Average Book Prices 2003: Where Is Your Opportunity?

Perhaps you're a Librarian in a school district that has laid off half of its librarians. Or you're a youth services librarian in a public library that saw its budget slashed by 10 percent, its hours of service reduced to four or five days a week. You've read that our states are facing their worst fiscal crises since World War II. War looms ever closer. You are more deliberate in your daily routine, due to budget shortfalls, job insecurity, and an uncertain terrorist threat.

But have you found your opportunity? The opportunity to salvage a trying situation? In Louis Sachar's Holes (Farrar, 1998), Stanley Yelnats digs himself a lifetime-worth of wisdom and self-esteem by triumphing over a hopeless and unfair set of circumstances. We seek to impart these object lessons to our students and children. But how can we apply them to ourselves? Have you considered how to turn one of your trials into a triumph?

Some ideas to consider:

• Apply for an Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant. As explained in our cover story, which begins on p. 52, school districts received an average grant award of $75,000. Grant writing assistance is available by e-mailing the Department of Education at lsl@ed.gov. Funding for this program is still modest, but will increase slightly from $12.5 million in 2002 to $13 million this year.
• Capitalize on the increase in federal library funding. President Bush has proposed a 15 percent increase—an additional $31 million—for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, bringing its budget for FY03 to $242 million. States will have more than $166 million to support public libraries seeking to improve services through outreach and technology. Public and school library partnerships are also eligible.
• Seek to more closely link the books you buy to enhanced student reading skills.
• Familiarize yourself with the fundamental components of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. At a time when educators (your colleagues) are grasping for a better sense of context, as well as practical ways to apply some of its labyrinthine regulations, your expertise in NCLB would be highly valued.

Book prices are a means to an end. Explain your book purchases by putting them in context: show how the diversity of your collection and its relevance to the curriculum are critical to bolstering student learning. Be innovative at a time when it's easier to retrench. Find your opportunity.

Evan St. Lifer Editor estlifer@reedbusiness.com