School Librarians: Worth It?
There was this article in the Seattle Times today that got me to thinking:
"To some Bellevue parents, it's hard to believe that all five of the city's high schools made it onto Newsweek's list of 100 best schools in the U.S. — and all five are about to lose their school librarians."
How was this decided?
"The decision was made by each one of the school principals, said School Board President Chris Marks, and the board does not intend to overrule them because "principals really ought to know what the actual needs are, and serve them the best," she said."
"Littrell-Kwik and others say they wish Bellevue had used a process like neighboring Lake Washington School District, which held several large public meetings and conducted an online survey, to help decide where the cuts would be made.'
Public meetings to ask the public's opinion and an on-line survey? Good job, Lake Washington.
Now I generally hold school librarians in high regard for several reasons. Mainly because with a library on-site, students can do homework with information at the ready, they can check out books with guidance and last, now that librarians are the keepers of finding information in our tech-driven world, why get rid of them? And who will keep the libraries up? It isn't just about shelving the books.
We do have wonderful neighborhood libraries. Our city library levy was possibly one of the best and most lasting things we have ever done. I am very proud of our lovely libraries that exist just about everywhere in this city. But can kids get the same kind of help at a public library as a school library? Are computers as accessible as they are in a school library? Do city librarians know children/teen literature like a school librarian? I wouldn't think so (except maybe at the main library).
BUT, I'm guessing from this article that a librarian is more costly than a teacher. Is that it? And all these schools have an extra class to stick the librarian in? I'm not sure that most schools even have that luxury. Or is this a way to get them to retire or resign?
In a cost-driven world of education, are librarians a luxury?
"To some Bellevue parents, it's hard to believe that all five of the city's high schools made it onto Newsweek's list of 100 best schools in the U.S. — and all five are about to lose their school librarians."
How was this decided?
"The decision was made by each one of the school principals, said School Board President Chris Marks, and the board does not intend to overrule them because "principals really ought to know what the actual needs are, and serve them the best," she said."
"Littrell-Kwik and others say they wish Bellevue had used a process like neighboring Lake Washington School District, which held several large public meetings and conducted an online survey, to help decide where the cuts would be made.'
Public meetings to ask the public's opinion and an on-line survey? Good job, Lake Washington.
Now I generally hold school librarians in high regard for several reasons. Mainly because with a library on-site, students can do homework with information at the ready, they can check out books with guidance and last, now that librarians are the keepers of finding information in our tech-driven world, why get rid of them? And who will keep the libraries up? It isn't just about shelving the books.
We do have wonderful neighborhood libraries. Our city library levy was possibly one of the best and most lasting things we have ever done. I am very proud of our lovely libraries that exist just about everywhere in this city. But can kids get the same kind of help at a public library as a school library? Are computers as accessible as they are in a school library? Do city librarians know children/teen literature like a school librarian? I wouldn't think so (except maybe at the main library).
BUT, I'm guessing from this article that a librarian is more costly than a teacher. Is that it? And all these schools have an extra class to stick the librarian in? I'm not sure that most schools even have that luxury. Or is this a way to get them to retire or resign?
In a cost-driven world of education, are librarians a luxury?
Comments
Helen Schinske
People keep mentioning the Matthews ranking to me, and though I'll admit that I'm pretty opposed to artificial linear rankings of complex choices, I find the Matthews one particularly annoying. I think we should come up with our own list of rankings for WA high schools. Perhaps then, it would get cited in newspaper articles. I can't believe how many people take home the ranking without any knowledge at all about how the schools have been ranked (I try to inform people, but then, I'm that kind of annoying person).
how do we create an equitable baseline to serve as the starting point for comparison?
do we only look at academic achievement?
do we poll school communities as to their satisfaction with the school overall - academically, socially, extra curricular activities, internal and community functionality versus dysfunctionality etc?
would our communities feel secure enough to be honest about what's going on in our respective schools?
Could we be strong enough as a community to honour and take the positives of the different pedagogies, cultures, styles and experiences, and apply and reinforce them wherever relevant and beneficial and work to make all schools better?
What exciting work that would be...
WV - blest