According to documents from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, many schools’ enrollment should support a half or full-time Library Media Specialist, despite district plans only providing for an assistant or a specialist with a shorter time.
Board member Becky Carson quoted several studies showing that schools with a full time library and certified media specialist perform better academically.
“Recent data for the state of Oklahoma shows that across our state, 30% of our schools do not have full-time libraries,” Carson said. “In 2011, we ranked 17th in education, 95% of our schools had full time libraries with full-time certified staff.”
Carson moved to only approve the requests for one year, despite 13 schools applying for three-year deregulation requests. The motion passed.
After the meeting, Carson told StateImpact state law needs to have more teeth to prevent repeat requests. She wants lawmakers to write policies that limit the number of times schools can request the exceptions.
She said if the board denies the waivers, libraries can shut down completely.
“I think the public doesn’t completely understand what the position is,” Carson said. “They create a love for reading. They are also a great service to educators… These qualified individuals are actually teaching classes to lower and upper levels — how do you write a research paper? I think we have to get past the fact that this is just a person in the library passing out books.”
She said the board also wants to add a section to the waiver application for next year requiring schools to outline their plans to fill the positions.
Stan Pedersen, superintendent of Aline-Cleo Public Schools, said his district requested deregulation due to a shortage of available library media specialists — an issue he said is made even more difficult in rural areas. Aline is located in northwest Oklahoma.
“In a rural area, you don’t have as many jobs,” Pedersen said. “So if their spouse works somewhere, a larger area with a population base is probably easier for that spouse to find employment. For rural areas, it’s difficult to land somebody.”
According to board documents, Aline-Cleo’s enrollment should support a half-time library media specialist. The district’s plan provides a full-time assistant at each site. Pedersen said by staffing the library with support employees, the district is able to keep it open full time.
He said lawmakers should focus on incentivizing library media specialists to work in rural areas.
While most of the districts requesting deregulation are rural, some larger districts, like Deer Creek and Union Public Schools in Tulsa are also on the list.
Union Public Schools’ Sandi Calvin, associate superintendent of Teaching and Learning, said in an email to StateImpact the district selects certified teachers already working at the school to complete Library Media Specialist certification.
For example, at Union’s Andersen Elementary, a veteran teacher has completed 22 of the 23 credit hours required for certification.
Union’s enrollment supports a full-time Library Media Specialist and a half-time library assistant, according to state department documents. The district’s plan eliminates the assistant. Calvin said the district’s deregulation request is necessary due to funding constraints.
“Approval of this deregulation will allow the district to maintain lower class sizes in core academic subjects and preserve elective course offerings that enhance student engagement and college and career readiness,” Calvin wrote in the waiver justification. “... Reallocating resources to meet additional library staffing requirements would reduce the district’s ability to sustain these valuable opportunities for students.”
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