Inequality of DCPS Libraries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As upsetting as this looks, and probably is, let's try to move away from "the more books on shelves the better". At universities, libraries are no longer measured by the number of books they count on their shelves but by the number of databases they offer to students. A library, at this point in time, in school or DCPL, shouldn't be measured in an antiquated fashion either. They should be(come) places of all kinds of knowledge and resources and held to those standards.

Let's say if a library has 300 books on shelves but offers all its children access to thousands of leveled volumes in each classroom offered in Kindles, Noooks, or laptops? Is that library so much worse of than one that has 3000 books sitting in shelves but no librarian or one whose main job is to teach technology? And what about those schools that don't have a central library but instead cultivate leveled classroom libraries, physical or otherwise? How do you count home and school access to RazKids in your "library sadness indicator"?

There truly is more to libraries than books at this juncture!

When was the last time you've been in one of these lower income libraries. I assure you - there are no Kindles, Nooks and very few laptops.

I also don't think very young children should primarily be reading on devices. Kids need the luxury of actually holding real book! And its sad that it is in fact a luxury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As upsetting as this looks, and probably is, let's try to move away from "the more books on shelves the better". At universities, libraries are no longer measured by the number of books they count on their shelves but by the number of databases they offer to students. A library, at this point in time, in school or DCPL, shouldn't be measured in an antiquated fashion either. They should be(come) places of all kinds of knowledge and resources and held to those standards.

Let's say if a library has 300 books on shelves but offers all its children access to thousands of leveled volumes in each classroom offered in Kindles, Noooks, or laptops? Is that library so much worse of than one that has 3000 books sitting in shelves but no librarian or one whose main job is to teach technology? And what about those schools that don't have a central library but instead cultivate leveled classroom libraries, physical or otherwise? How do you count home and school access to RazKids in your "library sadness indicator"?

There truly is more to libraries than books at this juncture!

When was the last time you've been in one of these lower income libraries. I assure you - there are no Kindles, Nooks and very few laptops.

Not to mention the fact that your average first grader has no need for research databases, but could probably use a shelf of Dr. Seuss books and some easy readers on whales, Pokemon, and ballet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As upsetting as this looks, and probably is, let's try to move away from "the more books on shelves the better". At universities, libraries are no longer measured by the number of books they count on their shelves but by the number of databases they offer to students. A library, at this point in time, in school or DCPL, shouldn't be measured in an antiquated fashion either. They should be(come) places of all kinds of knowledge and resources and held to those standards.

Let's say if a library has 300 books on shelves but offers all its children access to thousands of leveled volumes in each classroom offered in Kindles, Noooks, or laptops? Is that library so much worse of than one that has 3000 books sitting in shelves but no librarian or one whose main job is to teach technology? And what about those schools that don't have a central library but instead cultivate leveled classroom libraries, physical or otherwise? How do you count home and school access to RazKids in your "library sadness indicator"?

There truly is more to libraries than books at this juncture!

When was the last time you've been in one of these lower income libraries. I assure you - there are no Kindles, Nooks and very few laptops.

I also don't think very young children should primarily be reading on devices. Kids need the luxury of actually holding real book! And its sad that it is in fact a luxury.

But supporting classroom libraries may be more effective at achieving that than rallying for more books on the shelves of some central library in whatever floor the little bunch barely get to see. And Reading is Fundamental (RIF), for example, claims that what counts is the books a child possesses and gives away a ton of books to Title I schools each year (we've got lots filling our shelves at home). What I'm saying is, let's not get hung of on the "number of books in a schools' central library" as a indicator of success.

[Anonymous]

While I would argue that there is a benefit to having a library at every school, and especially, a librarian on staff, with their in depth knowledge of appropriate resources and their ability to focus on informational literacy with students, I agree that "number of books in a schools' central library" is not by itself an indicator of success.

Still there is clearly a great need here. The difference between having access to 300 books and 28,000 books is staggering. The OP asked for suggestions on how to support the libraries, but if the PP would prefer to focus his or her efforts on classroom libraries or giving books directly to kids for them read (and keep) at home, there's room for work in that area too. All of these things are going to help kids!

[Anonymous]

"All of the above" is a wonderful policy but sometimes you have to think of the (financial and budgetary) tradeoffs. If we focus on 'books in shelves' as a goal, then we must have full-time librarians to code, classify, sort, record them, check them out, back in and put them books back on the shelves. Not to mention you have to invest in renovating those spaces, adding shelves, and sometimes quite literally structural reinforcements to support books.

What if we could use those resources more effectively, spread them more widely, and give more kids access to more books and other information by a completely different model? Not all, but many librarians are vehemently opposed to thinking outside the (library) box. To their credit, they know that outside that box are often not certified and fully qualified subject librarians.

[Anonymous]

So what's your "outside the box" idea for giving kids access to more books and information?

(This is a genuine question. I know in online forums it's sometimes hard to judge if someone is being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative, but I would really love to hear other suggestions.)

I definitely think that a first step for any efforts to help schools would be to ask them what they need - every school will be different. Some will need better infrastructure, some may need volunteer support to catalog or process books, some may feel their collection is fine, but could really use some money for databases, some may indeed just want some books. No way to know without asking.

[Anonymous]

Maintaining an elementary school for just 168 kids is part of the problem. If they closed these underenrolled schools and had even enrollment numbers across elementary schools, then each school could have a librarian, a stocked library, etc. It is a huge waste of money to have an elementary school with less than 400 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maintaining an elementary school for just 168 kids is part of the problem. If they closed these underenrolled schools and had even enrollment numbers across elementary schools, then each school could have a librarian, a stocked library, etc. It is a huge waste of money to have an elementary school with less than 400 students.

While I agree with the earlier PPs about things like city-wide books drives, I also think this is an excellent point.

[Anonymous]

At our JKLM school, there is a used book sale at the school's major spring carnival event. Families donate books which are then offered for sale and, if not purchased by the end of the festival, offered for free to any interested takers. No reason why these books shouldn't be sent to schools that could use them. Or that the school could not host holiday-related used-book drives for "sister" schools in other wards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maintaining an elementary school for just 168 kids is part of the problem. If they closed these underenrolled schools and had even enrollment numbers across elementary schools, then each school could have a librarian, a stocked library, etc. It is a huge waste of money to have an elementary school with less than 400 students.

But then that may create situations where some elementary school kids have to travel very far to get to school (more than a mile). I'm a big believer in "neighborhood" schools, especially for very young children.

[Anonymous]

This is all too true - my spouse is a librarian at one of those lower SES in DC. This year the library had NO budget - other than a $200 Office Depot card. Next year will be the same. My spouse gets quite creative - applying for grants, getting books from freecycle and doing book swaps, going to used book sales, etc. And we keep an Amazon list and friends & close family know that donations of books are welcome in place of a gift. (I explain only when asked for gift ideas.) I'm certain we spend over $500 a year on books alone for the school.

The needs of some of these schools are overwhelming in so many areas. When you compare the resources available at schools in high SES areas to low ones the differences are amazing. I'm glad the Post wrote this article.

[Anonymous]

To the PP - would you be willing to share your wishlist here? I'm sure some of the folks commenting today would be happy to buy your husband's library a book!

[Anonymous]

Lower SES schools all over get the short end of the stick.

Yes, what about a wish list of some sort??? I would contribute too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maintaining an elementary school for just 168 kids is part of the problem. If they closed these underenrolled schools and had even enrollment numbers across elementary schools, then each school could have a librarian, a stocked library, etc. It is a huge waste of money to have an elementary school with less than 400 students.

But then that may create situations where some elementary school kids have to travel very far to get to school (more than a mile). I'm a big believer in "neighborhood" schools, especially for very young children.

Do you value "neighborhood" above and beyond something as basic as books? I get that in theory it's a nice idea, but at the end of the day, maybe we just need to make the "neighborhood" a bit bigger, get a bigger school, and then allow economies of scale to make it possible to provide more resources for these kids?

[Anonymous]

I actually discussed this article on my walk to school with my 5 year old this morning. If folks here with more direct ties to what some of these schools need could offer suggestions, he and I both would be happy to pitch in.