日本公立圖書民營化的弔詭與啟示：如何兼顧公共價值與經濟效益？

The Paradox and Apocalypse of the Privatization of Japan’s Public Library: How to Balance between Public Value and Economic Value?

雖然公共服務或建設民營化早已不是新鮮的話題，但因公立圖書館被賦予蒐集、整理資訊與圖書等知識保存和文化發展等功能，因此相較於其他公共設施，各界對公立圖書館是否民營化依然抱持較謹慎保守的態度。儘管如此，日本地方政府受限於財力、人力與專業，卻表現高度的積極性，試圖藉由導入指定管理者制度，將圖書館交由民間經營，以達到提高服務品質與效率，同時活化地方經濟的雙重目標，卻發生過度期待達成經濟、財務目標，以至於有違圖書館本質的弔詭情形。
本文藉由次級資料的蒐集與分析，來瞭解日本公立圖書館民營化的現況與問題。研究發現，在考量公立圖書館民營化的合適性時，需先釐清圖書館的功能，究竟是教育與文化發展、知識傳遞的據點，或是振興地方經濟、觀光的景點。此外，日本公立圖書館民營化後雖然透過延長服務時間、改變裝潢設計與使用規則、強化使用者便利性等創新手法與擴大經營規模來增加使用人數，卻也發生（1）選書；（2）專業性確保與雇用安定；（3）不完全競爭等問題，有待日後解決。文末作者提出三點建議，首先，透過居民參與，重新檢討公立圖書館的使命與定位，確立營運目標。其次，公立圖書館民營化除了節省地方政府財政支出外，還應注意過程中手段會破壞目的的問題。最後，民營化前須先釐清核心業務的範圍並評估形成競爭市場的可能。

The privatization of public service or infrastructure is not a new concept. However, public libraries have the function of knowledge preservation and culture development by collecting and organizing information and books. Therefore, the privatization of public libraries is viewed in a conservative manner. Nevertheless, the Japanese government has been very proactive in the privatization process despite limited financing, manpower and professionalism. By means of the designated administrator system, Japan privatized its public libraries to improve service quality and efficiency, and vitalize local economies. However, overemphasizing economic and financial aims has disrupted the nature of libraries.
This paper seeks to understand the current status and issue of Japanese public library privatization via secondary data gathering and analysis. This research found that in assessing the feasibility of public library privatization, it is important to clarify the function of libraries, whether it is a center for education and culture development, knowledge sharing, or a location to stimulate the local economy and tourism. In addition, by undergoing privatization, Japanese public libraries extended service hours, remodeled facilities, revised operation rules, and strengthened user convenience to expand operation scale and capacity. However, several issues remain unresolved and calls for further research: (1) selecting books; (2) ensuring professionalism and user capacity; and (3) addressing imperfect competition. This paper suggests the following, first, via citizen participation, rethink the mission and position of public libraries and confirm its operational goal. Second, other than reducing local financial expenses, public library privatization must also mind the disruptive measure it may have in the original purpose. Finally, clarifying core work scope and evaluating market competition is a pre-step before privatization.