Successful students need strong libraries
By Karen Rubado, Education Minnesota governing board member and president of Education Minnesota Pequot Lakes. Edited by Heaven Keane.
School libraries are disappearing. I think for me and for so many other teachers, this is among the biggest heartbreaks of our careers. Some have closed. Many others are still physically there, but with a dwindling collection of books and without a licensed school media specialist. These formerly vibrant, happy spaces in our schools now feel utilitarian and emptier.
Several myths abound regarding libraries:
“Kids don’t check out books anymore.” This is a common argument for not funding a school library, and it is not true. I have many, many sixth graders who are hungry for their next good read. They just aren’t able to find it in our library because very little money has been allocated to buying books to fill the shelves. So now they just don’t bother going to the library at all.
“Anyone can help kids check out books.” If you think that’s all a librarian does, you’re wrong. Before my school’s librarian was reassigned to a classroom teaching job, she was our partner in reading and writing instruction and the bridge between a kid who maybe wanted to read and a kid who actually did. Now that she’s no longer working in that role, our reading test scores have gone down. Not one English teacher in our district is shocked about that.
We’re wringing our hands over the sharp increase in mental health needs in our students, while at the same time refusing to support the one place where many kids found peace, where they could find characters with lives and struggles like theirs and plot lines and worlds that allowed them to dream, and where there was a person who could guide them in ways a classroom teacher simply can’t.
We make sure our musicians, our artists, our athletes and our engineers find homes within our school walls and we ensure there are adults who can nurture those interests. But readers? Not anymore.
The Information and Tech Educators of Minnesota, a division of the Minnesota Library Association, is working hard to advocate that schools not only have libraries, but that every library has a licensed media specialist. It’s important that they aren’t doing that work alone. If we care about our school libraries, we should join them.
If you’re interested in learning more about this work, scan the QR code below.
