OC Gold Star Schools DON’T employ F-T School Librarians
After reading the recent glowing write-ups of “gold medal” OC schools, I was curious about about whether or not any of the top schools employed a qualified full-time School Librarian. First, I took a look I look at each school’s website. Right off the bat, I discovered that none of the school websites maintained a library page, indicating how very little attention is devoted to providing students with access to credible, developmentally-appropriate resources and research tools. The two Irvine schools did include a link to their school library from the district website, so at least these students could search their campus library’s online catalog from home.
With the exception of Jack Weaver Elementary (which listed staff only by name, not by title), School Librarian-type staff appeared buried under the title of “Support Staff” or was listed at the bottom of the staff page under Library/Media without any links to further information. So, I called each of the top five gold medal schools to ask about its School Librarian. Here’s what I found out:
- Acacia Elementary, Fullerton Elementary employs someone under the LIBRARY/MEDIA tab. Couldn’t verify whether Mrs. Elison had a MLIS or worked full or part-time. (714) 447-7700
- Turtle Rock, Irvine Unified employs a non MLIS School Library Media Tech for fewer than 6 hours per day.
- Stone Creek, Irvine Unified employs a P-T non MLIS “Librarian” who was hired 26 years ago as an instructional assistant, i.e., no MLIS. She works 3.9 hours per day.
- Ethan B. Allen, Garden Grove Unified employs a P-T Library Tech for 3.9 hours per day.
- Jack Weaver, Los Alamitos Unified employs a non MLIS “Librarian” to manage its “Media Center” two and 1/2 days per week.
I suppose I shouldn’t be been surprised or disappointed… but I am!
