Noting budget concerns, as well as current library director Thomas Aud’s upcoming October 31 retirement, the board decided earlier this year to consider hiring a private firm. In August, the commission voted to seek an injunction to stop any such action. The board had postponed discussion of the issue until the court heard the appeal, but after consulting this week with attorney Russell Reviere, chose to move forward with privatization negotiations. Aud said in the September 8 Jackson Sun that he was “surprised the board would start negotiations with a selected private company without a resolution to those legal issues.”
Trustee Sharon Younger said in the September 7 Sun that the board has the library’s best interest in mind. “The focus of the board remains on the management of the library,” she said. “If there are [commissioners] who want to get an appeal and second opinion on legal issues, we still have the opportunity to pursue options of running the library at the same time.”
Some community members are optimistic about privatized management and such proposed improvements as a new northside branch, a coffee shop, and various technological advancements. Other citizens, however, are concerned. “I appreciate the library board looking into improvements,” patron Rickey Brown told the newspaper. “But I’m not for privatization [of management]. I think libraries represent the taxpayer and [libraries] should provide a public service to all citizens.”
Both commissioners and current library employees worry that their jobs, salaries, and benefits are in peril. “The answer has always been that we don’t know [about the staff’s future],” said Young. “We need to move to the point where we can answer those questions. What’s upsetting to people is the unknown.”
Board member Robert Huffman said that the board will continue negotiations with LSSI even as it searches for a new library director. Meanwhile, Madison County attorney Jerome Teel told American Libraries that trustees are still awaiting a court ruling on their appeal of the decision that gave the board outsourcing power. Teel said that this case had no legal precedent in Tennessee.
Posted September 8, 2006.