Posted on 06/24/2010 10:46:40 AM PDT by JoeProBono
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Students who wished their school librarians a nice summer on the last day of school may be surprised this fall when they're no longer around to recommend a good book or help with homework.
As the school budget crisis deepens, administrators across the nation have started to view school libraries as luxuries that can be axed rather than places where kids learn to love reading and do research.....
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Between Amazon and Internet, my family has not used a library. Amazon has some great book for children and of course the internet is incredible. As newspapers become extinct so will libraries as they should be. They cost too much money and are not needed any longer. I am sorry that you will miss out on the library but we need to cut them as they are too expensive for what they offer or even better, who uses them.
That's because no leftist has complained yet. Put in a complaint and any conservative books will disappear.
The schools already have the libraries, they already have the books.
If they simply don’t buy new books for a year, and don’t spend money repairing others that break, they will still have libraries.
And if they get rid of librarians, and have teachers or other staff monitor the libraries, they’ll still have libraries.
SO this “libraries going away in schools” doesn’t really make sense.
You certainly will in my library. Some of the leftist stuff is there, but there is a good selection of truth as well — enough so that one history teacher complained about all the conservative materials we have. :)
OTOH, I will have to change my ID from Library Lady at the end of this month. Retirement approaches.
I think I understand your point. This simple fact is it takes more find and remove a book than it does to click the mouse a few times. Removing books gives the leftist libs that essentially run this Nation’s school system free reign to rewrite history IMO. I like books that I cannot stand. You seem to be on the side of burning them...
Very true.
As for the dichotomy of libraries or computers, you are aware that for many rural communities the only computers with public access are the libraries?
When I saw how heavy libraries were pushing computers that’s when I first started to think that they could be done away with.
If all you are doing is teaching people how to use computers, then you aren’t much of a library anymore.
Our library is usually buzzing with users, many more than the staff. Lots there for computer use, job search, and movies as well as books.
Kids and the elderly seem to use the public libraries the most. People without a lot of excess money maybe.
teachers already have hefty enough salaries and benefits....and THAT is the problem.....everything must be destroyed to keep the teachers the fat and happy in they’re part time work...
I respectfully disagree.
Public teachers still complain about salary, but they are doing better than most of us that are sending our kids to their schools now . . . by far imo. Avg. salaries have to be in the 40’s and I’m probably low balling that . . . I have heard some teachers that are making into the 80,000 range, plus 100% medical type benefits, retirement, etc., stuff no one else gets anymore.. And it’s 9 months work a year.
For every teacher you see, there are multiple pencil pushers who make a great deal more. When asked what they do the average response is a snore.
Absolutely not true--libraries have been around that contain all the information needed to ace any test, yet the colleges don't graduate classes full of straight A students. The students that inspired my original comment had complete access to the Internet for their final reports and came up with sub-par work.
Acing one test would mean we graduated people who did just that--aced ONE test. Who would you rather operate on you, or fix your car or build your house--people who aced a test using the Internet, or people who had to go through the hard work that test ended up verifying?
This "The unions, the unions!" stuff is a separate issue. People who "leverage the Internet" are not smarter than they would be otherwise--being able to pick out things online doesn't mean one's smart, just that they can use the Internet. Nothing more.
I can think of many other school activities more useless than the libary!
I have loved libraries since I was a small child...Mom would practically have to drag me out of the one we lived down the street from about 30 years ago.
Today, my kids love making a trip to the library, and since we are on a tight budget (3 kids in Catholic school on one income), it’s a great way for us to be informed and entertained without breaking the bank. My favorite thing to do is to reserve books from home online and pick them up at the library—especially since I usually have a toddler in tow and he is not quite ready for the library yet. It’s become such a habit that they don’t even need to know my name when I come in—they just head to the shelf to get my reserved materials!
Our library is enormous and well-stocked with all kind of books with a number of views represented. I can get Glenn Beck’s latest just as easy as anything, or any other conservative selection. Twice a year, there is a used book sale at the library that I eagerly await. I have found some wonderful books and if they are not so wonderful, I’m not out much money for them.
Another thing I have noticed is how clean and orderly things are...no homeless hanging out harassing people, the librarians enforce good behavior from the kids, and the staff are more than helpful. Plus they just put in a nice new coffee shop that gives me another excuse to run away from home for a while :)
I should have been a librarian, LOL. Hey, I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up!
I’m with you. I would walk to the local library when I was in late elementary years and middle school. 10’s if not hundreds of times. My daughter got her own card a few months ago at 5 years old, which made her feel very grown up. She’s developed an interest in Egyptian history and we’ve checked out maybe 10 books on Egypt so far. No way we would have bought that many for her; 1 a week, week after week. And Benjamin Franklin I think started the public libraries in the US . . . can’t have a better pedigree than that.
I just read a book on Ben Franklin—from the library of course! It was a book recommended on Beck’s website. Not a bad read.
My daughter just got her first card too last year, when she turned five (she just turned 6 last week, she is sure to let everyone know, LOL). She is enrolled in the summer reading program-she’s read 15 books since the beginning of the month. Or I should say, she’s read some of them and I’ve read some to her. She set a goal of 25 books for the summer—I think she’ll have it cleared by the 4th!
My three oldest love to read (child #4 turns 3 in a few months). My oldest—12—does an activity called Battle of the Books at school. They read a list of about 14 books over the school year. The students are formed into teams of 5-6 kids and they answer questions about the books. In the spring, all the Catholic schools in Arkansas send their best team to the state finals in Conway. Our kids’ school had 11 teams last year—the most in Arkansas! They have placed in the top five 2 of the 4 years the competition has existed. It’s a great program and has my daughter reading a great mix of classic books and more contemporary stuff. Her brother wants to do it when he hits fourth grade in another year.
Isn’t life wonderful? Praise God.
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