Washington School District Eliminates Middle, High School Librarians
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By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 06/08/2009
The Bellevue School District in Medina, WA—home to Bill Gates and other affluent families—is saying good-bye to all middle and high school librarians, yet another result of the ongoing recession.Come next fall, seven librarians will be reassigned to classrooms, leaving aides in charge of media centers at five middle schools and six high schools, says the district’s interim superintendent, Karen Clark.
Overall, 60 full-time equivalent positions were eliminated, including librarians, nurses, and counselors, who are considered non-classroom certificated staff. Elementary school librarians will remain untouched.
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Mike Eisenberg, dean emeritus and professor at the University of Washington’s Information School, is asking for a compromise--anything short of completely getting rid of the librarians. |
The cuts coincide with Washington’s historic passage of an education reform bill, which includes a permanent line item for school library materials—and an allocation of funds to pay for a certified librarian in every K–12 school by 2018.
So why are library programs still feeling the pain? Because the reforms have yet to be phased in—and even when they are, each district has the option to choose whether or not to fund its librarian position.
“Fundamentally, until the importance and funding of library programs and information literacy is provided for at the federal level, pockets of students who are information-rich while others are relegated to being information-poor will persist,” says Lisa Layera Brunkan, one of the three Washington Moms who successfully convinced their state legislature to allocate $4 million for school libraries for the 2008–2009 school year.
Clark defended the Bellevue librarian cuts, which were made at the local level by individual principals, saying that one library aide had successfully run a middle school library for the last 10 years and that some middle and high schools only had part-time librarians.
Clark also suggested that media specialists, most of whom will be reassigned as English teachers, continue to teach research skills in the classroom.
“This doesn’t mean we don’t value information literacy skills,” says Clark, adding that moving the librarians will provide about 40 more classes to students. “These are hard times based on economic realities.”
Mike Eisenberg, dean emeritus and professor at the University of Washington’s Information School, however, says that if the librarians are reassigned to the classroom, they won't be able to fully teach information literacy skills because they’ll be too busy teaching another core subject.
Jeani Littrell-Kwik, the parent of a fourth and seventh grader in the Bellevue School District, says she was stunned to hear about the librarian cuts and—with the help of the Washington moms—has created a Web site, along with an online petition, to help reinstate them. She’s also amassed parents and the community, who’ve written letters to Clark and her successor, the school board, principals, and even state legislators.Eisenberg is hoping for a short-term compromise, even cutting back hours or splitting librarians between schools—anything short of completely eliminating them.
“Having classified staff running the library is like having a cashier handing out pills at the pharmacy,” he says. “Even one year without a school librarian in there will lead to chaos.”
The district has also been inundated with calls and emails since the word got out. “We definitely didn't see this coming, which is why it's been such an emotional issue, says Littrell Kwik, adding that Bellevue has a national reputation as an outstanding school district. “It’s been heartwarming to learn that parents do understand that schools need a teacher-librarian in order to help their children succeed and get those assigned research papers done and done well.”
A number of people spoke in support of librarians at a recent school board meeting, and one of the most compelling comments came from teachers who told the board that they don't have the training to teach the information literacy, she says.
So is there any hope that the decision will be reversed? Clark has shot down a proposal to use funds from a recent technology levy to pay librarians’ salaries, but Representative Ross Hunter (D-48 Legislative District) is exploring that option as an interim solution to the problem.
Besides, says Hunter, the new superintendent, who assumes the job on July 1, seems open to the idea.
Legally, the tech levy must be spent on capital project expenses, like computers, software, and white boards for classrooms. The money from that fund can also pay support people who are directly tied to training in and development of those technologies—but not to pay for librarians’ salaries.
Ultimately, Hunter explains, school districts must decide whether they want to bend the law, and if they get caught, the worst case scenario would be an audit and repayment of the money.
“We’re going to try to go to the edge of the law on this one to hold on to our librarians at this terrible time,” says Hunter, whose two children attend Bellevue High School. “If school districts choose not to take the legal risk, we would have to try to relax the legal wording of the law.”
The final decision whether to use the tech levy to fund librarians is a tough one that rests with the new school superintendent, Hunter explains.
“It’s not over yet, but it’s pretty risky,” he says. “I’d like to make something happen, but I’m not optimistic.”
