Moorpark, CA, Establishes Independent Library Via Outsourcing
-- Library Journal, 1/12/2007
The city of Moorpark, CA, has left the Ventura County Library District and, with no experience running its own library, has contracted with Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI) to operate its new city library, which held a grand opening on January 13. Mary Lindley, the city's parks, recreation, and community services director, told LJ that the city wanted to put more of its own money—outside the county library property tax—into its library and thus wanted more control. A consultant suggested that contracting out library service was feasible; LSSI operates a library in nearby Calabasas, and Lindley said city officials didn't believe there were other vendors, so Moorpark didn't do an RFP. (Other vendors have responded to RFPs, such as in Jackson, TN, where LSSI now manages the Jackson-Madison Library.)
Moorpark, population 35,000, was born as a city in 1983, a time of fiscal straits in California. "We are a contract city," Lindley said, citing everything from the sheriff's office to bus operation to solid waste collection. She said city officials recognized that the contractor would save on personnel costs—LSSI doesn't pay a civil service benefits package—"but, given six months to get up and operating, and not having any library history, background, or experience, that we felt this was the only way we were going to get up and running." She said that the city council would consider operating the library with city employees at a later date. The city has hired an additional employee whose duties include assisting Lindley in overseeing the library; the city council is considering whether to create a library board out of an existing library task force.
The city's annual projected library budget is about $625,000. For the transition, the city invested about $300,000 in one-time costs, including an automation system, new furniture, library cards, and $70,000 for enhancements to the collection. (The city inherited the building and the collection, as per a memorandum of understanding cities previously signed with the county system.) The city has bought new computers, and library hours have been increased from 54 to 58, with the addition of Sunday hours. While residents who used the county-managed library liked the staff, Lindley said, "an awful lot of Moorpark residents have never stepped inside," she said, saying the building was undersized and had an old collection. Some 2000 residents had paid a fee to use the neighboring Thousand Oaks Library, according to the Ventura County Star.
