Library staff, patrons and Assemblymember Anthony Portantino at Temple City Library.
Librarians and library workers gathered for a press conference to highlight up to $3 million in savings if L.A. county adopts a community-centered book purchasing system rather than its current practice of centralized book purchasing. At one library, workers say, $35,000 was spent on books that have sat on shelves for two years, while books that patrons request often go unfilled. Read/listen to KPCC’s report
“At Live Oak, I ordered a book and it came so long after it was utterly useless,” says Maia Wolf, a frequent library patron and former student at Pasadena City College. “It was supposed to take two weeks and it took a month and by that time the class was over. I told them to cancel it.”
In the midst of a budget crisis, L.A. County employees are using contract negotiations for 55,000 employees as an opportunity to identify and implement efficiencies and cost savings in the delivery of services to residents. Library workers say centralized book purchasing, in which eight downtown bureaucrats purchase books in bulk for all 84 local libraries, wastes precious taxpayer dollars. A large percentage of materials are duplicate purchases, misordered or simply unwanted, library staff say.
“We know our patrons we know their needs,” says Richard Snyder, a 20-year librarian at Temple City and Rosemead Libraries. “To make up for the centralized book buying we are supposed to be able to request books our patrons ask for, but not one single request out of 100 at my two libraries has been filled in the last year. This means our selection is diverging more and more from what our patrons are looking for and it’s costing the county more.”
“We can reduce this waste of taxpayer money by putting purchasing power back in the hands of local librarians,” says David Nieto, a Library Assistant at Lynwood Library. “Who better to select books than the people working in person, in the community rather than someone miles away in an office?”
Library Workers Identify Over $3 Million Spent on Books Never Used
Library staff, patrons and Assemblymember Anthony Portantino at Temple City Library.
Librarians and library workers gathered for a press conference to highlight up to $3 million in savings if L.A. county adopts a community-centered book purchasing system rather than its current practice of centralized book purchasing. At one library, workers say, $35,000 was spent on books that have sat on shelves for two years, while books that patrons request often go unfilled. Read/listen to KPCC’s report
“At Live Oak, I ordered a book and it came so long after it was utterly useless,” says Maia Wolf, a frequent library patron and former student at Pasadena City College. “It was supposed to take two weeks and it took a month and by that time the class was over. I told them to cancel it.”
In the midst of a budget crisis, L.A. County employees are using contract negotiations for 55,000 employees as an opportunity to identify and implement efficiencies and cost savings in the delivery of services to residents. Library workers say centralized book purchasing, in which eight downtown bureaucrats purchase books in bulk for all 84 local libraries, wastes precious taxpayer dollars. A large percentage of materials are duplicate purchases, misordered or simply unwanted, library staff say.
“We know our patrons we know their needs,” says Richard Snyder, a 20-year librarian at Temple City and Rosemead Libraries. “To make up for the centralized book buying we are supposed to be able to request books our patrons ask for, but not one single request out of 100 at my two libraries has been filled in the last year. This means our selection is diverging more and more from what our patrons are looking for and it’s costing the county more.”
“We can reduce this waste of taxpayer money by putting purchasing power back in the hands of local librarians,” says David Nieto, a Library Assistant at Lynwood Library. “Who better to select books than the people working in person, in the community rather than someone miles away in an office?”