SUMMARY OF STAFF VIEWS: HAWAII

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

EDITED VERSION OF INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC HEARINGS
IN HAWAII HELD BY STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
STAFF VIEWS, QUESTIONS, AND PROPOSALS.
(editing by Pat Wallace -- Denwall@aol.com
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      "OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS:
   Questions That Need To Be Answered"
 Results of the survey sent   to HSPLS librarians regarding the effect of the
outsourcing contract concentrating mainly on responses from the branches.


by Sylvia Mitchell

Ms. Mitchell has been in the public library system
for over 20 years, as Children's Coordinator from
Kauai, HSL  Young Adult Librarian and Oahu
Coordinator, and currently, branch manager of
Liliha Public Library. She has also served as HLA
chair  for  on Children & Youth, secretary of  the
Hawaii Association of School Librarians, and twice
 president of Librarians Association of Hawaii.

Hawaii Library Association Conference
October 19, 1996
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1. The B&T contract can be broken by either side. T or F?

2. B&T contract will be reviewed in one year. July 1997?
How will the 5% increase [in circulation] be measured?
All books or just B&T books?

3. Will a neutral third party collect the statistics
and report to the field?

4. Why was an experimental contract launched for
five years rather than the more usual two or three
years?

5. Earlier attempts to centralize  selection
were not successful. [See statement by Sarah Prebble]
Why did you choose to continue to pursue this direction?

6. You say outsourcing saves money. Since 54 adult jobs
were eliminated with the shut-down of centralized cataloging
and processing, it has become necessary to outsource these
services to the east coast. We think the true costs of total
cataloging and selection from afar cannot save money when
all costs are counted. However, local staff still has the ability to regroup
and take care of selection in a way which will better serve our customers. If
B&T performance does not improve, is this an option?

7. In his long range plan for Louisiana, State Librarian Thomas F.Jaques
states, "Commercial products are available which make  on-site cataloging
cheaper than the centralized product. Have you considered the possibility of
allowing staff cataloging with a core unit for support?

8. The flat rate of $20.94 per book may create a bargain for adult
collections but it crushes the budget for children and YAs , the ones who
contribute 50% of circulation in public libraries. The average price for a
child's book is $15.42.
The mass market paperback favored by teens is just $3.54 and the trade
paperbacks are $7.32. Budgets do not stretch far when paying inflated prices
for low-cost items. Other systems have more than one vendor contract in order
to get the best deal for the kids.  Will you consider giving our youth a
break?
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FROM  QUESTIONS ON INFORMAL STAFF SURVEY:
 "If you could make a change to the current situations,
what would it be?" (98 replies)
Compiled  by Sylvia C. Mitchell
Hawaii Library Association Conference
October 19, 1996

1. Change contract with B&T. Rethink and amend.
There are already too many mistakes and omissions which
cannot be remedied quickly.
2. Limit outsourcing to adult/YA/J fiction and bestseller
fiction/nonfiction.  Give us back the ability to order
the titles we need, not what someone else decides we need.
Re-instate children's and young adult book review & training
meetings. We need local selection with a review process so
we can stand behind our collection and choose items which
are needed and appropriate to our communities. Have on-line
ordering so we can concentrate on what has been lost, stolen,
damaged and/or worn out, using "beef-up" moneys. Give us the
ability to direct order Standing Orders, Reference Books,
Serials, Hawaiiana, and Foreign Language Materials that B&T
does not stock or handle.
3.  [At least]  let us know in advance what is being ordered for
individual libraries by B&T so we could accept or veto before
processing.  Would like to see quality take precedence over
quantity in B&T's selection of material.
4.  Confer!  Address State Librarian's failure to communicate and involve
staff in decisions. Ask for proof that B&T actually looked at and used our
profiles. Have State Librarian be accountable for his decisions & rectify the
problems or have him and Pennebacker [Assistant] step down from their
positions.  B&T as well as the HSPLS administration should continue to
encourage feedback from library personnel to ensure that concerns are heard
and ideas are being tested.   Bring decisions to the "teams" so loudly touted
and phase out Bart's"Inner Circle."
5. Outsource only  physical processing. Most processing could
be done "in-house" if there were a couple of data entry people,
and catalogers for materials not pre-cataloged in the Marc data base. At
least, we need a core group of catalogers to take care of local needs.
6. Allow one person per library proper access to Dynix so that
he/she may do some very needed cataloging! [neighbor island reply] ...
allowcataloging from CIP data, ... minimum 5 elements:
author,title,copyright, pub. & pps.
     .
IN SUMMARY:

    1. Give back selection to libraries.

    2. Allow cataloging from CIP supervised by
        a core of local catalogers.

    3. Work on communication & trust between
        library adminstration/staff.

    4. Re-instate children's and young adult book
        review/training meetings.

    5. Keep librarianship separate from accounting,
       personnel, etc.

    6. Find money to purchase key Reference materials
        available only from publishers that do not do
        business with Baker & Taylor.