The voice of the largest organization of American librarians on this subject:
At the 2001 midwinter conference of the American Library Association, a proposal was brought forward to establish one common working definition of "privatization" as it relates to publicly funded libraries, & a recommendation to generate an association-wide dialogue on the issue of privatization with the goal of bringing back a proposal for ALA to take a stand opposing the shifting of policy making & management of library services from the public to the private sector.
The majority of responses, indicated support for opposing the privatization of management & policy-making in publicly funded libraries.
The Executive Board believed "that there is a consensus that: It is difficult or impossible to define ‛core services‛ for any single library. There is strong support for the notion that ‛libraries are an essential public good‛ and that responsibility for policy making & implementation of policy should not be shifted to the private sector in publicly funded libraries."
The ALA policy statement on privatization: “ALA affirms that publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the publics they serve. Therefore, the American Library Association opposes the shifting of policy making and management oversight of library services from the public to the private for-profit sector.”
At the 2001 midwinter conference of the American Library Association, a proposal was brought forward to establish one common working definition of "privatization" as it relates to publicly funded libraries, & a recommendation to generate an association-wide dialogue on the issue of privatization with the goal of bringing back a proposal for ALA to take a stand opposing the shifting of policy making & management of library services from the public to the private sector.
The majority of responses, indicated support for opposing the privatization of management & policy-making in publicly funded libraries.
The Executive Board believed "that there is a consensus that: It is difficult or impossible to define ‛core services‛ for any single library. There is strong support for the notion that ‛libraries are an essential public good‛ and that responsibility for policy making & implementation of policy should not be shifted to the private sector in publicly funded libraries."
The ALA policy statement on privatization: “ALA affirms that publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the publics they serve. Therefore, the American Library Association opposes the shifting of policy making and management oversight of library services from the public to the private for-profit sector.”