In the demise of school libraries, make a comeback!

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It's pretty well known in the library world that public school libraries have suffered tremendous cuts in budget, staffing, and staff competency since the 2008 recession. What use to be the job of a bona fide Librarian – a highly respected, Master’s degree holding, specialized and sought-after resource – has, over time, become tasked to technicians, and in some cases, parent volunteers with no library science training at all. In the worst situations, these librarians are forced to move across several schools, providing less-than stellar service by being spread so thin. This is a huge problem. (There are many good articles on why this is a huge problem. I won’t cover that here. Check out Teacher Librarian online.)

Once a solution is identified, is society responsible to fix it?

The answer is YES! Unequivocally, children deserve the best possible education that can be provided. Arguments regarding budget don’t stand up to the reality that damage is being done to many of the children who are denied literacy services through their school libraries across the United States. Standards for school libraries have been set for a very good reason, but in the current age they are not being followed. Placerville Librarian and library best practices advocate Jo Avery organized a professional presentation to the board of education in her district to advocate for application of state standards into practice at school libraries. Her short article in CSLA Journal gives an bulleted outline of how to approach the issue in an expert manner. For the list of CSLA standards, visit their website: http://csla.net/

Across the country in Kansas, Lori Franklin suggests a “gracious and tenacious” advocacy model, which worked to re-staff the Olathe Public School District with full time librarians.  After the recession, they experienced a nine-year gap from the budget crisis resulting in staff sharing plans to the reinstatement of best practices. “I am convinced that by removing emotional response, the little advocacy army was able to competently voice expectations for best practices and doing what is right for students”, Franklin chimes, after the hard-won victory.

Take courage! It can be done! 

Plan it. Do it. Tell it: what's your comeback story?

References

Avery, J. (2005). Bringing the CSLA Standards to the Board Level. CSLA Journal, 28(2), 15-16.

FRANKLIN, L. (2018). Tactical Advocacy: How One School District Regained Optimal Staffing for School Libraries. Teacher Librarian, 45(4), 20-23.