CA Schools May Divert Library Funds

School library money will likely go to textbooks under the governor's plan

By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2004

California schools may be saying hasta la vista to their library funds. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed folding the state's $4.2 million School Library Fund into a general education budget to streamline education spending.

Indeed, the new plan would give school districts greater spending flexibility over state money, but it would also give them the authority to divert school library money to purchase textbooks, says Jeff Frost, a lobbyist for the California School Library Association (CSLA).

The proposal is a huge blow because it essentially reverses the 1998 Public School Library Act, which guarantees library funding for all of the state's K–12 schools. Overall, the governor plans to shift $2 billion earmarked for 22 education programs into one budget. Another concern is that districts might abandon their state-mandated school library plan, which calls for collaboration among librarians, teachers, and principals. "Without the money, they will only collaborate as they personally choose to collaborate," Frost adds.

In response, CSLA is asking members to urge local legislators to maintain a separate School Library Fund and calling on media specialists to make an extra effort to address their principals and school board, says Executive Director Penny Kastanis. The organization will also rally the cause on April 21 at Library Legislative Day in Sacramento, where its members will join academic and public library associations to encourage support for libraries. Frost admits, however, that libraries are a low priority for state legislators who are debating possible tax increases and other unpopular options in the face of California's gaping $14 billion budget deficit. The legislature is due to finalize the budget by June 1.

The dismal news doesn't end there. Schwarzenegger is threatening more "Armageddon–like" cuts to education and other programs if voters fail to approve Proposition 57, a $15 billion bond measure that will enable the state to refinance its debt. The fate of the bond measure, being put to a vote on March 2, will affect school systems across the state, including San Diego Unified School District, which has so far cut $22 million from its $1.1 billion FY 2004–2005 budget, including nine full-time library positions. The city's estimated $13 million share of the bond money will certainly help the $60 million in additional cuts the district needs to make, says district spokesperson Steven Baratte.

This isn't the first time California librarians have been put through the budget wringer. Although the Public School Library Act has been hacked by 92 percent from $158.5 million in 1998, CSLA has fought successfully to retain school libraries as a line item in the state budget. But this time, Kastanis says, the situation looks particularly grim.

"We're back to cookies and bake sales," she says, half-joking about the alternative fund-raising measures that might be enacted. "Librarians will be creative as they've always been. They'll look for funds and grants and pay for materials out of their own pockets."

Parents to the Rescue

There's some positive news for libraries in at least one California community. Media centers in all six schools of the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District are still open, thanks to a group of parents who raised $220,000 to save the libraries from closing.

In an effort to cut costs, the Bay–Area district had cut the library and music program for FY 2004. But the parent organization School Force came to the rescue, raising the $250,000 needed to support both programs this year. How'd they do it? The foundation held a phone-a-thon requesting donations of $241 per family and also tapped area businesses, including software giant Oracle, for contributions.

But don't start cheering yet. School Force member Terri Murai-Jang says the $220,000 only pays for the salaries of part-time library media specialists for four hours a day—each school will have to do its own fund-raising for materials. What about next year? She says they'll have to raise the money all over again.