LSSI Controversy Still Brewing in Stockton/San Joaquin County
By Norman Oder Sep 28, 2010In contrast with the swift and (to critics) hardly transparent decision by the Santa Clarita, CA, City Council to outsource library management to Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI), the city of Stockton, CA, and the San Joaquin County government are still considering a bid by LSSI to run the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library (SSJCPL), or some portion of it.
The interests of the city and county may diverge significantly, as the county evaluators of LSSI's bid scored it higher than did city evaluators. LJ reported July 15 on the brewing controversy. Since then, LSSI has submitted the bid, along with a host of backup documents.
LSSI pledges to operate the libraries at a significant cost savings of one-third on the system's $9.1 million budget if current hours are maintained, or with nearly 50 percent more hours and a $1.87 million savings. Projected increases for the standalone systems are similar.
There are eight county branches and four city locations, with one of them the central library. The city and county contribute roughly equal percentages of the library's budget, which is less than $20 per capita.
Questions raised
"I've looked at the details of the proposal, and I'm scratching my head as to how LSSI is going to pull this off," Colleen Foster, former director of the SSJCPL, commented to LJ.
"The company claims that service will improve, and yet it also plans to reduce salaries and benefits and eliminate two professionally certified librarians," she said. "It's like LSSI doesn't understand that good librarians are the heart of a successful library system."
While some Friends groups are on the fence, the largest, the Stockton Friends, is firmly against contracting with LSSI. Also, the Friends of the Manteca Library have circulated petitions opposing LSSI involvement.
City-county divergence
While the county scored the LSSI bid at 90.7 out of a possible 100, two city staffers gave it a 70.65 score--with the difference a much lower assessment of the quality of service.
The city of Stockton has hired a consultant to look further at the bid and is planning a public study session on the library issue on October 26.
While the county had intended to bring forward a joint recommendation, "one of our Board members recently indicated that he would prefer to see this process wrapped up sooner rather than later," said Bobby Magee of the County Manager's office. "So it may not be possible for the County to wait for the City to complete its review before a recommendation is made."
LSSI seems to have anticipated the possibility of a split between the city and county, setting up a website named simply San Joaquin County Libraries. Indeed, LSSI's bid offers three options, including operating the current system or operating one or the other half.
A boost from Hildreth
Magee told the local press that reference checks showed that LSSI delivered on what it said it would deliver. Nearly all the references did praise LSSI, except for the director of the Linden Public Library, NJ.
Notably, nearly all the references came from outside library operations: board members, Friends, and city officials.
The one exception was Susan Hildreth, City Librarian in Seattle and the former State Librarian in California, who was a State Library consultant and worked with LSSI in obtaining its first major contract, in Riverside County, CA.
"I have not been their client but I know that in both Riverside and Redding [CA] public service hours and operations were much improved by LSSI," Hildreth stated.
CEO comments on compensation
In an August 28 column in the Stockton Record, LSSI CEO Frank Pezzanite stated, among other things, that "LSSI will hire advanced-degree librarians and knowledgeable staff - giving preference to all who are now employed under the current system - at the same salaries, and provide generous benefits packages including a 401(k) plan; health, vision, dental and life insurance; and educational reimbursements."
While LSSI asserted that it "pays competitive wages," in a response to questions posed by the county government, there are significant differences, particularly for professional librarians:
Page salaries in the system would stay constant, new clerical hires would make "approximately $10 per hour to more than $15 per hour" and "professional level hires would typically start around $40,000 increasing to $55,000 or higher depending on education, experience and level of responsibility," according to Pezzanite.
In the current system pay scale, shelvers make minimum wage, Library Aides earn $14.44 to $20.47 an hour ($30,000 to $43,000 a year) and Circulation Assistants earn $14.82 to $20.96 an hour ($31,000 to $44,000 a year). While the LSSI proposal includes no positions for Library Assistants, SSJCPL pays a Library Assistant I $35,670 to $45,793 a year, and a Library Assistant II $41,316 to $53,038 a year. A Librarian I earns $45,338 to $58,204 a year, while a Librarian II earns $55,362 to $71,082 a year.
One commenter pointed out that, while Pezzanite described LSSI as a "family-run company," it is now owned by a private equity firm.
Also, missing from Pezzanite's column is any of the scorn directed at library staffers that appeared in the New York Times's coverage of Santa Clarita.
Behind the cost savings
In addition to salary distinctions, an FAQ on the LSSI site answers a key question, "Will the employee benefits be cut?" The response suggests there "may" be a difference:
While every community situation is unique, over the years we have seen that our benefits program is generally comparable to a city's or county's benefit plan. One exception may be the pension program. LSSI offers a 401 (k) plan and matches a portion of our employees' contributions.
What factors allow for such a competitive cost model, LSSI was asked. The response:
LSSI introduces operational efficiencies whenever possible, including the centralization of many administrative functions such as HR and accounting, which are handled from LSSI's corporate offices. In addition, LSSI provides staff with more efficient tools to accomplish the necessary work. For example, LSSI invests more than $100,000 per year in the OSA acquisitions tracking software from The Library Corp., which provides running fund balances, and automates the receipt process for our staff members in LSSI-operated libraries nationwide. Furthermore, the structure of LSSI's overhead and benefits is more efficient than that typically found in a governmental setting.
Asked about the number of MLS professionals, which "appears to be low," LSSI responded:
LSSI has approximately 550 staff members working in our public libraries division, and about 90 professional MLS librarians in the company. We feel that the family of libraries we operate are adequately staffed with professional librarians to satisfy our customers' requirements.
Asked how its profit is calculated, and whether it's capped, the response was that it is not capped, but calculated as a percentage of total revenues. "Overall company profits are less than five percent," LSSI said.
New ILS?
If San Joaquin County separates from the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library System, the new system could maintain a continued relationship with Stockton, sharing the city's integrated library system (ILS).
Alternatively, the new library could aquire and implement an ASP-model ILS. While "membership in the Inland Library Network would not be geographically advantageous," LSSI said it is "open to considering other regional solutions."
Editorial, opposition
The Stockton Record, in an editorial, took a supportive but not uncritical approach. "If we can save money, expand hours, reopen the shuttered Fair Oaks Branch and increase not only the system's collection but also its level of service, then privatize it," the newspaper said, but warned that any contract should include "performance requirements, periodic reviews and sanctions for nonperformance."
Meanwhile, opponents of the LSSI bid have established a web site and blog, Keep Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Libraries PUBLIC, citing the opposition of a number of civic and Friends groups.
While many of the posts are pseudonymous, one, from Lesley Billigmeier, President of the Friends of the Linden Library, warned that a County Supervisor talking up LSSI's bid hadn't read the backing documents.
