Florida Media Centers Stay Open After School

Staff -- School Library Journal, 5/1/1998

After intense lobbying by library media specialists, the Florida Legislature last year appropriated $500,000 to help school libraries stay open beyond the regular school day. The state Department of Education distributed the new funding in February, through competitive grants of up to $60,000 per district.

Districts must use the money only to pay certified library media specialists -- not aides -- to keep libraries open. "We didn't want it to be after-school baby care. We wanted someone really trained to work with students," said Sandra Ulm, Program Specialist for School Library Media Services at the Department of Education.

Nationwide, individual schools have experimented with extended library hours, but Florida schools appear the first to do so on a statewide basis, according to Donald Adcock, Coordinator for Program Support at the American Association of School Librarians.