Tapped out for money, the county considers the plan as a way to keep libraries open. “When you outsource library services, the locals still own the buildings and contents but everything else, including the hiring of local staff, is managed from afar. It might someday be the norm for all kinds of public services. But there’s something undeniably different about hiring a business to oversee which books you and your kids can browse, to decide how library Internet access is controlled, and what penalty you’ll face when the dog eats a borrowed Harry Potter hardcover edition.”