Are school librarians redundant or superfluous? Necessary? What do you think?
States are re-evaluating the necessity of the school librarian across the country and in Louisiana it's a topic of concern as the BESE board works on revising the administrators handbook.
There's a push across the state to "Save the Libraries."
What do you think? Has technology made librarians unnecessary? It is a cost-saving measure? Do students actually need a librarian, or is that one more thing the teacher should cover?
Check out My Bossier to see a letter that Caddo students took home yesterday.
Thoughts?
What does an English teacher think?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I am saying this, but given the way free access to all books in the school libraries is restricted now (whether actively by "reading level", directly by "Accelerated Reader" programs, or indirectly by refusing to credit any book not on the approved “Resource Lists”), I question the reason for even having them. The public and school libraries of my youth were like treasure chests I could explore at will. But now educators reject anything outside their limited system. When I shared a favorite book with my grandchild, I learned that only books with the "red stickers on them" would "count" toward the number of books required for "recreational reading" during the semester. I know most librarians despise such limits as well but they have not succeeded in convincing Superintendents to allow free and open access to all students - and that failure may make them expendable.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't know how to work a library, then you are not going to get far in this world. The internet is not a substitute for good research. As to restricted reading list per Tina, I don't know what that is but with my experience with public school with my children, I think that the longer you are exposed to the system, the dumber you get.
ReplyDelete@david7134 kids already don't know how to use a library. Teaching the Dewey Decimal system has been replaced with big signs, pretty stickers and a librarian crossing guard!
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