Huntington Beach leaders and city staff have taken private meetings to study what it would take to turn their library’s management over to a private company known for union busting that employs one of the city’s former mayors.
The idea hasn’t made its way to a city council meeting yet, but many residents are concerned the conversation could mean further changes at the library after city council members created an appointed board to limit books defined as “obscene.”
[Read: Huntington Beach Creates Panel To Decide What Books Go Into City Library]
The company looking to take over running the city’s library is Library Systems and Services, which operates other public libraries in Southern California like Riverside County and the cities of Upland, Escondido and Palmdale.
While the company doesn’t operate any libraries in Orange County, they’ve been looking to for several years, with the Fullerton Observer noting there were plans to discuss them coming in Fullerton that ultimately petered out.
The company opened in the 1980s, and past library takeovers have faced some public pushback over concerns that the company saves money by getting rid of unionized employees, according to reporting from the New York Times.
The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In a statement to Voice of OC, Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said the company is one of many vendors who approaches city hall regularly and that no decisions had been made yet.
“The City has a responsibility to do its own research and better understand if these products or services has the potential to complement operations and aligns with the City’s mission – to provide exceptional service,” Van Der Mark said. “Aside from research, there is no other action being taken at this time.”
Former Huntington Beach Mayor Mike Posey also serves as the company’s regional sales executive, a position he’s held since 2021 according to his LinkedIn page, and was the one who coordinated the first meetings with city representatives about a potential takeover.
Posey did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The idea comes as Huntington Beach leaders are looking to make major changes at the library, specifically focusing on what books are available in the children’s sections.
City leaders are currently in the midst of appointing members for a new 21-person panel that will have the power to review what books are going into the library and look at existing books to decide whether or not they should be placed in or near children and teen’s sections.
Martha Elliot, president of the Friends of the Huntington Beach Public Library, said she’s worried a private company could end up ceding more control of the library to the city council, depending on how the contract is put together.
“I think the tone is set by whoever hires them and whatever contract is negotiated,” Elliot said. “LS&S will adhere to the terms of that contract as to what the collection should look like, what programs there should be, and who should be employed there.”
She also raised concerns about any potential cost cutting in order to ensure the company makes a profit off the library.
“They have to build a profit for their shareholders,” Elliot said. “The city isn’t building in a profit to whatever budget they have.”
That effort has already been facing questions from Gina Clayton-Tarvin, a Democratic member of the Ocean View School District’s Board of Trustees who’s been an outspoken critic of the city council’s Republican majority.
Initially, the city council decided each of them would be able to appoint up to three members to the board, but later issued a public statement that said only the board’s “council liaisons” would get to appoint anyone, giving two council members control.
After Clayton-Tarvin sent a letter threatening a lawsuit to the city, city attorney Michael Gates apologized and said it was a mistake, and that the board would comply with the Brown Act and be appointed as previously laid out.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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