Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/969549
Librarians, Funding in Short Supply T E A C H E R L I B R A R I A N positions are often on the chopping block, and school libraries are threatened with cutbacks or closures in tough times. Despite preparing students for college and the workforce, teacher librarians are lacking on many campuses. In some schools without teacher librarians, nonteaching staff provide library services. And in others the libraries have closed. In 2014, EdSource reported that about half of the 600 elementary and middle school libraries in Los Angeles Unified School District had closed. That same year, the School Library Journal reported that 40 of San Diego Unified School District's 180 libraries were closed due to budget cuts. "Currently in Oakland, it's possible to enter kin- dergarten and graduate high school never having gone to a school that has a library," said a district librarian in the EdSource story. State law requires California public schools to provide library services to students — but has yet to define the minimum level and types of library services public schools must provide. SB 390, a CTA-sponsored bill, would have adopted model standards and regulations for school library ser- vices, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it in October. After categorical funding ended in 2009, the primary source of library funding for 51 percent of California schools was fundraising. However, the news is not all bleak. Since implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013-14, funding provided by districts has steadily increased from 28 percent in 2011-12 to 45 percent. But in some districts, even that is not enough. " There haven't been layoffs in my district," says Virginia Hamilton in El Dorado. "We are valued and supported. But a neighboring school district did away with its librarians a few years ago, so we consider ourselves lucky." Virginia Hamilton at Union Mine High School assists students. She regularly attends departmental meetings to remind teachers how she can help them with lesson planning and resources. VIRGINIA HAMILTON, Union Mine High School, El Dorado UHSD Faculty Association What Virginia Hamilton likes best about being a teacher librarian is that every day is different. " Yesterday I had 13 classes where students had 'mad money ' and learned how to write checks, take care of a debit card, and figure out how much money they might need to join a gym, buy a car, rent an apartment or buy baby formula. I was mobbed in those classes. The day before that, seniors were doing research for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and the computers went down, so I had to show them print resources. Today, I showed students how to use a database for U.S. history, world history, science and liter- ature, and helped them save articles to their Google Drive. I never have the same day twice, and I love that about my job." After attending a California School Library Association (CSLA) conference, she learned about e-cards and collaborated with colleagues to pilot the cards at school, so students can log in and access the school library 's databases from anywhere. She posts her favorite books regularly online and organizes scavenger hunts for prizes, where students must find things hid- den in the pages of books. Hamilton, a reference librarian in a public library for 19 years before earning her teaching credential, won a Good Ideas Award in 2016 from CSLA for her work with Spanish classes assigned to study a Spanish-speaking country. Students created posters to lure tourists, cooked native cuisine and brought in dishes to share, enjoyed music on YouTube from that country 's top artists, and created presentations using Prezi software. "It looked like an insane asylum while the kids were running around," she laughs. "But the students were very involved in this project, learned a lot, and had a great time." 38 cta.org Feature Fresno High School's Sue Navarro outside the campus library.