Elimination of middle school librarians should be temporary
As the economy continues its long descent into the throes of the unknown, cities, counties and school districts
scramble to dig deeper – forced to look outside the budget box as reserves dry up. Similar budget battles continue to rage in Olympia.
As another year unfolds, school districts across the state have already established its 2010/2011 budgets, and to make the numbers fall into the right places, school librarians have been the latest casualties. According to American Association of School Administrators, 10 percent of U.S school districts report cutting library staff for the school year that just ended, and 19 percent will have fewer librarians next year.
Librarians at both Port Susan and Stanwood middle schools were cut for next year. Yes, students will still have access to books once a week, but they won’t have a librarian there to help them, or have the luxury of choosing new titles. Librarians teach lifelong lessons to students on how to locate material on the shelves, introduce new books – not to mention impart their enthusiasm for reading.
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) reports “the highest achieving students come from schools with good school libraries.”
The advent of the computer has been a double-edged sword for school districts. Not only do school districts need to constantly add to its library shelves, they are forced to maintain and upgrade computer labs. Many school districts point to computer labs as the culprit to not having the means to stock library shelves or pay a librarian’s salary. Something has to give and increasing numbers show it is the librarians that go.
More than 98 percent of public schools and 90 percent of private schools throughout the country provide computer labs with Internet access, according to AASL. Budgets can only stretch so far, and the hatchet has fallen in the librarians’ lap. Rather than not upgrading computer labs, librarians in elementary school libraries across the nation have all but disappeared, reports the AASL. With any luck, the economy will have turned around before our elementaries and high school follows suit here.
The elimination of librarian salaries from the budget should be a short-term fix and not viewed as a luxury from the past. Providing a librarian at public schools should be as important as computer labs.
I hate to see it. Reading is a workout for the mind.
On the upside, parents are forced to take a more active role in their child’s education. They are tasked with picking up the slack. Kids should be exposed to a public library at least once a week, encouraged to ask questions and introduced to the librarian.
“I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage” (Charles De Secondat).
A book can be a child’s best friend. Spending time with your child at the library – priceless.
Kelly Ruhoff
Editor
