ALA and AASL oppose cuts to Bedford Central School District librarians

For Immediate Release
Tue, 04/26/2016

Contact:

Megan Murray Cusick

Grassroots Specialist

Office for Library Advocacy (OLA)

American Library Association

312-280-2423

mcusick@ala.org

CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) oppose proposed cuts to school librarians in New York’s Bedford Central School District (BCSD). These proposed cuts come as the result of budget shortfalls and a statewide limit on property tax increases.

The proposed cuts would hit elementary schools hardest and disrupt student-centered library instruction in a diverse district where librarians have been recognized for their leadership, instruction, collaboration and programming.

In a letter to the BCSD Board of Education that was also printed in the April 8 Bedford Pound Ridge Record Review, ALA President Sari Feldman and AASL President Leslie Preddy said of the proposed cuts: “What will be lost is the very foundation of students' information literacy development.  Also lost will be the coherence of an articulated library program that prepares students for success in future schooling and the workplace.”

In a separate letter to the BCSD Board of Education, the New York Library Association (NYLA) has also expressed its opposition the proposed cuts.

On April 20, the Board of Education voted 4-3 to retain the library positions. A community vote on the entire district budget is pending.

 

About the American Library Association and American Association of School Librarians

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 58,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all. The American Association of School Librarians, a division of the ALA, is the only ALA division devoted exclusively to school librarianship. It promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program.