To the editor:
Your local schools are currently working on their budgets for the next school year. Please take a careful look at changes in staffing. Is there a certified librarian in every school?
The Hunterdon County Librarians Association sees many members dealing with slashed budgets, ignored or non-existent information literacy curriculum, and lack of adequate support staff.
In addition, there are 20-percent fewer New Jersey school librarians now than in 2007-08, with more positions being eliminated each year. School librarians who retire are too infrequently replaced by a trained and certified professional librarian. Their library programs, and ultimately the students, suffer.
A school librarian is not a luxury in the digital age. Information literacy and the ability to tease out reliable data from a tsunami of information is a key skill, one that colleges report is deficient among incoming students.
School librarians, who are trained in information retrieval, evaluation, and citation, are necessary to make sure these skills are not lacking in early grades through high school and beyond. They guide students to become responsible digital citizens in both their consumption and creation of information in the world.
Numerous studies across the country have shown that schools with a full-time, certified librarian enjoy higher scores on standardized tests, more robust curricula, and expansive extra-curricular opportunities.
These schools also better equipped to serve a diverse school population.
A Pennsylvania study concluded that students who are "poor, minority and ... with disabilities (have Individualized Education Plans), but who have full-time librarians, are at least twice as likely to have 'Advanced' writing scores [as compared to] their counterparts without full-time librarians."
The school librarian is one of the rare assets in a school district that enjoy both a macro view of curriculum across all grades and subjects and daily interaction with students.
School librarians must present novels, informational texts, and online resources that fit the student's needs, maintain the attention of our children, and are written at accessible reading levels, as well as foster cross-curricular educational opportunities.
As a result, the library collection is, by necessity, a dynamic array of resources that demands proper curation by a professional in tune with the curriculum, student interests, and trends in information management and technology.
The Hunterdon County Librarians Association does not solely advocate for the advancement of our profession, but for the benefit of our county's students to ensure they are fully college and career ready. Our state is full of talented, passionate, and intelligent library media specialists. Please ensure that the students in your schools are able to benefit from them.
To advocate for New Jersey's school libraries, visit unlockstudentpotential.org.
Stephanie Singer
Readington
The writer is Library Media Specialist at Readington Middle School
and Co-President of the Hunterdon County Librarians Association
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