Privately run libraries could lead to censorship

"I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years."
--Ray Bradbury
 

The author Ray Bradbury is fighting for a library in Ventura, California. He is raising donations to keep a library open while the California government puts its affairs in order. Where is Seminole County's Ray Bradbury? If no one this high-profile takes up the cause here, then it is up to enough of us collectively to raise our voices. In the spirit of the end of the movie Spartacus, we should all declare, "I'm Ray Bradbury!"

Ray Bradbury is famous for his book about book censorship Fahrenheit 451. I bring up censorship because that is a chief risk of what privatizing the library would mean. I can think of several less poignant examples, but I will give just one that's poignant indeed.

In 1999 St. Martin's Press published J.H. Hatfield's biography of George W. Bush, Fortunate Son. It was more controversial than John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi's Unfit for Command, about John Kerry, and Corsi's Obama Nation, about Barack Obama, combined. In fact, Fortunate Son was so controversial that St. Martin's press did not distribute its last 20,000 copies of the book and recalled an additional 70,000 copies from bookstores. Yet while private bookstores were taking the book off their shelves or running out of stock, the Seminole County Public library kept the book on its shelves for those who wanted to read it. Lest you think the library did this only because it is "liberal" you could later find "Unfit for Command and "Obama Nation" there as well. So you may decide that none of the above is worthy of your reading time, but you can still smile with me that such books are available free of charge to anyone who chooses to read them.

According to the Seminole county library management pdf I read this week, Seminole County will be accepting privatization RFPs (Request for Proposals) through July 15. Hence, this story is to be continued. But as I promised the powers that be, I am including their official reactions to last week's public outcry, and my previous article.

Susan Vernon-Devlin, Seminole County Community Information Director/PIO, sent me this reply desiring to let us know she means well:

"The decision to seek proposals for outsourcing the public libraries is part of the Seminole County Manager’s initiatives that are being considered for the recommended 2009/10 budget. These budget recommendations will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners this summer for their consideration and direction. The Board has not made a decision on any proposal, and in fact responses to the Library RFP are not due until July 15th.

The Seminole County Manager is investigating whether outsourcing library operations would save money, thus helping to reduce the $19 million deficit the County is facing for its overall countywide operations.  A major portion of this deficit is due to property tax reform.  Initially the County was facing a $48 million shortfall, but through carefully strategized reductions and cost-saving measures that figure was reduced to the aforementioned $19 million. In light of the economic times it is essential for Seminole County government to review all initiatives that follow the vision and mission for effective and efficient County government."

Brenda Carey, Seminole County Commissioner District 5, sent me this reply:

"Since I have received many calls and e-mails from concerned citizens regarding recent news stories about our libraries, I thought I would communicate directly to you on this issue.
 
According to the Seminole County Charter  (Section 2.3 A-1-b) the County Manager is responsible for preparing and submitting the annual budget and capital programs to the Board of County Commissioners.  Since this responsibility is hers to produce and present, we do not always know what she is considering or what she is planning to bring to the County Commission.  As you may have heard, the County Manager has advertised a Request For Proposal (RFP) for "Management Services for Seminole County Libraries".
 
I became aware that this RFP had been advertised the same time that you did, the morning that the article appeared in the newspaper.

During these tough economic times, I believe it is important to investigate all options that may help the County overcome its current financial situation.  There are many "out of the box" ideas that can be explored in an effort to reduce our costs while minimizing impacts to our residents.
 
I am all for "investigating options" for ALL County operations.  THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT WE WILL CHANGE WHAT WE ARE DOING [emphasis added], but we have to know all of our options and associated costs in order to make intelligent decisions about how to deal with our current budget situation."

I hope they do not privatize the library after all.