The loss of librarian positions at West Hawaii schools continues to be a sore point for some residents.
Several people attending a Hawaii Board of Education community meeting Thursday night pointed to the value of books in children’s lives and wished that budget shortfalls could be made up another way.
Maia Daugherty, the librarian at Holualoa Elementary and Kona chapter president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said administrators don’t understand how literacy is being affected by the cuts.
“Many children don’t have the means to get to the library on the weekends, and the only access they have is at school,” she said. “Kids are being shortchanged by not having qualified librarians.”
Seven schools have either eliminated the librarian position over the past three years, or had librarians retire and did not fill the positions, according to the state Department of Education. Schools that have eliminated the position are Honokaa High, Paauilo Elementary and Intermediate and Ke Kula o Ehunuikaimalino, a Hawaiian language immersion school in Kealakekua. The schools that have had librarians retire and did not fill the position are Kealakehe Intermediate, Kealakehe Elementary, Honokaa Elementary and Honaunau Elementary.
Another school, Konawaena High, is reducing its librarian to half time, a decision that sparked student protests in January.
“Some school libraries are being staffed by a succession of unqualified aides or teachers,” retired librarian Cheryl King wrote in a letter to the board. “This is deceiving to students, parents and community members who assume that the person running the library is actually a qualified librarian.”
Tight budgets have left school administrators facing tough choices, West Hawaii Complex Area Superintendent Art Souza said in an interview after the meeting.
“You cannot cut classroom teacher positions,” he said.
Souza said the cuts have to be viewed in the larger context of counselor positions, clerical support, vice principal and other support positions that have been eliminated as well, along with teachers in music and art programs.
Big Island board vice chairman Brian De Lima said schools have had to make do with funding that does not meet all their needs, and that administrators are tasked with making their own decisions based on their priorities. That said, the BOE is grappling with the issue of whether they should require that certain positions be filled — such as librarians.
Principals and school community councils have the authority over how funding is spent at each school — not the BOE, said De Lima. Micromanagement of these administrative decisions has not traditionally been the kuleana of the BOE, which is a policy-making body rather than an administrative one.
“The bottom line is, our libraries should be staffed by trained, qualified librarians,” he said. “Obviously, going to the Legislature and getting more money is always preferable, but the Legislature has other priorities as well.”
Oahu board member Amy Asselbaye agreed about the importance of properly staffed libraries.
“When libraries function well, they reflect back into the learning that is going on in school,” Asselbaye said. “They are not really separate.”
