Humble, TX, School Librarians May Get Axed

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/5/2008

It looks like more school librarians are in danger of losing their jobs. Facing a $23 million budget deficit in the upcoming school year, the Humble Independent School District in Texas says it will have to make cuts—including the elimination of all 39 librarians.  

“We are finding our backs against the wall,” district spokeswoman Karen Collier told KRPC, the local NBC affiliate. “It’s going to be a matter of cutting people and cutting programs.”

In recent years, the district has had to cut about $17 million, but much of that was done with minimal impact on classrooms. “This year that will not be what we can do," Collier says.

Some options include cutting 15 administrative positions, which would save more than $1 million. Another possibility is to eliminate all middle school instructional coaches at a savings of nearly $824,000. Getting rid of all 39 librarians would save more than $2 million, KRPC reports.

The district needs to cut about $9 million to $10 million from the budget, and cuts are expected by the end of the month. If a proposed tax increase doesn’t pass, the cuts could be deeper and the results of that could be seen early next year.

The district serves almost all of the city of Humble, small portions of Houston, and parts of unincorporated Harris County, including Atascocita.