opinion

COMMENTARY: Don’t privatize control of Vineland’s public library



Recently, voters in New Jersey gave their resounding support to Public Question 1, a bond measure that will provide matching funds for public library infrastructure across the state. By doing so, New Jersey residents demonstrated their support for a measure that will enhance the capacity of libraries to facilitate education, empowerment, engagement, employment and economic development in communities across the state, under the leadership of boards of trustees and professional librarians.

Libraries are a smart investment.

Research shows that vibrant public libraries provide a critical return on investment to their communities. Staff salaries and retired staff pensions are reinvested in the community for housing, education, consumable goods, services and entertainment. Libraries engage local vendors for supplies and services, and visits to the library generate revenue for surrounding businesses. Recent studies in Ohio and Texas found that every $1 spent on public libraries yielded an economic benefit to residents in those states of $5.48 and $4.64, respectively.

Moreover, public libraries provide services and resources that are otherwise unavailable to some members of the community. Consider broadband access for the nearly quarter of residents who do not have it at home but rely on the internet for school work, job applications, government forms and everyday personal commerce. Consider early literacy programs that prepare young children for school, and English language classes that connect recently arrived residents to their neighbors and to job opportunities. Consider the partnerships that broaden the reach and enhance the effectiveness of social service agencies and community-based organizations. Consider the wealth of print and digital materials — selected by professional librarians who know the needs and aspirations of their community — that enable residents to understand their past and imagine their futures, to learn, to explore, and to grow. This represents tens of thousands of dollars in benefits per month, not just to those reached directly, but to the entire community.

Libraries transform communities.

Your public librarians are not only skilled professionals, they are also members of your community who are committed to its success. This charge is foundational to the library as a social contract and was affirmed by the recent statewide vote, just as it was locally when the library was established and, later, when voters funded construction of the current Vineland Public Library.

Residents of Vineland are again expressing belief in that social contract with their overwhelming support for the governing trustees and professional staff of the Vineland Public Library. Under their leadership, Vineland Public Library champions equity of access, independence of inquiry, and the free exchange of ideas. The library is the community’s “living room” — a place where a diverse community gathers to learn, discuss, explore, or simply read side-by-side.

As presidents of the American Library Association and the Public Library Association, we have the privilege of visiting libraries across the country and we know that successful libraries share a critical attribute: a strong connection and commitment to the communities in which they are located. This observation is echoed in the following ALA policy regarding public libraries:

“ALA affirms that publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the public 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.”

Vineland residents have rejected calls to privatize management and operations of their library. At a time when access to information is more critical than ever for full participation in education, economic and civic life, public libraries are a sacred trust that must be transparent and answerable to the communities they serve. We stand with the residents of Vineland and the New Jersey Library Association in affirming our support for the governing trustees, the staff and volunteers at Vineland Public Library.

Jim Neal is president of the American Library Association. Pam Sandlian Smith is the president of the Public Library Association, a division of the ALA.