FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A group of Fresno-area leaders is raising concerns about the possibility of privatizing some local libraries.
Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez, Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi and Fresno County librarians gathered outside the Sunnyside Regional Library on Monday to oppose outsourcing library management.
Chavez said a report scheduled to be presented at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 20 will outline ways to save $8 million.
He said the report appears to promote reducing library hours, cutting locations and laying off workers.
Chavez also said a private company approached him with interest in helping operate libraries in the community.
“Our public libraries are public and should stay public. We don’t need private corporations coming in and laying people off and censoring material,” Chavez said.
“This is a very bad idea: privatizing our public libraries, cutting hours, cutting services, cutting access is a terrible idea. It’s regressive, and we’re not going to stand for that,” Karbassi said.
Residents were being encouraged to attend the Oct. 20 Board of Supervisors meeting to express their feelings about the privatization option.
Karbassi also planned to introduce a resolution at the next Fresno City Council meeting asking councilmembers and the mayor to oppose privatization and protect access, equity and service in Fresno County’s libraries.
The following update was emailed at 12:27 Tuesday:
FRESNO, CA – During the September 22, 2026, Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board directed County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland to not present the library privatization item at the October 20, 2026, meeting, or any of the 2026 Board meetings; instead, the information will be sent to the supervisors as a Board Briefing Report.
The Board Briefing Report will be sent to all supervisors by early November or sooner and will be available to the public on this page:
Per earlier Board direction, the County had solicited a study to examine the privatization of managing the Fresno County Public Library (FCPL) system, including potential costs,
savings, and operational impacts. The study is not a proposal nor an approval from the Board to privatize FCPL. Since the Board has taken no action on privatization, FCPL remains open, operational hours have not been reduced, and employees have not been laid off.The Board comments on privatization from the September 22, 2026, meeting can be
heard here:
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
