Letter: Melrose Needs Elementary Library Professionals

To the editor:

Thank you for bringing attention to School Library Month and the important role that school libraries can and should play in "a quality educational experience." School libraries are critically important not only for helping students obtain the information and literacy skills they need to succeed in this day and age, but also for creating a welcoming, common learning area where students have the freedom to explore their own interests.

Many readers may not be aware that our five Melrose public elementary schools do not have professional librarians—or even paraprofessionals—on staff, and that the libraries are not open for students to come in and explore on their own. Instead, one highly dedicated and overworked elementary library media specialist (ELMS) travels to each of the five schools one day a week to teach first and third grade students, and to help maintain each library’s collection. Our elementary school libraries are run primarily by parent volunteers, who perform many functions of a librarian— including read with students, help them select books, check books in and out, and order and catalog books—while keeping the libraries clean and the shelves organized.

In order to fully realize the potential of our elementary school libraries, we need to move toward using volunteers only as assistants and hiring dedicated, trained elementary library media professionals, whom research has shown can help boost reading scores.

Readers also may not be aware that the district provides almost no funding for the elementary school libraries. In addition to the salary of the single ELMS responsible for all five elementary schools, the district’s entire 2011 elementary library budget was $1,250. Each elementary school is responsible for obtaining its own books and other library materials through fund raisers, PTO line items, grants, book donations, and shopping for bargains. Yes, the district is cash-strapped and, yes, each school should have a book fair or two—but what does $250 per school say about the value the district places on elementary school libraries?

School libraries, from K-12, are more relevant than ever. In the words of Andrew Marcinek, an instructional technologist at Burlington High School and a blogger for Edutopia: “The library is the cornerstone of every school and is in a current state of flux … however, the library has never been more important. While the aesthetics of the library must change, the mission is still the same: connect students to vast networks of information.”

I encourage anyone who is concerned about the state of elementary school libraries in Melrose public schools to contact the school committee, and, if you are an elementary school parent, your building principal. Finding the funds to staff our elementary school libraries will not be an easy task, and it is one that will require out-of-the-box thinking; however, keeping our elementary school libraries open and staffed with a professional librarian throughout the day is an important and currently missing element of our students’ education.

Christina Gagliano
Library Coordinator