Administration & Data

The Public Library System Merger Guide is now available. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction commissioned the Wisconsin Library Service (WiLS) to prepare the guide.

The idea of the guide originated from the 2019 Final Report of the Public Library System Redesign (PLSR) Steering Committee, which made a recommendation to reduce the number of public library systems in Wisconsin. The DPI supported the creation of this merger tool allowing other systems to learn from the experience gained during a library system merger by following the process of the latest system merger, Prairie Lakes Library System.

The Prairie Lakes Library System was officially established on January 1, 2023, following a multi-year planning process for the merger of the Arrowhead Library System (ALS) and Lakeshores Library System (LLS). That process was aided by Library Services and Technology Act funding (LSTA), which allowed ALS and LLS to hire WiLS for project planning and coordination. The ALS/LLS merger was, in some ways, a natural extension of years of collaboration between the two systems, but the complex process still required extensive evaluation and coordination. WiLS created the Public Library System Merger Guide to provide practical advice and guidance to support future system mergers utilizing the knowledge gained during the ALS/LLS merger process.

Background

The PLSR project was intended to, “re-envision how Wisconsin public library systems serve Wisconsin’s 381 public libraries.” The PLSR steering committee was appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction in September 2015 and the final report was issued in March 2019.

One of the PLSR recommendations called for enhancing collaboration with the ultimate goal of voluntarily reducing the number of public library systems in the state, in alignment with recommendations from earlier SRLAAW and COLAND studies. Since PLSR, several library systems have established or expanded collaborative relationships for technology services, consulting, and more. Two other successful system mergers in the last decade, resulting in the formation of the Bridges Library System and the Monarch Library System, also provided useful context for the ALS/LLS merger.

The merger process

Library systems must consider several factors during a potential merger. Systems provide services and establish relationships with member libraries, other library systems, and other library types to comply with state statutes. Many systems provide additional services to fulfill their members’ needs, including shared ILS management and IT services. A system merger may also affect existing organizational relationships, system funding, or the written plans and reports systems are required to file with the DPI.

The Public Library System Merger Guide recommends several practices to help lead to successful outcomes:

• building on a history of cooperation
• establishing and maintaining trust
• developing guiding principles to aid decision-making
• documenting the many questions and aspirations that arise during the process
• avoiding decision paralysis
• entering the process without a predetermined outcome to maintain flexibility

The Guide also discusses the three main stages of a merger:

1. Laying the groundwork
2. Merger exploration process
3. Structural implementation

And finally, it provides recommendations for a decision-making process, communication strategies, and other tips. The guide can be a useful resource for other types of service consolidations as well.

The Public Library System Merger Guide is made possible in part due to funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Funding for this project aligns with Wisconsin’s LSTA Five-Year Plan 2023-2027, which calls on Wisconsin libraries to, “cultivate connections and collaborations with other libraries, organizations, and stakeholder groups in order to engage community members, address equity challenges, maximize strengths, and implement impactful, scalable ideas.”