Thanks for all your responses. Additional information from Cheryl. We will
put together a HIT and send that out. If you have anything to add, please
email Cheryl directly: cheryl.beran@tusd1.org
kate :)
Well, the suggestion to post this query on the LM_NET listserv was
brilliant and has yielded responses from school librarians everywhere. I
appreciate the passion for libraries out there - such a rare treat to see!
I want to clarify - if the one cent sales tax in May fails, my district is
also considering:
closing between 10 and 15 of our 100+ schools,
eliminating all or most of the certified non-classroom positions (which is
where librarians come in)
eliminating most administrators at sites, except for maybe one principal
cutting sports, before and after school programs, and school security
We will be looking at a reduction of 36% overall in two years. (we already
had an across the board cut of approximately 18% last year.) Ouch. Our
Governing Board will unveil their plan for dealing with the crisis in the
next week.
In addition, the state of AZ stripped all teachers in the state of all their
rights on Nov. 24, 2009. (Seniority doesn't matter, nor does tenure.
Schools/principals/site councils can let go of whomever they choose.) That
is going to court, but has not been decided. AZ is a very anti-public
education state, sadly. It means we can be let go anytime.
I am looking for models whereby possibly we can retain the assistants to
cover the daily operations, protect the collections, etc. by assigning them
half or fulltime to a library. Then maybe have a librarian oversee a
number of those libraries, do the collection development, etc.
Collaboration and instruction with teachers requires relationships, so I
don't see that happening for awhile. But, I did have a librarian at the
University of Arizona tell me that her teachers taught her everything she
needed to know about how to use a library; that school librarians are not
necessary (nice show of support, right?). And - yes, I know this involves
money, but maybe a little spent now will save a ton later in terms of
replacing collections - again - being optimistic that these dark days will
pass.
I have fought for libraries, librarians, instruction/ service, and
collections for 4 years in a row now. This year I am just fighting for
collections. It is down to that. I clearly did not win the other battles.
And- I am not alone in my battle, but I believe that until the parents and
the community see the value of librarians and libraries, we are doomed.
Ultimately, they are the ones who will have to demand that schools provide
library services to the students, that we once again are integral to the
educational process of preparing students for the worlds of higher education
or work. And, I hope we prevail in the long run. I just need a big band
aid to get us through this. What is the model in Des Moines, IA? Anyone
know? ( Not a random question - our ex-superintendent is from there and I
understand they have a model that might be workable.)
And yes, at the end of day, if the sales tax fails, I quite likely won't
even have a job, so I will walk away - doors locked or not.
Cheryl
Kate Gallion
"It is more than ironic that school districts are willing to spend hundreds
of thousands of dollars on reading programs and staff development which have
had limited success in boosting test scores, but are unwilling to invest in
school library programs that show such direct correlations to student
success," researcher Douglas Achterman wrote in a 2008 study of California
school libraries.
School Librarian ~ Teacher
TUSD Alternative Education
Project MORE H.S.
440 S. Park
Tucson, AZ 85719
520-225-2624
<https://mail.tusd1.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.u
s/Alternative_Ed/> http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/Alternative_Ed/
P Please consider the environment before printing this email.
From: kaTe [mailto:cag02@cox.net]
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 8:41 PM
To: LM_NET
Cc: 'cheryl.beran@tusd1.org'
Subject: TARGET: models for unstaffed libraries
Posting this for a colleague. Please respond to: cheryl.beran@tusd1.org
Hi - I am a librarian in Tucson Unified School District in Arizona. Due to
some tough financial times and a basic lack of understanding of what exactly
it is that we do, the site councils in over 70 of our 100+ schools have
chosen to let the librarian go for next year. Of those 70+ schools, some
have chosen to keep an assistant at least part-time to run circulation and
provide access to materials for the students. But, in the other schools, 38
of our 70 elementaries, 9 of our 19 middle schools, and 5 of our 12 high
schools, there is absolutely no one staffing the library. Our collections
are worth just under $25 million, with $10,665,302.89 being
unsupervised/protected for next year.
What models have other districts used to protect the collections and ensure
access to the materials to the students without the entire collection
walking out the door? I need to present some options to the powers that be
next week and to the Governing Board the week after. Any ideas out there?
Thanks,
Cheryl Beran, Librarian
Catalina Magnet High School
Tucson, AZ
cheryl.beran@tusd1.org
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