HAWAII OUTSOURCING UPDATE

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

To members of the list:  It has been a while since I posted my last HIT
 to you regarding the situation in Hawaii.  This post contains
correspondance  which I have received from individual Librarians
in Hawaii since the last HIT .

Pat Wallace        Dallas, TX      DENWALL@aol.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996
From: Laurel Indalecio
Children's Librarian
Public Library
Honolulu, HI
To:  pubyac@nysernet.org
Subject: HAWAII SPEAKS AND ASKS FOR YOUR HELP!!

The majority of the state librarians
are outraged over the contract that was established between
the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) and Baker &
Taylor. I will not go into everything that has happened, but
I will mention a few things.

We had centralized processing.  All of our books were selected
within the state and processed here.  Now B&T does it.
Each library selected the books they wanted, catering their
collection to the needs of their patrons.  Now we receive books
we don't want or need.

Gift donations sit uncataloged because we do not have anyone
to catalog the books.  I personally have asked for permission to
do cataloging but the password for that function in our new
DYNIX system is a big secret. I guess I'm not worthy!?!
Our former catalogers have been put into public service.
A select few are allowed to do a little cataloging but
cannot handle the needs for an entire state with 49 branches.

We have received almost no YA books, the children's books
that we have received run along the lines of historical fiction.
A few of these are necessary but not a whole lot.  In my library, they sit on
the shelf.

Hawaii is a unique state where every ethnic group is a minority.Only about
25% of our population is Caucasian. Only the individual libraries can
possibly know what their patrons want.  We filled out profiles but they are
not being looked at we assume,based on what we are getting.  Baker & Taylor
claims that the books we are getting now were selected during the period when
contract negotiations were being conducted for the DYNIX automation system.
 They claim that they did not have access to our database.  All they had to
do was dial-in to our online catalog, which was up and running the whole
time.
******************************************************************************
********************
Date:  Fri, Oct 18, 1996
From:  MICHIGAN (Darlene DeHudy)
Muskegon High School
ddehudy@remc4.k12.mi.us
To:    DENWALL@AOL.COM (Pat Wallace)
Subj:   Re: HAWAII SPEAKS AND ASKS FOR YOUR HELP!!

Pat or Laura - I stopped using Baker & Taylor maybe about
5 years ago because my purchase orders were tied up for
months with partial shipments and things on back order.
If I did not spend the $ before the school year ended, I lost it.
Luckily, they don't care here who I deal with.  I order from
a variety of jobbers who can ship quick and fill the order.
The only service I use of B & T is the staff account in which
you can order at library prices plus shipping and get the
discount for staff on anything you order.  What their
current fill rate is -- I would not know.  I'm just glad to
hear that my experience was not unique.  My hunch was right.
They could not deliver as needed.  Good luck.  I am very
sorry to hear of your plight!
*************************************************
 On October 14, 1996,   Laurel Indalecio, Children's
Librarian in a Public Library in Honolulu, HI
wrote me:

>The majority of the state librarians are outraged over
>the contract that was established between
>the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS)
>and Baker & Taylor....

>We are told that this is a breaking in
>period and that all the problems will be worked out.

>We are told not to use the internal e-mail to question
>administration.  We are told not to talk to the press.
>Our local newspapers carry letters to the editor expressing
>dismay over Bart Kane's decision to outsource.  I have only
>given you the tip of the iceberg.

>We have been given a gag order.
>Consider me ungagged.
*************************************************
my reply to Laurel
Date:  Mon, Oct 28, 1996
From:  DENWALL

>I wanted to express my admiration for your bravery
>in being willing to speak out about your situation
>despite the obviously intimidating circumstances
>created by Mr. Kane.  You must be the judge of how freely
>you can speak.

>I'd really like to receive copies of news coverage
>from papers in Hawaii and what's happening--reflections
>of public sentiment, public statements by officials of the
>Library and Baker & Taylor, reports on the Hearing on the
>19th.

>My address:
>Pat Wallace
>532 Shennandoah Drive
>DeSoto, TX 75115

>I belong to the Social Responsibility Round Table of the ALA
>and that group has an Alternatives in Print Task Force which
>has formed an Acquisitions Committee, of which I am
>Chair, which will be gathering information
>about the contract with Baker & Taylor and how its execution
>proceeds, possibly with an eye toward drawing up some
>sort of statement of concerns.

>We badly need information from Librarians in Hawaii.
>If there are others who would be willing to be our
>commitee's eyes and ears in Hawaii, please put them
>in touch with me or vice versa.   Thanks very, very much.

>Pat  Wallace       Denwall@aol.com     972-230-4239
>Central Standard Time

[NOTE:  Consider this to be an open invitation to any
and all librarians or friends of the library in Hawaii.
Pat Wallace
************************************************
Here is a copy of another letter which I received.

Date: Nov. 2, 1996
From sandra@netra.lib.state.hi.us (Sandra Kolloge)
To: Denwall@aol.com (Patricia Wallace

Another librarian saw the exchange with your address
on Deja News. She suggested sending you two urls
that another librarian has posted for information on
the outsourcing.  They are:

http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/hspls/reos.html
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/hspls/reengine.html

We work in the Language, Literature, History Section
of the Hawaii State Library....This Library was built
1911-1913 funded with a grant from Andrew Carnegie.
...Parts of  the collection are quite old and useful.
Many of the staff have worked to keep serials and
continuations as current as possible.

As well as the multi-cultural issues, there is a need
to have good, current reference items as the clients
are often well informed and interested in the wide
range of information sources.

The outsourcing contract for the collection appears
to be very narrowly conceived, almost a blank check
with  a set price of $20.94.  This, of course, limits
selection possibilities.  What I've seen of what we
are receiving does strike me as a bit strange.  Rather
small shipments arrive to this Library each week.

For the adult fiction collection. for example, which is
part of this section's responsibility, we have received
a few best sellers, but other items have included
reprints of titles published some years back.  We had
copies of the originals [in many] instances. A few of
the titles were marginal.  One would buy these if the
 money times were good, but during these tight times,
other items would be priority.

Very fine decision  making is called for, but can't
be done if the staff can't decide.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sandra Kolloge
*******************************************
NOTE:  I accessed the first web site referred to above
easily, but could connect with the second.  This is the
credit for the first.     Pat Wallace:

Reengineering and  Outsourcing: The Hawaii Experience
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/hspls/reos.html
by Jo Ann Schindler, HSPLS, who can be contacted at
jms@hcc.hawaii.edu

I will be sending key excerpts from this site to
you, but I strongly recommend that you check
it out yourself.
*******************************************