AL Media Centers Saved

Currently, Alabama's school libraries operate without any state funding for textbooks, technology, or professional development. "You can't repair anything, you can't buy anything unless you have a parents' group to raise money," says Tywanna Burton, a media specialist at Vestavia Hills Elementary School. So far, suburban schools have succeeded at raising money through book fairs and other efforts, but another year of cuts would have devastated rural, low-income schools, Burton says.

The controversy stems from a decision by state voters in September to reject a $1.2 billion tax increase. The state legislature and governor must now approve the newly proposed budget. The only way to avert continued library cuts next year is to approve a much-debated one-cent increase in the state's sales tax.