Michael Riley and librarians

["Pamela J. Dodson" <pjdodson@ACCESSONE.COM>]

Any librarians out there in Maryland (Baltimore) who have some comments on
Michael Riley, our new superintendent?  I asked once before and most
librarians who responded were positive, but now that he is here I am
nervous.  He is busy reorganizing, focusing on curriculur issues, and
disbanding committees.  He is a man with a mission, a mandate, and ready to
go.  The question for some of us is where is he going??

So far he has moved the the professional library out of library
organization and put it in curriculum.  As for the fate or direction of
libraries or librarians in general - who knows?  We have a director of
libraries (Instructional Materials) and she has not been invited in to any
meetings or told anything.  Libraries are not on the new reorganization
charts.

Some of my questions are:  Did he keep one full time librarian with a
masters degree in all level libraries? Did you have central processing or
was each librarian responsible for their own barcoding? Did your district
have school based management or top down? Did your budgets shrink? Did you
have a district person who was in charge of all libraries?  If you could
answer any of these questions, it would really help.  As a group we are
very nervous about what is to come and at least if we could be prepared as
to what to expect it would help.

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Pamela Dodson
Librarian - Sammamish High School
Bellevue Public Schools - Washington
                                             "Books can be dangerous.  The
                                              best ones should be labeled
                                              'This could change your life'."
pjdodson@accessone.com
                                                        Helen Exley
dodsonp@belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us

shpdodso@oasis.bellevue.k12.wa.us
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