Outsourcing public libraries gets more review in sagging economy

Outsourcing the Manske Library operation has produced an outpouring of emotion.

One resident calls the issue "the third rail of Farmers Branch politics." The city's reviewing two proposals: one to keep it under its administration and another from Library Systems & Services LCC, a Germantown, MD.-based firm that runs 13 library systems in the nation, or 63 facilities. But opposition to the measure has been vigorous from Friends of the Library led by Joan Abbey and Branch Forum led by Ruben Rendon. Library supporters packed the Manske on a Wednesday evening a week ago. City Councilman David Koch has been one of the council persons worrying about the lagging impact from the recession on municipalities. He didn't attend the Manske forum and learned about it when his wife opened the mail, he recounts.