This summer, Riverside County's public library system became the first privatized public library in the country. While some feared staff reductions, an end to children's programs, or other spending cuts in the name of efficiency, changes so far demonstrate that the quality of service has increased under privatization. As management costs of public industries multiply, government officials are looking to the private sector more and more. Privatization, an idea often seen as radical and threatening, has proven more efficient and effective than bureaucracy. Better service and fair prices are not threatening or radical, they simply make sense.
Privatization occurs when a government run firm is turned over to the private sector.
In the case of transportation, telecommunications, and utilities, the government deregulated prices and let individual companies set their own rates. Much to the relief of consumers, increased efficiency and competition prevented rate increases, demonstrating that markets benefit consumers more than regulation. Other privatized industries, including garbage collecting and school busing, involve the government choosing a private contractor to provide a service for which the government maintains responsibility. This type of privatization, which applies to the library, is called contracting out. While Riverside county still owns the library, a private Pennsylvania firm, Library Systems and Services, Inc., manages each branch.