Letter to the editor: Loss of full-time librarian hurts students

To the editor:

It takes a village to educate and develop children fully. A linchpin in student development is the school librarian—a full-time, credentialed librarian.

School librarians are highly educated and trained professionals who not only guide and educate students but also provide resources to teachers, staff and parents. Their role in support of students, along with their impact on society through the development of critically thinking community members, should not be underestimated.

This is not a throw-away, luxury position. Eliminating a fulltime librarian position in the Perry Community School District will predictably result in long-term negative consequences for students, teachers and the civic fabric of our communities.

Librarians competently fulfill their role of building and maintaining the school’s book collection. They analyze and select diverse, representative and age-appropriate additions to the collection. They work to provide resources that support the interests and backgrounds of all students, and they provide these resources in different languages or mediums that reflect the unique needs of students.

Librarians educate. Librarians teach students how to conduct credible, effective research. Librarians guide students in the development of their critical thinking skills. Librarians educate students in how to identify credible versus bogus sources of information and how a source may be biased or misleading. Librarians train students in how to use technology effectively. Librarians foster a lifelong love of learning.

Librarians are there to help educate kids on how to be safe and responsible when consuming social media and how to protect their own data and privacy.

Librarians are also a resource for every teacher, coach and staff member in the school system who seeks information to support their students’ educational and social-emotional needs and to integrate technology into their lessons. Librarians can direct them toward books and digital content that will reinforce and guide their message–suggest a movie, speech or digital clip that brings home a point.

In addition, librarians are available to help teachers and others develop their personal skills and stay up to date on new techniques and advancements in their fields.

While cutting a full-time librarian position might initially appear to be a cost savings, in the long term the lost benefits to students, teachers and the community are boundless.

Students will struggle. Literacy might decline. Academic performance will decline. Tasks might shift to overstretched teachers, further challenging them to meet the needs of all students. Classroom experiences might become less rich and engaging. Teachers might become more stressed.

When critical resources are lost, the likelihood of inequalities in education increases. The more responsibilities that are placed on teachers, the more they are forced into serving the majority and leaving students with unique needs behind—individualized approaches are lost.

Some students have access to a home environment that includes travel, museums, private tutors and other methods of shoring up lost public resources. Many do not. The damage of lost public-school resources to kids’ development and potential is unequal — it disproportionately harms those with the greatest need of the resources a skilled librarian provides. Students will miss opportunities that were previously available to them.

While Perry has much to offer, we do not have the variety of museums or other educational resources that are found in large cities. This makes the loss of a librarian in our charming small town of even greater consequence since other community resources are not readily available to help fill the gap.

Over time, the negative consequences will expand beyond the school building into the world. Students will be less prepared for college and careers and less effective participants in our complex world and democracy.

These lost benefits and opportunities are exponentially greater than the short-term cost savings of a full-time credentialed librarian’s salary.

Please realize that I do recognize the challenges of budget cuts. Differences of opinion regarding cuts are inevitable. Do share your views with Superintendent Wicks to ensure public input is a key component in such durable decisions. Decisions that impact student education impact us all.

Laura Stebbins
Perry