Santa Clarita is now accepting applications for City Librarian as the city moves forward with staffing its libraries in-house, per the City Council’s decision Jan. 9 not to renew the contract of operator Library Systems & Services, LLC.

The position will pay $56.80 to $72.20 hourly or between $120,224 and $150,176 per year depending on experience, and the deadline to apply is February 26.

The Council called for the transition from the private contractor’s staffing to city employees to be complete by July 1. Currently, 54 full-time LSSI employees staff the libraries.

“We know our residents enjoy visiting our three branches in Canyon Country, Newhall and Valencia, and are excited about the fourth branch coming soon to Saugus,” said Carrie Luhan, city spokeswoman, referring to the Saugus Library and Arts Center, slated to open in 2021.

“Our goal is to make behind-the-scenes operations more efficient while improving the quality of services and resources,” Luhan said. “This is an exciting new chapter for our city libraries and we look forward to what the future holds.”

Here are the city’s recruitment timelines for Santa Clarita Public Library staffing:

• City Librarian – now underway; deadline to apply is February 26.

• Library Administrator – starts early March 2018

• Senior Librarian – starts early March 2018

• Librarian – starts early April 2018

• Library Assistant – starts early April 2018

• Part-Time Library Aide – starts late April 2018

Current library staffers are actively seeking employment elsewhere, among them LSSI’s outgoing City Librarian Matthew Hortt, who assumed the position in April 2017. Luhan did not know what plans SSI have, if any, to reassign current Santa Clarita Library employees.

The private contractor has operated Santa Clarita’s three libraries since 2011. In making its decision to end the LSSI contract, the Council referred to a city staff report noting that LSSI had performed to expectations in the first four years, but below expectations in the subsequent two and a half years.

That, along with public employee pension caps that went into effect in California in 2012, made taking the city’s library operations in-house more cost-effective than continuing to use an outside contractor, city staff reported.

LSSI has been operating under its current $3,388,409 annual contract, but the staff report estimates first-year cost savings of $393,931 if the city staffs the libraries with its own employees at the same level as the contract provider.

Here are documents supporting the Council’s January 9 decision:

City Council Agenda Item Agenda Report
a. Resolution Delegating Authority Over Library Personnel
b. Resolution Amending Classification Plan and Salary Schedules
c. Ordinance Amending Santa Clarita Municipal Code to Add Library Classifications
d. Resolution Amending Personnel Rules to Provide 10-Step Salary Range
e. Santa Clarita Public Library In-House Cost Estimate