It was good news and not-so-good news last week for library advocates. One D.C. Council committee voted to provide more money in 2013 to the D.C. Public Library system, halting years of underfunding. Unfortunately, another committee’s aid to school libraries didn’t go far enough.
Councilman Tommy Wells’ Committee on Libraries, Parks, Recreation and Planning approved an additional $6 million for DCPL — most of it for books and other materials in existing and new facilities. Since 2008, the DCPL has suffered a 58 percent cut in its acquisitions budget.
“The committee’s action is a major step to rebuilding the commitment to our neighborhood libraries,” said Wells, telling me later, “The next thing we want to work on is restoring Sunday hours and probably more nighttime hours.”
Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper and her team have done a great job, prompting me to suggest the council shift authority over school libraries to DCPL.
Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown didn’t buy that idea. His Committee of the Whole approved $1 million above Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s budget for school libraries.
Gray and Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson have proposed stripping schools with populations of 299 or fewer of funding for librarians. Larger schools can retain their librarians but must pay for them from their general education accounts. Those funds often pay for teachers and other instructional expenses.
That anti-intellectual plan will mostly injure poor communities and the lowest-performing schools.
Peter MacPherson, with the Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization, which has mounted an aggressive campaign against the Gray-Henderson plan, wasn’t satisfied with the $1 million allocation. In email correspondence, he blasted Brown for ignoring citizens and choosing to defer to Henderson. “Following the chancellor in this matter means destroying school libraries,” MacPherson wrote.
Brown told me he would “continue to look for additional monies. This is an important initiative.”
Let’s hope he’s not blowing smoke.
DCPS’ library problem is huge. Consider, for example, Stanton Elementary in Ward 8. It doesn’t have a formal library or librarian — although it has more than 300 students. Only 9 percent of Stanton students who took D.C.’s 2011 standardized test met or exceeded required reading levels.
The nonprofit organization EnjoyReading has been volunteering its services at Stanton since October 2011. The group is co-founded by Rachel Scheer and Ali Hoffman, a former D.C. elementary teacher who spends several days at week at Stanton.
“It’s not the school’s fault it doesn’t have a library. It’s doing the best it can. What they did, by partnering with us, was very positive,” said Scheer, who works as a children’s librarian at Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library.
EnjoyReading has expanded Stanton’s inventory to 1,500 books. In March, it held a Family Literacy Night. The theme was bedtime reading. It was the one of the school’s most highly attended non-mandatory events. “We are trying to create a culture of literacy, a culture of reading,” said Scheer.
That’s a crucial goal, which the mayor and chancellor don’t seem to appreciate. If the council does, it should redirect more DCPS money to school libraries and librarians.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
