documents the tab for personnel at 64 percent of revenue. Labor cost savings can be achieved through staff reductions, lower salaries, changes in medical coverage or reformulation of retirement benefits. Outsourcing administrative tasks such as personnel and information technology is another approach. Second, increase productivity through automation. This assumes that the library is fundamentally inefficient, which is unlikely. The county is in the same situation as the city and has been looking for ways to cut costs for a lot longer. Automation projects can be expensive to implement, so the savings are usually in the future or produced by reducing or reallocating staff hours. Online catalogs and self-checkout are good examples. Third, increase fees for library cards for noncity patrons and increase the penalties for overdue materials. Fourth, reduce capital expenditures. This can mean postponing carpet replacement, heating and air conditioning upgrades or even new shelving for books. You can never get away from these costs, you can only postpone them. Fifth, reduce library hours and new material acquisitions. Less popular periodicals could be dropped or accessible only online; fewer copies of new books would be purchased with more reliance on interlibrary loans. At 12 percent of expenditures, books and other materials are the third largest line item in the annual report mentioned earlier. Last, reduce physical plant operating costs, which can be done by postponing regular maintenance, replacing light bulbs with more energy efficient ones or simply tweaking thermostat settings. Against the recent backdrop of increasing energy costs the odds are good the county has already done all these and more. Assuming we divorce the county and an out-of-area vendor takes over the library, there are even more issues the council must grapple with. The disposition of existing staff, for starters, not to mention developing a formula for which books we get and which remain the county’s. Figuring out how much of the Valley Library the city owns outright ought to be a real humdinger on its own, not to mention dealing with outstanding bond issues. Incentives to maintain high standards of service, library hours, children’s programs, and early-termination and nonperformance penalties are just a few of the important contractual issues to work out. If you’re like me you have strong feelings about all these options and issues. I’m concerned an out-of-state company will save money by consolidating operations and administration, resulting in loss of local jobs. I’m also concerned about potential reductions in children’s programs and shorter hours. What are the council’s concerns? Where does it stand? The discussions surrounding the the library are a litmus test of potentially bigger things yet to come, and present a unique opportunity to set high standards of communication and cooperation between the council and the electorate. By talking about difficult choices early and often, it will be easier for the City Council to work out compromises and get community support.