In which I get a wee bit angry

Late last week I began seeing postings online about the students at DuSable Campus in Chicago.  The students were staging a read-in; 200 students left class, lined the halls, and quietly read.  Why would they do such a  thing? 

CPS laid off their librarian.

This, in all honesty, should have come as a surprise to no one.  According to the Chicago Sun Times, 

"Sara Sayigh was one of Chicago’s last full-time librarians in a majority black high school; only Morgan Park High School’s and Chicago Vocational’s remain, according to Chicago Teachers Union data."

It is in keeping with a disturbing trend. Cities across the country are cutting librarians (by which I mean qualified, trained, certified staff) at a faster rate than other teachers. In fact, in some larger cities, it is a near epidemic.  In the city of Philadelphia there are 214 public schools and only 16 certified librarians. 16! 

One of the worst offenders has been Chicago, where Mayor Emanuel has gotten quite a lot of press for cutting librarians for the CPS (while still having the audacity to hold press conferences in the librarianless libraries). 

As a librarian, this trend bothers me. The research is very clear.

• Students in districts with certified librarians perform better on tests.  This is irrespective of socio-economic levels. 

• Districts with certified librarians have greater support for classroom teachers. 

• Students in districts with certified librarians are more college and career ready. 

• For many students, especially in rural districts, the school library is the first and best library to which they have access. Which makes the staffing important. 

But even with all of that aside, as far as I am concerned, this is an issue of social justice.

They aren't just cutting a librarian. They are cutting one of the few remaining librarians in predominantly African American schools.

This image was all over my Facebook news feed this weekend:

Meanwhile, I got an email not too long ago that New Trier High School (4% low income, 0% English language learners, 83% white) was looking for MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science: the degree librarians must have, in most cases) students (so, people who already have a bachelors degree and are working through a masters) to work as substitutes when their certified librarians are away at conferences or presenting or doing any of the amazing things New Trier's librarians do. They not only have librarians, but they hire qualified staff to be subs for those librarians. 

There is not a chance in the world that New Trier would consider cutting all its librarians. Zero chance.  But they also don't have to make that decision because New Trier is not financially strapped (like CPS is), and even if it were, the community would never stand for such an outrage. And the community is backed by the one thing that matters most: wealth. (power, influence, privilege, all of this boils down to wealth)

Yet poor districts, districts with high percentages of minority students, and districts that are cash-strapped and need to cut often start with the librarian, replacing the certified full time teacher librarian with an aide, a parent, or a volunteer.

Why do they do this? Because they can. 

The Chicago Teachers Union has said that, "just 7 percent of high schools with at least a 90 percent African-American student body has a librarian, meaning two out of 28 schools; and of the 46 high schools with a predominantly back student population, only 15 percent have librarians. Thirty-two percent of all high schools in the district have a librarian on staff. The numbers have fallen dramatically since the 2012-2013 school year when 61 percent of majority African-American schools had a librarian, while 63 percent of all CPS high schools had a librarian on hand."

This is an outrage. An absolute disgrace.

Students have a right to a quality education., That means access to books, information technology, and educational support. Those three are the pillars at the heart of librarianship. 

It is completely unacceptable to rob children of an education. It is even more so to do this to historically disadvantaged students, such as those in poverty and members of minorities. 

The only true path out of poverty is education. Period. And it is reprehensible to steal that one tool from the students who most need it and least have access to it through other means.  

This is an issue of educational malpractice. It cannot stand. 

So, what can anyone do? 

A petition has been started. Please sign it. 

Hashtags to follow/retweet/signal boost include the following: #SaveOurLibrary   #dusomething  #cantSHUSHthis

Talk about this. 

Advocate. 

Be the voice for the voiceless. 

Don't let the issue drop.
Don't let it disappear.
Don't let this happen quietly.
Don't let this happen.