I hope the local libraries survive. I just started using mine again for the first time since I was a child . . . to get books for my child : )
Getting a book every couple weeks for myself as well.
So schools always target the useful stuff first.
The Administrators and Assisant administrators and all the people at the top will be the LAST to lose their jobs- but who will they be the boss of?
Keep the librarians. Ax the administrators.
The schools already have the libraries, they already have the books.
If they simply don’t buy new books for a year, and don’t spend money repairing others that break, they will still have libraries.
And if they get rid of librarians, and have teachers or other staff monitor the libraries, they’ll still have libraries.
SO this “libraries going away in schools” doesn’t really make sense.
I can think of many other school activities more useless than the libary!
I read the AP story. AP has no shame. It’s as left-wing and dishonest as the NEA.
So it plays along with the PR spin. If they said, “Budget cuts mean we have to fire administrators,” people would say, “Good news.”
The story mentions cutting librarians so that class size won’t have to be increased. As if these are only options anybody could think of.
Libraries as we know them are an endangered species. With the advent of all gadgets electronic, they are an expensive space to maintain. Methinks in the future, if you want to read a book (paper version) you will have to go to the museum.
I am of conflicted opinions. I deeply feel that libraries as we have known them must be preserved. I love books. I like to hold a book while I read. There is something aesthetic to having a book at your fingertips. Children learning to read do better with multi-sensory approach, including holding a book and pointing to words as they go.
Then again, I love the concept of the e-readers like Kindle, Nook, and yes, even the iPad. The idea that I can carry my entire library electronically on a handheld device is beyond awesome. Having virtual libraries in schools is a great idea. It saves space, time, and money in the long run.
In the future, as in the past, owning books will be a sign of wealth. Currently, paperbacks are cheap. Hardbacks are not so cheap, but still affordable. However, with all the ‘green’ery going on, I would be surprised if printed books did not become collectors’ items and a relic of the past. Our society is well on its way already to becoming paperless. Why not include the school library?
blech.
Reality imitating fiction... Star Trek here we come.
There is about $33 million left in the “General Fund.” Out of the 60 programs funded there, 30 or more are ones mandated by the state and feds over which there is no discretion. Most of these have no employees attached to them - things like paying for Court-appointed attorneys, General Assistance, indigent burial.
The public libraries are in the remaining 30 with the sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender, Auditor, Tax Collector, Assessor, Clerk -etc. There just wasn't enough money to cover basic functions of public safety and government. Libraries are a non-mandated, non-essential program. If the public wants them in these lean times, they need to fund them with a special property assessment. I am not saying they aren't of great value, they are just secondary in basic government function to peace and safety.
In California, the role of the school library is just changing. It’s the information center, being the “heart” of electronic info as well as the traditional library stuff.