Jackson County, OR, PL Reopens

As expected, Jackson County, OR, has signed a contract with Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI) to reopen its closed library system. Branches in Medford and Ashland were to open on October 24; the remaining 13 branches of Jackson County Library Services (JCLS) were to follow the week after, according to the Mail-Tribune. The county closed the libraries April 6 after Congress failed to renew timber subsidies—though a one-year extension was later passed.

Given the shoestring budget, most buildings will be open only about half the previous hours, though voters in Ashland and the city council in Talent agreed to boost weekly hours to 40 and 36, respectively. Medford, formerly the home of the central library, will only be open 24 hours and “is the big uncertain one at this point,” Commissioner Dave Gilmour told the newspaper. Some former central library functions will be run by LSSI out of its Germantown, MD, office.

As the Porland Oregonian reported, library workers will get comparable wages, but they will lose eligibility for a key benefit: membership in the state's public employee retirement program. About 50 to 60 staffers, out of a former complement of 100, will be hired. Former branch manager Anne Billeter told the newspaper, “Basically, there are a few people who decided that they could not accept the concept of a private for-profit company [running the library], and they chose not to apply. But for the most part, the staffs cared deeply about the library and the library patrons and want to be back providing library service.”