The privatization movement, ever on the lookout for profit opportunities, is moving fast into the takeover of public libraries. Since a for-profit corporation must pay its investors, privatization is actually a budget cut for the library.
Jeremy Mohler of “In the Public Interest” describes here how the privatizers are targeting public libraries.
“With 82 branches across six states, Library Systems & Services (LS&S) is the country’s third-largest library system, smaller than only Chicago and New York City. It pitches itself to towns and counties by making many of the same arguments in the op-ed. That libraries aren’t “innovative” enough without the corporation’s management and “social entrepreneurship.” That it can help libraries become a “third place” between work and home — as if they weren’t already just that for many poor and working people.
“Like Amazon, LS&S slashes employee pay and benefits to turn a profit while shrouding its dealings in secrecy. Last year, it was hit with nearly $70,000 in penalties for wage and hour violations. In 2016, an audit of one of its libraries in Oregon revealed that 28 percent of the public money paid to the corporation was filed under the ominous category of “other,” unknown even to public officials.
“Fortunately, communities often resist LS&S coming into town. Just this week, Seminole County, Florida, decided to keep its libraries under public control after residents organized. Earlier this year, leaders in Santa Clarita, California, voted to end the city’s contract after LS&S replaced all 17 of its librarians.”
Wow! And, for once, the Koch brothers are not involved? We do know that they wish to privatized education and destroy public schools which would include libraries and school librarians.
The Koch brothers sell privatization. Others grab the idea and run with it. They are involved
This reminds me of the following paragraphs by James Kunstler:
Diane How long will it be before the big corporate “They” start controlling what we can read? And how similar is this to the Sinclair corporation taking over radio stations so they can control the content? Librarians or counter clerks? CBK
Actually, to a degree this is already happening. All big-tech invading is dependent upon those who create and write a necessarily attached software. Those who have the jobs for creating and writing software are known to NOT be a diverse mix of thinkers — most, in fact, being White, male and non-poor.
Public schools and libraries are two key forces behind democracy. Communities like the one in Florida should defend their public libraries and other services for the common good. The so-called entrepreneurs see privatization as a way to move a public asset into their own profit seeking pockets. This has nothing to do with innovation or the failure of the system to provide the service. It is about making money from the public. Only the public can stop the looting of public services for the common good. Contrary to the claims, privatization does not save money, and the service provided often costs more for less efficiency and quality.
Q Public schools and libraries are two key forces behind democracy END Q
I have read this several times on this blog. What is the source of this claim? Democracy goes all the way back to ancient Athens. Publicly-operated school and publicly-operated libraries are a relatively recent phenomenon.
I don’t get it.
Public responsibility for public schools and public libraries have made access to knowledge free and universal. These public services belong to the public and are not profit making opportunities for entrepreneurs. Privatization warps both.
It is so sad that everything in this country is about greed and the destruction of democracy. The GOP and rich people will not be happy till they see all Americans who disagree with them in cages. Public libraries belong to the communities not to corporate, greedy individuals. Watch your city council ,mayors, and make sure they know how you feel and be active. Vote them out if they fail to represent the ideas of the public. All teachers union like NYC and NY state should not have any of the pension funds invested in for profit prison and charter school building.
Agreed!
Corporate greed is insane! Now they’re going after libraries? Awful!!
It’s about the control of information flow. We need to support public libraries and librarians in our communities and schools now more than ever.
Click to access CC0211Presidents.pdf
The research regarding the importance of libraries is clear.
This rewriting of history and research to gain total mind control is disgusting. This taking apart of our environmental laws and dissing research are both self-destructive. Demeaning immigrants is self-defeating. Harming our young and their future through unfettered debt is self-destructive to this country.
The point to the article was that Forbes had published an op-Ed suggesting th public libraries be replaced by Amazon. That an economist, the article described him as such, could get a hearing at a major magazine hints at the degradation of the media as the public is robbed of public space.
That this would ever happen is a testament that Main Street is no safer than Wall Street from those who cannot make money by selling stuff they make that people need. Modern entrepreneurs have lost the ability to make a better product and sell it. They prefer to prey on public funding for schools and prisons.
Is nothing sacred to privatizers ?
Eliminating communities’ rights to reject, in other words taking away local democratic control, is the brain stem of Koch’s ALEC. Paul Weyrich was the founder of ALEC and the Koch’s Heritage Foundation. Weyrich was also the architect of the religious right. His training manual is posted at Theocracy Watch.
Don’t you get it?
Knowledge is power.
Where do you find knowledge?
The News.
Journalists.
Schools.
Libraries.
I wish this was arbitrary, but I don’t think it is…..
It’s the whole idea of freedom of thought. When you walk into a library, there is no corporate selector, or to put it more bluntly, Ideology Control Department, or Thought Police choosing what we can read or keeping track of it FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES–meaning you get arrested if you read things that might upset the political ideological order.
Hitler burned books, especially those written by Jewish writers. And he must have heard that many who know Nazi Germany and the Rise of Hitler have easily compared Trump with Hitler. But Trump’s world is like a fun house with twisted Teflon mirrors. Whatever his “enemies” say about him (because it’s true) he mirrors back at them, only with heightened rhetoric. If he’s like Hitler, then so are “the democrats,” Obama and Hillary. He must go.
Trump is good at projecting. When Hillary said in a debate that Trump would be Putin’s puppet, Trump shot back “you are Putin’s puppet.” Now we know.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/24/palaces-for-the-people-at-the-library-everyone-is-welcome