Outsourcing and Privatization: Policy Development and Chronology

ALA's policy B.8.8, Privatization of Publicly Funded Libraries, evolved over a period of four years and included the work of two separate task forces and broad analysis and review of practices of contracting out services and functions in libraries. See below for a chronological history of this policy.

ALA President Barbara J. Ford appointed a task force to advise the association on issues related to outsourcing, subcontracting and privatization of library services; gather data, examine the literature on outsourcing and evaluate the impact of outsourcing on library services and operations; to examine past ALA positions and determine how these issues related to the ALA Code of Ethics and other association policies, and to provide ALA Council with a comprehensive report with recommendations at the 1999 Midwinter Meeting. LaDonna T. Kienitz chaired the 14-member ALA Outsourcing Task Force.

At the ALA Annual Conference, the ALA Council voted to receive CD#59, The Impact of Outsourcing and Privatization on Library Services and Management, the report prepared under contract to the Texas Woman's University. In addition, Council directed the ALA president to identify appropriate mechanisms to bring together guidelines developed by divisions and committees and making them broadly available to be reviewed for elements of values and to develop definitions of outsourcing as a management tool versus privatization.

At the ALA Annual Conference, the ALA Executive Board submitted to Council its Recommendation on Privatization of Publicly Funded Libraries, which was based on a memorandum prepared by Liz Bishoff and Sally Reed. The ALA Council voted to adopt the following policy statement concerning 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.

The policy remains in the ALA Policy Manual as ALA Policy B.8.8 (formerly 52.7): Privatization of Publicly Funded Libraries.