Library to be outsourced, Farmers Branch council decides

Outsourcing library operations to Library Systems and Services LLC would save Farmers Branch (TX) $917,774 over the term of the three-year contract, according to a city comparison of proposals for fiscal 2011, LSSI's proposal would cost $225,127 less than the library's plan, city officials said. LSSI proposed running the library with 15 full-time staff members compared with the library's plan, which called for about 17.3 positions. "With the economy that we have had over the last two, three years, some tough choices have had to be made," Mayor Tim O'Hare said. He argued that the city would be better served by investing in economic development than personnel, which he said accounts for 79 percent of the city's operating budget. "Nobody on this council is here tonight or woke up this morning saying, 'Let's see what we can do to mess up the library," O'Hare said. "If they do this, they're going to do this thinking it will make the library better."