In New Orleans, 'Librarians Cadre' Sends Message School Officials Can't Ignore

Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/1/1998

A group of media specialists calling themselves the "Librarians Cadre" managed recently to turn around years of neglect and underfunding of New Orleans school libraries. After several years of lobbying school officials, the board of education voted this month to add a budget line for libraries in the schools budget where none existed before.

The actual dollar amount is less than the librarians wanted--$5 per pupil instead of $17--but Cadre members feel it's a big step in the right direction. A particular frustration for librarians has been the fact that the district used the promise of new library books in the past to win tax increases from voters. But only a few school libraries have received any of the tax-generated funds from their principals, who control library allocations under site-based management.

The budget line now requires at least a certain amount of money to go to libraries. Moreover, using statistics compiled by the cadre, the district's superintendent has put school officials on alert about the system's aging collections.