News Release

04/07/2006
Recognizing changing city landscape and community needs, Providence Public Library to consider various governance options

PPL will consider several different governance options as it seeks to provide greater flexibility for innovation and efficiency in library services for the residents of Providence.

“The face of Providence is rapidly changing. Providence Public Library has a national reputation as a leader in providing innovative library services, and we will continually strive to pursue our service mission in new ways. Innovation requires change, and the Library recognizes those changes must include the structure and governance of our organization,” said Mary Olenn, Chair PPL Board of Trustees.

The Providence Public Library is in the process of developing a strategic plan to best determine how it should deliver services to its patrons who want convenience, access, and efficiency. As a new framework for the delivery of library services emerges, there will be implications for Library governance, an issue which has been of concern to the Providence City Council. In line with this long-range planning, PPL has identified several options which will give city officials more control over the spending of public funds earmarked for library service.

Among the governance options to be considered by Library trustees:
Creating a city library board or forming a separate non-profit corporation to administer branch library services and make decisions on the use of the $3 million in city funds allocated to these functions. City officials or their appointees would have the controlling interest in this entity, which would allow services to be integrated with other city initiatives in the overall vision for Providence’s future. A city library board is the model for traditional municipal library services used in most other U.S. cities. A separate non-profit corporation to administer branch services is similar to models in place in New York City and Rochester, New York.

Other options would involve different levels of politicizing the private board of the Providence Public Library by mandating it accept appointees who serve at the pleasure of city officials. Among them is the city council ordinance, to be voted on tonight.

“We will be looking closely at all of the governance options, and measuring them against their effectiveness and flexibility to strategically deliver library services in the future as identified by the needs of city residents,” said Olenn.

PPL officials, representatives of the Mayor’s office, and representatives from the City Council have been involved in discussions for the last couple of months regarding the future of the branch services and city oversight. Although city officials seek to make appointments to the private Library’s Board of Trustees, PPL has resisted attempts to politicize its board, and the talks, although amicable, have failed to produce a satisfactory agreement.