School Board Cuts All Librarians: One Response

It is National Library Week.  This should be a time where we take a moment to reflect on how libraries and librarians have enriched our lives and how it is important that we support them.  Unfortunately, here in Nova Scotia, a local school board decided to cut the jobs of EVERY SINGLE LIBRARIAN.  I am deeply saddened, not only for the wonderful librarians who will now be forced to find employment elsewhere but also for how much our students will lose.

Librarians are an integral part of any school.  They manage and maintain small and large libraries.  They order new books and are masters at putting the right book into the right hands.  They teach valuable research skills using both print and online sources.  They provide a safe, quiet environment where many kids go to escape the bedlam of free periods and lunchtimes.  They support teachers in finding materials for their classroom and planning lessons that will appeal to their students.

This is not ok.  School boards all over North America preach about the value of reading and literature and then make cuts to school book budgets, time available for reading and now, the very people who are most qualified to help foster a lifelong love of reading. 

Without Librarians, school libraries will fall into disorganization and disrepair.  New books will not be ordered.  Students will lose their place of refuge.  Teachers will try to pick up the slack, but with an already over-scheduled day and increasing demands from both parents and administration, there is only so much that they can do.

It is time for Education to change.  It is time for governments to start putting dollars into the classroom and value on the skills that are taught there.  It is time to put kids first.

If you are Nova Scotian, please visit KidsNotCuts.  If not, please get involved in your own province/state and let your voice be heard.