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LIBRARY FUNDING SLASHED by 97 percent since 2001 By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer NORTH COUNTY -- A cupped handful of pennies -- 71 cents to be exact -- is the sum Sacramento lawmakers will send to school libraries this year for each student. The 2004-05 investment in education represents a 97 percent decrease from the $28 per student the state spent on libraries in 2001. And, in fact, California ranks 51st in the country today -- behind Puerto Rico -- in the ratio of licensed librarians to students. Local librarians known for shushing anything above a whisper in the book stacks are now quietly mobilizing to build awareness of California's draconian decreases in funding for school libraries by calling legislators, educating parents and organizing fund-raising groups. "We could buy three pages in a book with the money per student we got for last year," said Sharon Talmadge, a library media teacher at La Costa Canyon High School, adding that she based her three-page calculation on the $19.31 average for a young adult hardcover book in 2004. Library funds are used to buy newly released titles, to replace deteriorating books, and to purchase library computers, software programs, age-appropriate databases and a host of other items, Phillip said. Decreases in school-library funds are common across the country as states struggle with budget cuts, though not as severe as in California, said Cyndy Phillip, president-elect of the American Association of School Librarians. |
