It all started, like many skirmishes in Fresno, with a Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n And now, after three years of cultural debate, county leaders have begun to study whether to privatize the 116-year-old Fresno County Public Library system.<\/p>\n The assessment, on its face, is about cost savings, county leaders told Fresnoland. <\/p>\n Supervisor Garry Bredefeld asked County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland to conduct the study at the tail end of a dire budget presentation on June 2, where county leaders discussed cost-cutting measures<\/a> to address a nearly $300 million budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year.<\/p>\n His request was supported by Supervisor Nathan Magsig from the dais, although no formal vote was taken.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to look at ways to save money,\u201d Bredefeld said, at the June 2 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no sacred cows,\u201d fellow Supervisor Buddy Mendes said in a text to Fresnoland when asked for his thoughts on the proposal.<\/p>\n But for the library system\u2019s staunchest supporters, the question of privatization raises a host of concerns beyond the county\u2019s finances \u2014 about the future of the libraries that some see as one of the only bastions of communal gathering space that doesn\u2019t come with an entry fee.<\/p>\n Among those concerns is what privatization could mean for the 300-plus employees that work for the library system. It also raises questions about what kinds of programming the library would support if it were no longer run by a public agency.<\/p>\n \u201cHanding over library operations, budgeting and management to a private company is the worst thing we could do,\u201d said Supervisor Luis Chavez in a text to Fresnoland, \u201cit doesn\u2019t yield savings, pays low wages and benefits if any and reduces the library experience to a simple book-borrowing enterprise where certain books and materials can be censored.\u201d<\/p>\n Library advocates share the apprehension.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is my understanding that when the libraries are privatized, the public transparency goes away,\u201d said Shannon Wise, president of Fresno County Friends of the Library, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a private company running it.\u201d<\/p>\n The American Library Association \u2014 which vehemently opposes privatization efforts nationwide \u2014 has also outlined several different issues<\/a>, from a loss of community control to a lack of transparency over public dollars going to a profit-driven company.<\/p>\n On top of concerns over programming and staffing, there\u2019s the question of what privatization would mean for the future of Measure B, Fresno County\u2019s one-eighth-cent sales tax that will sunset in 2029 unless a renewal effort wins over voters in time.<\/p>\n Libraries often at the center of polarized politics<\/p>\n Libraries have increasingly come under scrutiny across the globe<\/a> in response to culture war clashes in the public sphere.<\/p>\n And privatization efforts are often hatched in polarizing environments, said Josephine Hazelton-Boyle, an assistant professor of public administration at Fresno State, who has researched libraries and politics.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s often disguised as an economic conversation when we know that there’s other political motivations at play,\u201d she told Fresnoland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bredefeld, however, resisted the interpretation that this privatization study is linked to some of his own successful<\/a> efforts<\/a> this year to restrict the Fresno County Public Library\u2019s displays of support for the LGBTQ+ community, calling them separate efforts.<\/p>\n But he added that he hopes privatization would be a move toward making the library an \u201capolitical environment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe agenda would be just the education of children and providing books and resources for them to learn,\u201d he said, \u201cwithout having some political ideology thrown at them every time they come in.\u201d<\/p>\n Fresno County is hardly the first place, even in California, to consider privatizing its libraries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huntington Beach has been one such cultural hotspot where clashes over content in the city\u2019s public libraries almost led to privatization, until public outcry resulted in an eleventh-hour shift<\/a> of officials\u2019 opinion in 2024.<\/p>\n Riverside<\/a> and Shasta Counties have successfully transitioned their library operations to a private company, Library Systems and Services, Inc. Many cities up and down the Golden State<\/a> have also turned to that same company to manage their facilities and operations.<\/p>\n But some places, like Santa Clarita, have backtracked, reversing previous decisions<\/a> to privatize after not seeing the cost savings promised.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also not even Fresno\u2019s first time looking at privatization.\u00a0<\/p>\n In late 2023, around the time former Supervisor Steve Brandau\u2019s ultimately unsuccessful attempt<\/a> to establish a children\u2019s book \u201creview committee\u201d<\/a> was gaining steam, the county received a privatization proposal<\/a> from Library Systems and Services, Inc. The company, which is backed by private equity, is the primary vendor handling privatization moves across the country.<\/p>\n The contractor projected about $85 million across 10 years in cost savings, or roughly $8.5 million per year, according to the proposal document the county shared with Fresnoland. The LSSI team met with Fresno County leaders a few times in 2023 and 2024, spokesperson Sonja Dosti confirmed, but nothing official came out of it.<\/p>\n Beyond the cultural debates, Fresno County\u2019s libraries have come under scrutiny in the past few years, including when a 2023 grand jury report<\/a> found that the library doesn\u2019t have as many users as comparable systems, and that oversight of the library\u2019s finances was lacking.<\/p>\n Though the library has weathered storms in recent years, it has also achieved milestones, such as surpassing one million digital checkouts<\/a> for the first time in 2023.<\/p>\n Wise said she believes some of those achievements and unique offerings have gone overlooked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe library works very hard to provide things that everybody in the community can use,\u201d she said. \u201cThey even have telescopes you can check out to go stargazing. You can get state park passes for free. \u2026 Some branches have seed libraries where you can plant vegetables. There\u2019s a lot of services the library offers that I think a lot of people don’t know about.\u201d<\/p>\n Librarians concerned about future jobs<\/p>\n County library staffers do have some job protections in the face of privatization, thanks to a 2011 law passed by the California legislature.\u00a0<\/p>\n AB 438<\/a> lays out requirements for jurisdictions that do choose to privatize, including that contract with a private library operator \u201cshall not cause an existing city or library district employee to incur a loss of his or her employment or employment seniority, a reduction in wages, benefits, or hours, or an involuntary transfer to a new location requiring a change in residence.\u201d<\/p>\n At full staffing, spokesperson Susan Renfro confirmed the Fresno County Public Library System employs 319 people, give or take seven who are technically assigned to the San Joaquin Valley Library system and whose labor costs are covered by that regional group of libraries.<\/p>\n But supporters of the public library system here said they worry what would happen to the quality of those jobs if a private company stepped in.<\/p>\n \u201cOur understanding is that \u2026 when they come in, they basically terminate the employment of all the people who are staffed at the library, and they have to reply for their jobs,\u201d said Shannon Wise, president of the Friends of the Fresno County Public Library<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s often at a lower pay scale, and the benefits are different because you no longer have a government pension, it\u2019s gonna be a 401(k), and that affects your retirement benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our biggest concern.\u201d<\/p>\n Chavez, the county supervisor, also echoed this worry about workers\u2019 future wages and benefits with a private company.<\/p>\n When asked about how privatization could affect library staff jobs, Bredefeld said that although he never wants to see anyone lose a job, he also has an obligation to constituents and taxpayers \u201cto utilize our resources as efficiently and as effectively as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever there\u2019s been issues of privatization,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s always been a concern of ensuring that people who are working for us \u2014 whether it was at the city or county \u2014 we preserve their employment as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n