LSSI To Manage Fargo, ND Library

Staff -- Library Journal, 2/19/2001

In Fargo, ND, where Library Director Dave Davis resigned in September 2000 after five months of turmoil with his staff, the private company Library Systems and Services Inc. (LSSI) has been hired to manage the library. Under a two-year contract (with an option to renew), LSSI will provide a director and perform other management tasks, such as long-range planning. The interim director is Lynn Wheeler, who had nearly 30 years experience at the Baltimore County Public Library before joining LSSI last fall; however, LSSI likely will replace her with "someone on a more permanent basis," said LSSI VP Bob Windrow. He likened the operating model in Fargo to that in Linden, NJ, where LSSI also supplies a director and management services; by contrast, in Jersey City, NJ, LSSI supplies a team of staffers and in Riverside County, CA, LSSI runs the entire system.