Eliminating LMS positions

[robin_belmear]

It has seemed to be a growing trend for some states and school districts to downsize by eliminating LMS positions. Does anyone else notice that this is happening in their district or state? Is there any support out there for "the disappearing librarian"? I am concerned that this may be the beginning of the end for the school librarian.

[Ava]

As a former library clerk who is now running the whole thing after the certified position was cut - I can say this is certainly happening in our district! It used to be just elementaries but has now extended up to middle and high schools. However, it is my understanding that the ALA and others are pushing for library to fall under No Child Left Behind which is up for renewal. I seem to recall reading in School Library Journal that, if the revision is passed, it would require any school that has a library to also have a "highly qualified" person in charge. Keep your eyes on Congress and see what happens with NCLB.

I know NCLB affected Art in our district. Many schools had also cut Art to an instructional para position. Then NCLB said fine arts had to be "highly qualified." They had by this fall to get certified. My friend was an Art para who said, "No way. I'm 50 years old and I'm not going back to school to get certified only to be told they can't afford me at certified rates and I'd either have to do the same job at para pay, be VERY part time (but of course they'd expect the same quality), or be split between schools. It's not worth it." She quit at the end of the school year and is probably going on to a private school where it is not an issue.

Looking at my school, I don't know how they would afford it. With tech and library already being covered by paras, ALL of the specials are still up for grabs every year when the next year's staffing decisions roll around. And that's at a school where the principal is very pro-specials and is doing everything he can to keep full-time specials coverage. I've already given him the heads up on NCLB possibilities. Around the district, I see Music, Art and PE teachers already covering two schools because smaller schools can't afford the full position. If the revision goes through I can see one LMS technically "in-charge" of 2 or 3 school libraries to cover NCLB requirements and the bulk of the work falling on support staff. I just don't know how else our district will fund it.

[robin_belmear]

Thanks so much for responding. We have many libraries in our state that are only open on a part time basis. We have many counties with only 1 librarian covering all school libraries. Our local List/serv participants have been having an eye-opening discussion all started from the Mesa, AZ proposal to eliminate library positions. We used to have 2 librarians and 1 para in our high school of approximately 1600 students. Year before last, they eliminated the para position and last year when one librarian retired, the position was posted as Library/English. That's me! I don't mind the split, but I don't want to see our library shrink any more than it has. We have a very active flexible scheduled media center. Teachers, classes, and individual students keep us busy....which we love. If they cut positions any more, access to our library will have to be reduced as well. When I am teaching English and we have classes scheduled for research projects, we have to turn away indivdual students from independent research as there would be very limited supervision of those students and the circulation desk.
You are right. This is a national issue that needs to be addressed on that level. As much as NCLB can be a pain in the neck, it may be a saving grace for the media specialist.

[Ava]

>>We have many libraries in our state that are only open on a part time basis

I think that's a large part of the equation principals are faced with. What's better - having part time certified and the library being closed most of the time or go with a para who will at least have the library open and available the entire day. If you took the "points" I count toward staffing and applied it to a certified person, the library would only be open a couple of hours a day or 2 days a week.

The general consensus among my specials teammates is that our district needs to fund specials outside of the general "staffing points" allotted, much like they already do with Gifted/Talented and other programs. Each school, no matter the size, would be allotted one teacher in each of the specials areas. Classroom teachers would still be funded by student enrollment numbers. That would also go far in addressing the inequitites presented by the richer schools in the district whose PTOs raise tons of money and contribute huge amounts towards staffing. Smaller and less wealthy schools don't have that luxury and struggle to fund specials.

I am very lucky in that my specials team is very tight and supportive of each other. Unfortunately, it also means that, come staffing decision time, we all know the impact that a change in one position will have across the board on the others.

[[e-mail]]

Hi Robin,

Your question emphasizes the need for national and state data collection. We hear a lot of stories about individual schools or districts cutting positions, but I've not seen the data that there is a net loss of jobs. In Minnesota there is a population shift from rural to urban areas and I am not sure that for every job lost in smaller schools, at least one new isn't added in a suburb.

We need data before we panic.

Doug

[Ava]

Well, I am in a suburban school (right outside of Denver) with about 400 kids. That's about medium size for an elementary school in our district. I will admit it is a small landlocked suburb that gets grayer by the day because people don't want to move out. It's also one of the best school districts in the state though. For an urban look, my sister-in-law is an MLS with teaching degree who was a librarian in Denver Public Schools. Last year she ended up changing schools and teaching tech full-time after her librarian position was cut to half time at the other school.

I agree, though. We do need to look at the overall picture.

[Janethelibrarian]

My district in California was considering cutting three of the six teacher librarians due to dire budget problems for 2008-2009. Fortunately, we were saved for now following a LOT of advocacy work. One place to get support for school library advocacy is the Fund Our Future http://www.fundourfuturewashington.org/index.html site set up by the three wonderful "Spokane Moms" from Washington State. Also check the notes I took at the ALA Advocacy Institute on June 27: http://weloveschoollibraries.pbwiki.com/ALA-Advocacy-Institute .

[L.E. Spear]

I've been doing some research on current teacher-librarian job postings in California. One aspect that struck me was how few school districts could define the skills and experience they wished their prospective teacher-librarian to have. Perhaps one of the reasons school districts focus on libraries in budget cuts is because they may not be able to define their own library programs and therefore don't perceive a loss if library programs are cut.