Friday, May 20, 2011

School libraries, again

I don't think we can talk about this subject enough. Around our offices we just voted on our local school budgets. Most of them were tight, but most of them passed. It seems to me that if we're not doing our job educating the next generation, we're just not doing our job.

Nora Murphy, a school librarian, writes in the LA Times:

"When I taught seventh-grade English, I saw how critical it was that my students read. Those who loved books and read a lot found school easier and were more successful. I didn't fully understand, though, until a school librarian taught me, that I could help the students who didn't like reading become readers. By reading what my students read, I could learn what they liked and show them how to find other books they would like. I could create lovers of literature... That experience and others like it demonstrated to me that a school librarian performs the toughest, and most crucial, kind of teaching. Seeing it done well inspired me. Ultimately I returned to school to earn a library media services credential and a master's degree. I have never regretted the decision — until now."

For more, read L.A. Unified's librarians on trial.

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