What's at stake?
A heated months-long debate regarding the latest effort to privatize Fresno County’s library system is effectively over after the private company ghosted the county’s negotiators.
Fresno County officials won’t be privatizing library operations with an outside company after the sole nationwide provider asked to submit a proposal suddenly stopped communicating with county staff, according to a memo released Monday.
The memo, recommending no additional action by the county board of supervisors, effectively ends this latest round of discussions on whether to privatize the local library system.
“The failure to submit a proposal under public scrutiny has raised questions about the dependability of the organization [Library Systems and Services] and the merit of any proposal,” the memo reads.
The memo, authored by County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland, lays out some of the key questions needed for further study if future supervisors are interested in the effort, from what happens to county librarians’ pensions (which would have to be worked out in contract negotiations) to who handles circulation management and complaint processes.
It doesn’t provide an updated cost-savings figure since the 2023 study produced by Library Systems and Services – the Maryland-based private equity-backed company that has done the vast majority of operations management for public libraries that have privatized, referencing the nearly $88 million estimated savings over 10 years, which county officials said they could not independently verify.
The latest move comes after residents and library staff mounted fierce public opposition since Supervisor Garry Bredefeld’s request to study the privatization was reported by Fresnoland in June. Fresnoland reported that the efforts stalled in late September after it became clear that there weren’t four supervisors in support of the move.
With near-victory at hand, Service Employees International Union Local 521 — who represent many of the county’s librarians — organized local residents to flock to the county’s Hall of Records on Tuesday to tell the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to continue to oppose privatization efforts.
Union members and friends of the library spoke at Tuesday’s board meeting, calling on the board to pass a resolution pledging support to the existing library system, and to essentially swear off any future efforts, similar to one unanimously approved by the Fresno City Council earlier this month.
“Now that the vendor has abandoned its courtship of Fresno County, the moment has arrived to put a stake through the heart of this unholy proposal,” said Joel Perez, an SEIU Local 521 member, who was among the 20 public commenters who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting on the matter.
With three of the five supervisors expected to leave at the end of the year, it is unlikely that this board would approve such a resolution or that it would carry much weight even if it were approved. A member of the new cohort of supervisors could reignite talks like Bredefeld did after he was elected in 2024.
Much of the local library system’s operating budget comes from Measure B, a nearly-30-year-old countywide sales tax. Last renewed by voters in 2012, it will be up for renewal in 2028.
The Fresno County Friends of the Library, a nonprofit library booster, shared in a statement on Tuesday after the board meeting that they’ll be “exploring whether we can add language to Measure B that would ensure that the funds can only be used if the Library remains maintained by the County, not a private entity.”
Efforts to privatize the county’s library system are also not new. In 2023, then-Supervisor Steve Brandau, who lost his re-election bid to Bredefeld, initiated an effort toward privatization with the same vendor.
Both discussions floated the idea that library privatization could potentially save the county millions of dollars annually.
The statement from the Fresno County Friends of the Library, and comments from union members and residents leading up to Tuesday’s meeting, illustrate that residents have grown beyond frustrated with the county’s repeated flirtations with privatization, and are now looking toward ending them for the long-term.
The city’s resolution to back the county’s library system was brought forward by Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who is running for the soon-to-be-vacant seat currently held by Supervisor Brian Pacheco. His opponent, Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco, is also opposed to library privatization.
Karbassi, who also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, echoed criticisms of the purported cost-saving benefits of privatization by arguing that entering such a deal risks the library losing out on its ability to offer much-loved community amenities like its ability to operate as a voting center or as a space for seniors and children.
“I will say this: I do actually have my library card. It’s an old one. There may be some fines on there with interest,” Karbassi said jokingly. “After 20 years, it might be enough to patch the hole.”
