FACED WITH tight budgets, the towns of Dartmouth and Tewksbury are thinking about privatizing their libraries. The impulse is understandable, given anemic revenues and spiraling costs. But libraries should remain wholly public entities.
Libraries serve as the heart and mind of their communities, welcoming preschool children to the world of reading and connecting adults to books, movies, music and the vast reaches of the Internet. They aren't as vital as police or fire services, but neither are they as easily outsourced as park maintenance or garbage collection.
Privatizing libraries elsewhere in the country has yielded mixed results. A private company can only work within the budget that it's given, and its goal is to spend sparingly, or cut back, in order to make a profit. For example, Library Systems and Services, a Maryland company, manages public libraries in California, Kansas, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas.
In some cases, the company has been able to increase hours and expand collections. But in Jackson County, Ore., Library Systems had to cut staff and benefits to adhere to its contract.
Dartmouth library officials are focused on the immediate task of retaining state certification, which could be lost because the town has failed to meet state requirements for library funding. Instead, the beleaguered system has weathered cuts as costs have risen. Two branches have been closed. On April 1, voters should approve a tax override that would add $250,000 to the library. If the override fails, Dartmouth could end up cutting library hours and staff.
Dartmouth is doing what it can to hold the fiscal line. The spiraling cost of employee health coverage is a major source of pressure on town budgets statewide, and public workers typically contribute less than 20 percent. In Dartmouth, though, health insurance costs are split 50-50 between the town and its workers. In addition, nearly 80 percent of city employees are enrolled in less costly HMOs. The city hopes to save even more by offering an HMO option located in Rhode Island.
In Tewksbury, the Board of Selectmen issued a January report with a long list of possible cost cuts, including library privatization and a hike in employee health insurance contributions from 20 to 30 percent. Tewksbury is also considering tax overrides.
Massachusetts is home to the nation's first free public library. That's a legacy worth preserving. Municipal belt-tightening only goes so far. It's up to the taxpaying public to make the investment - to protect a vital source of information and insight.
