The Los Angeles Public Zoo is a pristine, 133-acre treasure in the heart of Griffith Park. It’s an inexpensive attraction that has thrilled generations of children in Southern California. But the City of Los Angeles is rushing toward a privatization scheme that will hand control of the LA Zoo over to a private operator for 25 years.

Once we give away a monopoly over our zoo, we’ll lose public control over the zoo. We’ll also lose public oversight–over how the zoo is run and how the animals are treated. If you think our public zoo should remain under public control, fill out the form to your right and join the fight against the Privatization Beast.

Assemblymember Das Williams vs. The Privatization Beast

Last year, the Privatization Beast came for our public libraries. But thanks to the thousands of people who signed petitions and made phone calls, AB 438 (Williams) was signed by California’s Governor and we kept the Beast’s hairy paws off our libraries.

The law, which took effect on January 1, 2012, gives communities control over their public libraries. It establishes taxpayer protections through audits and standards of transparency when corporations try to take over a trusted neighborhood resource.

Throughout this recession, families and individuals have turned to libraries for help applying for jobs, learning new skills, using the internet and getting help in school. When times are tough, public institutions such as libraries prove their worth more than ever. By signing AB 438, Governor Brown put taxpayers and the public ahead of the profits of private companies.

Although this legislation is limited to California, other states are now drafting similar legislation and the American Library Association has created a checklist for communities considering library privatization (pdf).

A special thank you to all of the organizations and individuals who helped get this law passed!

And remember, when the Beast rears his ugly head in your community, our team will be there to help you fight him off!

“AB 438 is essential in that it requires full transparency and public participation when a city is considering privatizing its public libraries,” said Gina Quesenberry, El Monte Community Library Manger (Los Angeles County). “In these difficult financial times we can’t afford to have another situation like that of Santa Clarita in which privatizing didn’t save money, but actually ended up costing taxpayers an extra $12 million.”

The vote by the Senate came shortly after SEIU 721 members and library supporters held a press conference in Sacramento and visited legislators to convey the importance of AB 438. We also showed the overwhelming support the bill has received from the public by presenting legislators and the Governor with the names of 71,000 individuals – who had signed online petitions supporting the bill.

Once signed into law, we’ll be able to count on having safeguards in place that cities and library districts must adhere to when considering to contract out library services. Such safeguards outlined in AB 438 require that a fair cost analysis be completed, that there be proven savings to the taxpayers, the selection involves a competitive bidding process, the contractor has proven qualifications, that employees not be displaced, that performance and financial audits be put in place, and the public notice requirements be increased so that we can be a part of the discussion.

We will continue to keep you posted as the bill gets closer to becoming law.

The committee supported the bill and approved it 6-3. AB 438 will go to a full senate floor vote in August.

Though no matter the result in California, libraries need to be defended in several states. Fourteen librarians and three Santa Clarita community members just returned from the American Library Association conference in New Orleans from June 24-27 where they shared this message, as well as their experiences in Santa Clarita and the state legislature with attendees from all over.

At the conference, they staffed a booth and held a 90-minute workshop called “Library Privatization- What’s at Stake for Your Profession and Community”. The workshop was standing room only with librarians from across the country including LSSI staff members who seemed most interested in the subject.

More than 3,000 ALA attendees stopped by the booth and many expressed interest in having the materials available on the website so they could share them when they went home.

Please continue supporting this campaign and legislation with more calls and actions in the coming weeks.

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ALA Conference Resources:

American Libraries Association:

Keeping Public Libraries Public: A Checklist for Communities Considering Privatization of Public Libraries (PDF)

Booth & Workshop Handouts:

Library Privatization Brochure for Workshop (PDF)

Document for Elected Officials about Privatization (PDF)

2 page fact sheet Library Privatization (PDF)

Library Privatization The Hidden Costs to Taxpayers (PDF)

Elected officials and lobbyists in support of privatization tried to kill the bill but thousands of California residents made calls in support of AB 438 and it passed 44 to 28.

Taxpayers will greatly benefit when this bill becomes a law. Experiences with private library service providers like LSSI have resulted in diminished library services and increased costs to taxpayers. The bill will go to the California Senate for a floor vote within the next few weeks.

This legislation could be used as a model across the country and slow the spread of privatizing libraries. Most importantly, this bill will place the burden of altering one of the most essential public services on to the elected officials that are advocating for the privatization of libraries.

If you are attending the American Library Association convention in New Orleans stop by booth 346 and get the latest information on this campaign and pick up your own privatization beast! Also, attend our panel:

Privatization of Libraries -What’s at Stake for Your Profession and Community
Saturday, June 25, 2011
4:00 pm-5:30 pm
Convention Center RM 286

See you in New Orleans!

The California state legislature has introduced a bill (AB 438) that would require future city councils who want to privatize their libraries to involve the community through a series of open meetings and public involvement before they could take a vote on privatizing their libraries. The legislation passed the first hurdle but needs your support. Please show your support for AB 438 and invite your friends to support it as well.

LSSI knows that once the public gets involved there will be accountability and a need for transparency and they have hired two of the biggest Sacramento lobbying firms to defeat the bill. In fact, LSSI defends the privatization of libraries and claims his company is under attack in a recent Washington Post article describing community concerns about unknown consequences.

What was the Council’s response to Lynne’s comments? To suggest that the petition is a fake. Because it can’t possibly be true that so many people oppose privatizing Santa Clarita’s public libraries. Unfortunately for the Council, the evidence is on the internet.

People continue adding their name to the front page of PrivatizationBeast.org. They post on their Facebook pages. And on Twitter and Tumblr. The suggestion that this isn’t happening is just ludicrous. But don’t take our word for it, just search on the internet.

By disputing a few signatures (from a web petition, no less), the City Council is succeeding in distracting us from the real numbers; millions of dollars in unanticipated expenses that are piling up.

So far, the tab for Santa Clarita taxpayers includes:

• $1,500,000 = Loss of property tax revenue from pulling out of the LA County library system.
• $752,100 = Completing the Canyon Country library renovations.
• $93,000 = To participate in the LSSI aka Inland Area Library Network to borrow books.
• $436,000 = Cost of replacement of books and materials needed after leaving the LA Co. library system.
• $135,000 = LSSI fee to assist Santa Clarita officials in the transition to a stand-alone library.
• $20,000 = Cost of polling residents to see if they would be willing to pay a new library tax.
• Unknown = The cost of holding a special election for a new library tax.
• Unknown = To purchase the Valencia and existing Newhall Library from Los Angeles County.
• $1,00,0,000 = On March 22, the City Council will be asked to give LSSI money for books fo the library to ensure enough titles for opening day.  This probably won’t be enough for three libraries.

$3,946,100 + ? + ? = Total Costs for Santa Clarita Residents

The City Council needs to start talking about those numbers.

“I don’t want LSSI to profit at the expense of communities. I strongly believe that only patrons should profit from public libraries,” said one activist in a message to Santa Clarita’s City Council Members.

A school teacher from Chicago wrote, “I can tell you from experience that privatization brings havoc to any attempt to equalize opportunity in our society. Such actions…end up costing the taxpayers more money while denying resources to the neediest among us.” The teacher concluded, “Some things are better left in the hands of the public.”

A water operator in Sonoma County wrote, “I see what privatization does to drinking water quality and rates. I use my county library constantly and support it monetarily. Please do not take this step, I see it in small water companies; there is no way to reverse the process, it would have to be a profitable sale for a private company to release it again! I will be letting all my CA friends and coworkers know about this proposed BAD action! Please try something else other than privatization.”

People have sent more than 7,500 messages to the Santa Clarita City Council demanding they withdraw from their contract with LSSI and allow city residents to have a voice on privatizing the public library system.

Can we make it to 10,000 messages? Ask your friends to send a message to the Santa Clarita City Council.

The Santa Clarita City Council is meeting next Tuesday and we’ll be there. At the meeting, community members will be urging the City Council to prevent LSSI from taking control of the public library system on July 1st. They’ll also be hand delivering your petitions signatures to the City Council.

Share the Beast with your friends and urge them to send a message: http://action.seiu.org/page/share/sharethebeast

Oh, but it gets better. The City Council invited LSSI executive Ron Dubberly to chair – or, technically, ‘facilitate’ - this committee. In other words, the committee created to advise on the city’s relationship with a private company is being controlled by that same private company. Dubberly has been President of LSSI’s Public Library Management Operations since 2008.

A blogger over at Save Our Santa Clarita Libraries appropriately dresses down the phony ‘advisory committee’ and the theatre of Ron Dubberly’s facilitation, reporting from the Committee’s Dec. 9, 2010 meeting:

Committee facilitator Ron Dubberly repeatedly referred to the text The New Planning for Results: a streamlined approach, by Sandra Nelson (for the Public Library Association; American Library Association, Chicago and London, 2001) as his template for running the Library Planning Committee. Dubberly handed out worksheets and graphs from the book, and the committee’s first task was an exercise from the book.

…

According to the book, when choosing a trained facilitator, a big plus is that he will be perceived as being “neutral,” and “can focus solely on the group interactions without being distracted by content issues.” (p25, figure 5)

Can an LSSI employee be neutral in this process? Can an LSSI employee not “be distracted” by content issues? If the Citizens Public Library Advisory Committee determines, for example, that our new libraries will require, say, staff equal to our current County library staff, yet Dubberly knows that LSSI cannot profit by maintaining such a workforce, will he then “remain neutral?” Will he not “be distracted by content issues?”

We’re not sure what kind of message Santa Clarita’s City Council intended to send when they appointed an LSSI executive to facilitate the ‘advisory committee’ on privatizing their libraries – but it’s certainly not a message of transparency, neutrality, and a respect for constituent voices. The existence of this sham committee also flies in the face of the ALA’s own Code of Ethics, which asserts “We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.” Take a stand against the LSSI-controlled ‘citizens’ advisory committee’ and demand a real voice for Santa Clarita residents. Send a message to Santa Clarita’s City Council to put a stop to the ‘privatization beast’ once and for all.