Re: [LM_NET] GEN: UPDATE: Merced, CA librarians cut

[Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM>]

Just curious
  did anyone offer any alternative suggestions for cutting costs?
  Paula

Sara Kelly Johns <sarakellyjohns@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
  HI, all,

I replied off list to Tony but decided to post my
reply because fighting library cuts has been something
I have been involved with for many, many years and I
know Merced is not the only place this year that will
consider cutting school librarians and school library
programs to "save money." It's a concern at the
national level but is most effective tackled at the
local level--using the national research and the tools
developed by AASL and ALA to work with the local
politics and situations. Parents, other teachers and
students need to lead the way, but the school
librarian has the resources to give them the facts
and figures then need to avoid cuts or work to restore
them when the vote goes that way. And the school
librarian needs to rally the parents and others who
are ready to support the program--they are there, just
need to be organized. 

Here is what I said to Tony:

Thanks, Tony, for the update, discouraging as it is.

I sent this to the attention of the AASL President,
Exec Director, Deputy Exec Director. But...it really
needs to be fought from the local level most strongly.

I hope those 16 library teachers are on the phones
today, talking to parents, giving them some of the
facts and figures that are on the ALA page I sent last
night

and using the AASL advocacy toolkit

It sounds like there is a real money problem in
Merced necessitating cuts somewhere but that the
district is taking an "easy way out" by not funding
their library programs. They need to be encouraged to
restore as many of those cuts as possible; it sounds
like there might be an opening that should be
addressed with facts, figures and research. I've seen
some concerted local efforts,

I wonder if Michael Gorman would be a good ally. He
has been a vocal advocate for keeping California
libraries open. The school board needs to be
encouraged, with parent and student advocates, to
RESTORE the cuts. The impact on student learning needs
to be the focus. You have a chance to make a
difference at work with the Board president working in
your district!

Keep me posted, Sara Johns 

--- Doyle_Tony wrote:

> Turns out the original vote was illegal since it
> takes a majority vote of the entire board to cut
> personnel. At a revote last night the vote split
> 2-2 and the board president broke the tie by voting 
> to cut the librarians. The board president is a
> math teacher in my district. 
> 
> To answer some of the questions I have gotten:
> 
> - I do not work for that district. I work in a high
> school district that has kept full library staffing
> and will for the foreseeable future (I hope).
> 
> -There are 16 schools in the Merced City School
> District, each with a full-time Library Media
> Teacher (the official CA title) and a full-time
> clerk.
> 
> -All 16 LMTs have been cut. Presumably the clerks
> will now run the libraries alone.
> 
> -The district admin floated the cuts several months
> ago and the librarians and their supporters have
> been campaigning hard to save the programs. They
> presented overwhelming evidence of their value,
> backed by the professional research, which was
> ignored.
> 
> -The district is looking at having 4 or more
> district librarians to supervise the libraries-- if
> money can be found. Several administrators and
> board members have said they would like to hire back
> "as many LMTs as possible."
> 
> -California and the Western Association of Schools
> and Colleges have no regulations or standards
> regarding library staffing. In this state the
> Merced City Schools and my own district (Merced
> Union High School District) have been the exception,
> not the rule, in having fully staffed (by
> California's very low standards) libraries.
> 
> Both of our districts are very high poverty. 
> Although the neighborhood school my kids attend is
> largely middle class, most of the district's kids
> are low-income, with more than 75% qualifying for
> free lunch. Our county library system is grossly
> under funded. Most branches are open less than 25
> hours per week and are staffed by volunteers. My
> own children don't like to go to the county library
> because we have a better collection of kids books at
> home. The school libraries are the only source of
> books and professional library services most of
> those kids have.
> 
> Even if money is found and all of the librarians are
> retained the district, both the administration and
> the board, has spoken loudly and clearly about their
> opinion of libraries and librarians and the role
> they play in the development of basic literacy and
> information literacy. The librarians are disposable
> and the libraries are "far from the classroom"--
> farther apparently than the district office. 
> 
> It is a sad day for Merced.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> Tony Doyle, Library Media Teacher 
> CSLA Northern Section PR Chair
> Livingston High School
> Livingston, CA
> tdoyle@MUHSD.K12.CA.US
> Http://www.lhswolves.org/library/index.htm
> Http://lhsblog.edublogs.org
> "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture;
> you just have to get people to stop reading them."
> Ray Bradbury
> 
> 
> 
>
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sara Kelly Johns
AASL 2006-07 President-Elect
Associate Editor for AASL Community, Knowledge Quest
Lake Placid Middle/High School LMC
34 School Street
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518-523-2474, ext. 4132
FAX: 518-523-4861
johns@northnet.org
SaraKJohns@aol.com

"Information is the currency of democracy." -- Thomas Jefferson

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Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com
 
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