Turmoil in TN: After LSSI Contract, Director Sent Home

-- Library Journal, 10/10/2006

Two days after the board of the Jackson-Madison County Library, TN, signed a contract to outsource management to Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI) two board members told longtime director Thomas Aud, who had planned to retire Oct. 31, not to return to the library other than as a patron, since he might hinder the transition. Aud told LJ that staffers were confused as to who was in charge, given that the LSSI contract begins on Nov. 1. He said, "Nowhere in the contract is there any note about the transition process planned or desired." Board chair Kathryn Swindle could not be reached for comment yesterday. According to a report in the Jackson Sun, the meeting Oct. 4 was highly contentious, as members of the newly formed Citizens Against Privatization asked the board to wait until a court case is resolved. The County Commission, which along with the city jointly funds the library (but supplies only three of seven board members), has questioned whether the board has the authority to privatize the library, but the Tennessee Court of Appeals is not expected to rule for months. A local judge refused to block the board from moving ahead, but the contract with LSSI acknowledges that the board can withdraw from the deal if the court rules against it.  

During the meeting, Aud told LJ, he challenged the board's summary of the proposal prepared by current management, saying it was misleading. While LSSI would not disclose its management fee, Aud observed that current employees offered a "zero percent" management fee—a comment that, according to the Sun, "produced loud applause and a standing ovation from some." Some 2000 voters have signed a petition opposing the LSSI move. The Sun noted that Jo Ann Birmingham, a library patron and the mother of County Commissioner Fred Birmingham, observed that the LSSI contract might expose the county and city to paying off accrued sick and annual leave when current library staffers leave county employment. She noted that other LSSI contracts had been supported by local government. Aud told LJ, "The two board members told me that my actions were upsetting the staff. I told them that the actions of the board were much more upsetting to the staff. Obviously the staff supported me as evidenced by a very nice retirement reception they and others had for me on Oct. 1 at the library." The County Commission on Oct. 16 plans to address "possible action" regarding the LSSI contract.