Hawaii response to B&T-Pt IV

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

FORWARDED BY PATRICIA WALLACE, Chair, Hawaii
Working Group, ALA/SRRT/AIP

From:      "Grant and Deborah Gutermuth" <gutent@hgea.org>
                Deborah Gutermuth, Reference and AV Librarian
                Kaneohe Public Library, HAWAII
To:          "progressive/alternative net" <PLGNET-L@cornell.edu>
Cc:          "Patricia Wallace" <DENWALL@aol.com>
Subject:   Hawaii response to B&T response--Part IV
Date:       Thu, 6 Mar 1997

CONTINUATION

Part 3

In a time of budget cuts throughout Hawaii and the nation,
state library systems are not surviving the budget axe.
Through a competitive bid process, Baker & Taylor was
awarded the outsourcing contract, promising to fulfill the
quantity, type, and mix of materials stipulated in the HSPLS
contract.  Baker & Taylor is able to provide materials selection,
acquisition, cataloging, processing, and distribution services
at an average of $14.06 per unit less than the former process
used by HSPLS. This equates to a savings of $1,293,000
a year for taxpayers.

The Baker & Taylor team stands on its 169-year history of
providing quality selections at competitive prices to its
customers.  The Baker & Taylor team includes 45 Masters
of Library Science (MLS) degreed librarians that are
responsible for collection selection and cataloging............


Quantity, type, and mix of materials was totally the choice
of B & T!  It was also without input from the field.  This
section of the Contract (Addendum) uses "boilerplate
language" from Baker & Taylor, according to Senator
Marshall Ige.  The services provided by Baker & Taylor
do NOT represent an average savingsof $14.06 per unit.
The figures  given to us, developed by the Former Head
of the Central Processing Center are :

1) $7.50 per unit for shipping, cataloging and processing and

2) $15.00 per unit for acquisition.  These figures average in
reference books, art books, and coffee table books, as well
as paperbacks.  This totals $22.50 per unit, not $35.00, as
"guestimated" by the Office of the State Librarian and Baker
& Taylor.  Moreover, the cataloging and processing was
tailored to our specific needs,not those of Baker & Taylor.
Many more items were reference works, too. Maximum
possible savings is $.56 per unit.  For 56 cents possible
savings, we acquired thousands of duplicate volumes, poor,
Inaccurate or missing processing, and low level cataloging
In some areas.  The videos are so poorly cataloged, they
are inaccessible to patrons and staff except by title.
There are NO subject headings, running times, lists of
actors, even indications of B & W or color!  Want to know
If there's a new video on skiing?  TOO-O-O BAD!  But I do
have six doozies on creepy crawlys, and You can be the
First to check them out - no one else wants to!

Baker & Taylor has 45 Librarians for the more than 100,000
customers they serve.  HSPLS has over 100 MLS and MLIS
degreed Librarians to serve Hawaii alone!  All these people
are familiar with the needs of Hawaii's patrons, and the
special qualities that make up the cultures represented in
Hawaii -- that are Hawaii.

I hope this puts to rest some of the most glaring
misperceptions of our problems.  We need the rest of
the world to know where we stand, and just who the bad
guys really are.  Very few professional Hawaii librarians
want to give selection, cataloging, and collection
development away to someone else.  It is an integral part
of service to our Patrons - and public service is what we're
all about!  It is sad that we must shout, and rant,and rave
to everyone, just to focus attention on the destruction of
a great library system.  Many professionals spent many
years building this collection.  One man seems bent on
tearing it all down - making us all into WalMarts.

Mahalo Nui Loa for your time.

Deborah Gutermuth, Reference and AV Librarian
Kaneohe Public Library
************************************************************
END