CA's Garden Grove School Librarians May Get the Axe

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By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 03/08/2010

School librarians in Garden Grove, CA, are in the trenches much like their other counterparts across the state as the Garden Grove Unified School District is considering possible layoffs to close a $53 million shortfall for the 2010–2011 school year.

Anthony Elementary in Westminster, CA, part of Garden Grove Unified School District.

“No decisions have been made on any personnel issues,” says district spokesman Alan Trudell. “At this time we don’t know.”

Garden Grove is hardly alone in having draconian budget cuts pushed upon them by the state of California and its diminished tax revenue. But it’s unique in being recognized for excellence, winning the coveted Broad Prize for education in 2004, which selects one school district a year for achievements, particularly in urban settings.

Trudell hopes to avoid layoffs, a fate many school librarians are facing across the nation, and instead have media specialists split time in classrooms. That plan was already put into effect this year for the 10 full-time accredited school librarians in the district’s intermediate schools. However, when librarians are forced to leave libraries for classrooms—that gives fewer students access to the library’s collection.

“All options are on the table,” he says.

Those potentially affected include 47 part-time non-credentialed school librarians at each of the district’s elementary schools, seven full-time credentialed high school librarians, along with other teachers and staff.

However, while decisions have yet to be made, the district must inform those who are scheduled to be laid off in writing by March 15, alerting them that they may not have a job for the next school year. That’s a move Garden Grove does not relish.

“We’re already not filling vacant positions,” says Trudell. “But it’s too soon to tell what will happen. The entire budget picture is bleak.”