Jim Berstein writes: Of great concern is who would do the study: Center for the American > Experiment I am told is being tossed about as the "perfect" candidate > despite their palpable loathing of public agencies and love affair with > privatization.
Jeanne Massey: I agree with Jim, any study of such an important question needs to be completed by a neutral entity, which the Center for the American Experiment is not, and it doesn't pretend to be. The question of a library system merger came to my mind last week as I visited the renovated HC Southdale Library. It's VERY nice and I dreamed of a facility like this (closer to home than the new Downtown library). Then I came back down to earth. Of course, it's not practical to believe that neighborhood-based libraries - the prize of the Minneapolis system - be big and fancy as a central library can be. I would never suggest trading smaller, more accessible, neighborhood-based libraries with a fewer, less accessible, nicer libraries. I don't know the outcome of a merger study, but I would guess, like Jim Bernstein, that it would likely involve closing down some neighborhood libraries (which is on the table even without merger discussions). The truth is that mergers don't inherently result in more efficient, better service. And the criteria for quality service matter greatly. If "accessibility" (i.e., neighborhood-based libraries) were at the top of the list of quality service features for a Minneapolis system, this would produce a different result than if "cost effectiveness" were at the top of the list. Accessibility is more than just convenience - the lack of it results in external costs not usually accounted for in studies, such as pollution costs driving to library facilities, the loss of customers who can no longer get to a library easily and, the personal time of people getting to a library further away. I'm not opposed to a study per se so that we know the benefits and costs of our Minneapolis system, but it must be neutral (and begun through an RFP process) and the criteria for the study should be developed by a group of Minneapolis library users. Any suggestion that the study be completed by a conservatively-biased think tank like the Center for the American Experiment is a BIG RED FLAG. One final note - with or without a study, one significant improvement in any library is a do-it-yourself check-out scanning system (such as the Southdale Library has) that would free up staff to help customers. I want to be clear that such a system should not be used to lay off staff, but rather to deploy the skills of staff to assist library customers. Jeanne Massey Kingfield and frequent Walker and Washburn library user > > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn > E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > > > > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
