Oklahoma Needs School Librarians
By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 11/20/2009
For qualified media specialists, the state of Oklahoma is a boomtown—there are more positions available than librarians to fill them.
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Perri Applegate, director of library media and instructional television for the Oklahoma State Department of Education. |
As cities and states across the country are reducing their school librarian staff, cutting hours, and in some cases even physically shrinking the space devoted to school libraries, Oklahoma is desperate to fill their open spots. In fact, 42 schools were in violation of having points off their accreditation as of the last school year, by not having required librarians on site.
“That can impact their funding,” says Applegate.
Part of the issue is the state has a relatively high bar set for those who want to become certified media specialists—they must have a master’s degree in their field, with up to 36 hours of classes, which can take about three years to complete.
And so two Oklahoma school districts are taking an unusual, but pretty welcome route, by paying the tuition for teachers, and offering them relief time for classes so they can transition while keeping their jobs.
The districts then request waivers from the Oklahoma State Department of Education so that the teachers can move into librarian roles as they complete their degree. Up to 40 waivers have been presented to the Department of Education since the school year started there in August, says Applegate.
But not all states have this issue, since school librarian requirements differ dramatically from state to state. In fact, Applegate agrees that Oklahoma is above average in what they require for media specialist positions. Case in point? While some states do require a master’s degree, others require just a license.
“But then there are 16 states that require a school media specialist in every building,” says Applegate. “And we’re not there yet.”
For now, Oklahoma requires a librarian in a building, based only on how many students are in the school. It can be as little as a librarian on site for just one-fifth of the hours, compared to a full-time librarian. But the state board, says Applegate, has asked the Department of Education to look further into expanding that requirement. And 36 library media specialists are set to meet on that issue next month.
“They want to research what is needed, and give our recommendations,” she says. “We need to understand that someone needs to teach our students to be 21st century learners.”
