It is budget season once again and schools in Franklin County and across the state are facing financial conditions that are forcing them to make cuts they don’t want to make in personnel, programs or other essential services. Some Franklin County school districts have chosen to lay off their school librarians, while other districts have continued to leave their librarian positions unfilled due to layoffs in previous years. Roughly 40% of schools in the state do not have a certified librarian. This is a deep concern to me; there is no one more central to the health and culture of a school than the school librarian, and the impact on a school that does not have a librarian is significant.
Mary Ann Bell, in her article “Iceberg: The cold hard facts of a librarian’s duties” makes the case that people’s perceptions of what librarians do are very much like how they view an iceberg; there is a little bit showing on the surface, what people see, and a great deal of their regular, ongoing work that is essentially invisible to or underappreciated by students, faculty, and sadly, to decision-makers who decide whether to fund the library position or not. I spoke with several school librarians, current and retired, in Franklin County and elsewhere to get a sense of what school librarians do and the role they play in their school community. There is so much on their plates that it makes most sense to organize their work by categories.
The school librarian is a teacher
First and foremost, school librarians are teachers. They teach students how to learn more than what to learn. They prepare and teach whole and small group lessons, and work with individual students on a range of topics: how to use the library catalogs, digital databases and resources, and an increasing variety of other materials. They help students to find books and other hard copy material in the library, help them to become aware of the books the library has to offer, and spend significant time helping reluctant readers to find books that match their interests and reading levels. They are trained in media literacy and help students to approach media in all its forms critically, ethically and responsibly, which includes evaluating sources, looking for evidence in support of claims and making sure to include all relevant points of view. There are often opportunities for librarians to co-teach and co-plan with classroom teachers. I used to be able to give our school librarians a topic we would be studying in a couple of weeks and, as if by magic, carts full of books on that topic at the appropriate reading levels would show up in our classroom. It was our librarian’s greatest joy to help students and teachers to be successful, to help solve problems and find what needed to be found, and that seems to be a common theme with school librarians; let us know how we can help.
The librarian is an administrator
The librarian is the administrator of the library, which is an incredibly complex job on its own. The librarian creates an environment that is safe and welcoming, providing both comfort and opportunity to the students. They have to make sure the library has the resources that students and teachers need, which means researching the books, magazines, journals, databases and other potential resources that are available, making decisions about which to purchase, negotiating with sellers and purchasing the materials. Once new materials arrive, the librarian processes, catalogs and displays what has come in. They must also weed out items that are no longer relevant, current or accurate to free up shelf space, while ensuring students and teachers are aware of the newly available resources. The librarian also schedules the spaces in the library as whole classes and small groups come in for lessons, or to carry out research. A major administrative task for the librarian is preparing a budget and advocating for the funding to provide the resources students and faculty need.
Librarians are technology and media specialists
Many libraries are now media centers and librarians have to become technology specialists, or at least technology-savvy. They have to make sure they purchase the latest technology and media the school can afford, know how to operate and maintain it, and problem-solve when it does not work, and be able to tutor/mentor students and faculty about how to use it. Databases are very different from a traditional library catalog and students (and many faculty) do not come to the library knowing how to make use of them, which becomes part of the librarian’s teaching load. Many students who are so-called “digital natives” really don’t know how to use the technology to actually conduct research, which is more than simply going to Google. They have to learn how to use the technology effectively, ethically and accurately, and teaching that falls within the daily work of the librarian.
Librarians create a safe and welcoming space
The least appreciated and most important role that librarians play is providing a safe and welcoming space, a place where students can find what they need, without being graded, judged, or pressured to come up with the right answer. My sister-in-law, a former school librarian, quotes one of her mentors as saying, “libraries should be about alternatives: children are often more or less regimented in the school day … The school library should be a place where there are more options.”
Librarians create a welcoming and safe place for students and they frequently serve as unofficial mentors, advisors or counselors to students who need a safe space, a so-called “third space” where they can relax and be who they are, without pressure or hassle. Students frequently wait for the morning bell before school, come in during their lunch times or after school to read, do homework, make copies or simply talk with a welcoming adult. Librarians often develop close relationships with students who have a hard time fitting in, serving as vital lifelines.
One other thing
There is one other piece of the question about keeping a licensed librarian on staff that is financial. The state provides access to a wide range of very expensive databases that are crucial to faculty and students, and those databases are only available to schools with certified librarians. There is also the SORA system, which provides students and staff with 24/7 access to ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines. This enables students and faculty to check out materials from home during evenings or weekends. This access is crucial for those who lack transportation or live in areas without easy access to a public library. This too is only available to schools with a certified librarian. The state’s reasoning is that unless the materials are curated, organized and administered by someone who has been trained to handle them responsibly and effectively, they will not be used, which is a waste of state resources. When schools decide not to keep a librarian on staff they are also deciding to let go of tens of thousands of dollars in resources from the state, compromising the education available to the students there.
What happens when a school loses its librarian?
School libraries without librarians begin to resemble ghost towns as time passes. There are fewer reasons to go there. Collections, which cost $150,000 or more to set up, become outdated and less relevant to current courses or student interests, and books often walk away as there is no one supervising. Databases are both outdated and often unusable without the guidance of someone trained in their use. And teachers lose a knowledgeable, dedicated colleague who can support classroom work, plan and co-teach lessons, provide research guides and help locate vital materials.
The librarian may be the only educator in the school whose job puts them in touch with everyone else in the building. They serve as a bridge for faculty, for administration, for families, and, of course, for students. They are, as many describe them, the heart of the school community as they are so central to virtually everything that goes on in the building. The removal of the heart of the community is a loss that schools will take decades to recover from — if they ever do.
Doug Selwyn taught at K-12 public schools from 1985 until 2000 and then at university as a professor of education until he retired in 2017. He is the chair of the Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution education task force. You can reach him at dougselwyn12@gmail.com.