Chicago Schools Will Train Teachers to Ease Librarian Shortage

Staff -- School Library Journal, 12/1/1998

Starting in January, the Chicago Public Schools will send 25 of its teachers to library school. The district is launching the program in order to ease a severe shortage of certified media specialists. Many school libraries are now run by teachers with no library experience, according to Ann Carlson Weeks, director of the district's Department of Libraries and Information Services.

Chicago is able to run the program thanks to the cooperation of the Graduate School of Librarian and Information Science at Dominican University in nearby River Forest, as well as a $165,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The outside money will allow students to pay $500 a course, instead of the $1,380 Dominican normally charges.

In the specially designed program, librarians-in-training will continue to work in the school system, attending classes on Fridays and Saturdays. The district will hire substitutes to cover for them on days they miss school. Ad-ministrators expect the teachers to complete their training in January 2000.