Louisiana Librarians Escape Budget Cuts

Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2001

School librarians narrowly escaped the chopping block in Jefferson Parish public schools, located north of New Orleans. In response to an impending budget shortfall of $4.7 million, Superintendent Elton Lagasse in August proposed cutting 18 librarians, the athletics program, and 42 administrators hired to improve school safety. But after protests by employees and school board members, he took librarians off the list. In a public meeting, Dollye Mello, a librarian at the Granville T. Woods Elementary School, spoke to the board about the librarians' role: "We are no longer just storytellers or caretakers of books. We are responsible for the teaching of informational literacy," reported the Times-Picayune.