C. Donnely's article 1/9/97

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN, JAN. 9th, 1997, Front Page + p.9.
 < http://starbulletin.com/97/01/09/news/index.html>
(Available on-line at the about address)

Library book deal a 'disaster'

The state library hires a mainland firm to choose its new books; local
librarians and patrons say the experiment has been a fiasco

By Christine Donnelly
Star-Bulletin

A national librarians' group has joined the fray over Hawaii's
controversial contract with a mainland firm to select all new books for
the public libraries.

"I think it's a disaster and it has major implications for libraries all
over the country," said Patricia Wallace, leader of an American Library
Association subgroup formed to examine the hiring of a North Carolina
company last year.

Wallace's on-line group is soliciting comments on the book-buying
contract from all over the country. It will publish a book on the
subject and present a seminar at the association's annual conference in
San Francisco this June.

"I've already gotten hundreds of responses," she said.

The American Library Association, headquartered in Chicago, is the
oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than
55,000 librarians nationwide as members.

Hawaii is the first state in the nation to give such broad control of
its book selection to an outside company, Baker &AMP Taylor of
Charlotte, N.C. Local librarians and patrons complain the experiment so
far has been a fiasco, with hundreds of duplicate, cheap and useless
titles landing on library shelves. Choosing books used to be up to
library staffers in the state.
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Bart Kane:
"I think Baker &AMP Taylor has to perform better. . . . and they will.
We are monitoring them on a daily basis."
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State Librarian Bart Kane's idea behind the five-year, $11.2 million
contract was that with a steadily shrinking budget, the libraries could
get more books for less money by turning to a company with huge
bulk-buying power.

Wallace noted that careful book buying is even more important when money is
tight, and no one is better attuned to customers' needs than
librarians who talk to them every day. The problems with Baker & Taylor
became apparent with the company's first book shipment last
summer and complaints have grown.

Kane said company officials were told this week that if improvement was
not imminent, the contract could be canceled. "I think Baker & Taylor
has to perform better ... and they will. We are monitoring them on a
daily basis," he said, adding that he now has prior approval of all book
selections.

Kelly King, chairwoman of the board's library services committee, awaits
an opinion from the state attorney general's office on conditions for
canceling the contract, but said she also wants to give the company
enough time to correct the problems.
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How to comment:

Anyone is welcome to comment on the book-buying contract by sending
Anyone is welcome to comment on the book-buying contract by sending
e-mail to to Patricia Wallace at DENWALL@aol.com or writing to her at
532 Shennandoah Drive, DeSoto, Texas, 75115.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Company officials will appear before King's committee next Thursday and Kane
will give an informational briefing on the matter to lawmakers
Saturday.

Even if the contract were canceled, book selection would not fall back
to local librarians, Kane said. "Other companies bid for this contract
and we would look at them." The employees who used to select books have been
transferred to branch libraries so library hours could be expanded despite
budget cuts, he said.

While Kane proudly believes Hawaii will be the model for how libraries
operate in the 21st century, it is exactly that view that worries people
like Wallace.

"Libraries everywhere are suffering from budget cuts ... so they're all
looking for ways to save money. ... They view this as a critical
decision point in the history of the profession and they are fearful
that other managers will follow Kane's lead," said Wallace, a Dallas
teacher working on a master's degree in library science.