Secrecy surrounds push to privatize libraries

The Kern County Board of Supervisors presented a fall in oil revenue as the initial impetus for the move to privatize county libraries, but internal documents revealed by the Bakersfield Californian showed members of the county board had been in talks with Library Systems & Services LLC (LSSI) as early as last year over privatization, long before county coffers began to shrink. As the board continues to discuss selling the library system, opponents of the move say the public should have a say in the matter. “We’re concerned because no prior outreach was done with the staff of the library, and none done with the community. Our voices have not been heard, so we want to gather and organize so we can have a united message that we don’t want privatization.” Read the full story on South Kern Sol.