Nyt on aika toimia, toimia kaikki helsinkiläiset yhdessä. Innehåller bl a PRO VALLILAN KIRJASTO; Kokemuksia kirjastolautakunnan koillisen kierrokselta (Risto Kolanen 5.3.2010)
"LSSI, based in Maryland, which runs more than 70 libraries in the US, had set itself targets of managing 15 per cent of public libraries within the next five years. The radical new model for libraries included books offered alongside coffee evenings, murder mystery nights, poetry performances and open mic sessions. But the company has conceded that entering the UK market at a time of such upheaval has been difficult. "It has not been easy and we're still waiting to see if the UK is ready yet for the idea of library privatisation," said its chief executive Brad King. "
Naomi Klein, at ALA in Toronto , June 2003 "Most of you probably didn't think that helping people to share books was subversive when you decided to become librarians. And it shouldn't be: sharing, giving, saving and reusing are the most human of impulses and we are at our best and most human when we act on them. The desire to share, as you know, is immense." Yet the fact is that you have chosen a profession that has become radical. Being a librarian today means being more than an archivist, more than a researcher, more than an educator - it means being a guardian the embattled values of knowledge, public space and sharing that animate your profession.
Amanda Erickson, March 28: " I'll admit, to me, the idea of a privatized public library has a certain dystopian ring to it, the ultimate public space corrupted for a profit. That image was not much aided by my first (and second and third) call to Library System and Services Inc., the only library privatization company in the United States. LSSI now runs at least 15 library systems in California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas. This means it is, effectively, the fifth largest library system in the country."
"Unite union staff working at Greenwich Council's libraries are to strike for five days in protest at the council's decision to hand over the running of its libraries to GLL (Greenwich Leisure Ltd). The switch to GLL management is due to take place from Monday 30 April but union representatives fear cuts to workers' pay and conditions, and are also angry about the lack of consultation over the move. Strikes will take place on Friday 27th April, Saturday 28th April, Mondy 30th April, Tuesday 1st May, and Friday 11th May." This leads on from my previous blog on this topic - see http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/diana-edmonds-head-of-libraries.html
NYT, September 26, 2010 SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A private company in Maryland has taken over public libraries in ailing cities in California, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, growing into the country’s fifth-largest library system