Boston Suburb Slashes Staffing

But a savvy administrator manages to keep all libraries open—for now

By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2005

After deep budget cuts, Fran Zilonis, director of information technology for the Newton (MA) Public Schools, found herself with only seven and a half bodies to staff 15 elementary school libraries. The reductions were mandated by the city's school committee, which came up $4.8 million short when assembling the district's FY 2006 budget. Zilonis saved one part-time position by taking funds from her technology budget.

While she is not eager to engage in such wizardry again, she fears she might have to. The school system's budget gap was created by increases in spending for special education, utilities, and employee benefits. Typically, growth in those areas is almost impossible to control. "My feeling is that this year is bad and next year is going to be worse," she says. "I can imagine a time when there may not be any elementary school librarians. It's ludicrous, especially when we talk about literacy and children learning to read."

After 36 years in the library sciences, Zilonis thought she had seen it all. Clearly, she hadn't. But she managed to make sure every elementary school has a librarian on site for at least three days a week. The libraries are off-limits for the rest of the week.

Unlike her counterparts elsewhere, Zilonis has no plans to provide a full week of services by recruiting parent volunteers. "You can't count on parents. People borrow things that have not been properly checked out. Or they can't come in because their son is sick. I may lose this battle, and I imagine there will be lots of protests. But I believe [not having volunteers] is better for the libraries and our collection."