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Schools

No More Pencils, No More Books: Are School Librarians Becoming Obsolete?

Media specialists argue that guidance and research skills are needed more than ever in the Internet age.

Once the staple of nearly every school, the school librarian and media specialist is feeling a bit underappreciated -- if not under siege -- these days.

Over the past five years, the number of certified library/media specialists in New Jersey’s public schools has dropped by almost 15 percent, according to the statewide association, and its own membership has been cut almost in half.

There were 1,580 certified specialists statewide last year, down from 1,850 in 2007-2008, serving roughly 2,500 schools.

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The biggest contributor to the drop was the state’s budget crisis two years ago. Library positions were some of the first to be cut by districts looking to trim staff, association officers and local officials said.

There has been little recovery since then; budgets have continued to be tight, and schools have been unwilling to hire those positions back as the debate rages over what the role of the school librarian should be.

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Classroom Computers

Is it even necessary to have a specialist -- or a library itself -- to help students find resources when the information is often readily accessible through a computer in the classroom?

The librarians’ statewide association is trying to respond to that question with an emphatic “Yes,” launching a public awareness campaign explaining their members’ importance -- especially in these changing times.

It is a campaign being waged in other states as well. The New Jersey association is rallying around the Common Core Standards, the national effort to develop a unified curriculum and testing for every state.

With New Jersey on board for the effort, the association’s leaders say both students and teachers will need reliable resources more than ever.

They also maintain that specialists remain critical to schools, helping students navigate the Internet and other resources, much as they once did with books and periodicals.

“What we are teaching kids is how to deal with all of this information coming at them,” said Amy Rominiecki, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians and a media specialist at Seneca High School in the Lenape Regional High School district.

Without them, added Pat Massey, librarian of South Brunswick High School, “the students are at a loss, the school community is at a loss.”

The association cited a 2011 study of New Jersey school libraries by the Rutgers Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries that found widespread benefits to a vibrant library program, helping build not just academic skills but also cooperation and community within a school.

“The school library is the learning center where people can go and work with a specialist and do things in a cross-content approach,” said Massey, the association’s former president.

Rominiecki said the cause is not lost. She said her own district still has two specialists in each high school, and other districts are moving to ensure similar staffing.

Continue reading on NJSpotlight.com.

NJ Spotlight is an issue-driven news website that provides critical insight to New Jersey’s communities and businesses. It is non-partisan, independent, policy-centered and community-minded.

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