STATEMENT OF PATRICIA A. TUMULTY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NJ LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ON THE PROPOSED CONTRACT BETWEEN THE PASSAIC PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND LIBRARY SYSTEMS SERVICES, INC. (LSSI)

Good evening. I am Pat Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association. I am here on behalf of our membership to oppose the proposed contract between the Passaic Board of Public Library Trustees and LSSI. The reason is very simple. We believe this is privatization of the Passaic Public Library not “outsourcing” as it has been characterized in the newspaper. We are extremely concerned that we have not seen an RFP for services that would provide specific details on this proposed contract and would delineate how LSSI would implement this contract to provide superior service to the residents of Passaic without sacrificing employee benefits. The Passaic Public Library has a very special place in the hearts of the library community. For over 100 years the Passaic Public Library has been a municipal public library providing services to the residents of Passaic. In fact, the first convention of the New Jersey Library Association was held at the Reid Memorial Branch of the Passaic Public Library. The Passaic Public Library is a member of the New Jersey Library Association and its trustees are members of the New Jersey Library Trustee Association. We care about this library. We share your goals. The residents of Passaic must have excellent public library services to meet their needs.

It is our understanding that this contract would require that all employees of the Passaic Public Library to become employees of LSSI and, therefore, lose vital Civil Service protection and employment rights. This would seriously impede the rights of employees to seek redress for termination or the elimination of work hours. This would also seriously jeopardize the employment benefits of the employees many of whom have been accruing retirement benefits under PERS (Public Employment Retirement System) for many years. It would also permit a private company to hire and fire employees of the municipal library. Municipal libraries are public entities and employees must retain rights and benefits.

In 1998, the New Jersey Library Association developed a policy statement on outsourcing of public library services. I have provided each of you with a copy of that statement. In this statement we outlined specific criteria that we believe must be followed by any library board considering outsourcing the management of a public library. The foundation of our statement is the belief that librarianship is first and foremost a service profession dependent on the commitment of competent and courteous staff. After the press notified us regarding the possibility of a contract with LSSI in Passaic we asked our Urban Libraries Section to utilized our Outsourcing Statement to review what we knew about the proposal and evaluate it based in our criteria. They concluded and I quote:

"Apparently the plans under discussion threaten to pre-empt several key criteria of NJLA’s Statement on Outsourcing Library Services including:
2. The prerogatives of the Library Board of Trustees shall not be abridged or preempted…
4. All applicable laws and regulations must be upheld, including – but not restricted – to all library laws, civil service regulations and state aid requirements.
5. The rights of library workers to negotiate their conditions of employment must be preserved. This emphasis carries with it a responsibility to treat library employees fairly and equitably.

The Urban Libraries Section believes that the privatization of library services in Passaic will not only negatively impact services in that community but will establish a dangerous precedent that could be applied in other communities.”

This statement was adopted by the full executive board of the New Jersey Library Association on June 17 and is therefore the official policy of our Association to oppose this contract.
In addition, our Outsourcing Statement concludes with this paragraph:

"Outsourcing the management of a public library is a most serious step and should only be undertaken after careful study and as a last resort. Prior to the Board consideration of outsourcing the management of any public library, the New Jersey State Library should perform an evaluation and review of library operations."

To our knowledge such a review of library operations has not been undertaken here in Passaic. We would urge the board not to take any action until this step is taken. We believe it is imperative that an objective outside agency evaluates the programs and services of the Passaic Public Library.

It is important to note that the New Jersey Library Association has not opposed previous contracts of LSSI in New Jersey. In both the Linden Public Library and the Jersey City Public Library contracts, only the library director became the direct employee of LSSI. All other current employees retain benefits and civil service status. If new employees were hired it was a negotiation between the Board and LSSI. New employees hired through this process clearly understood that they were working for a private company.

In conclusion we believe that what is being proposed here in Passaic would be the first privatization of a public library in our state and the New Jersey Library Association strongly oppose such an action.