Victory for Washington Moms

The three Spokane women who have been passionately pleading their case to adequately fund and improve school libraries statewide succeeded last month in convincing their state legislature to put a $4 million “school libraries” line item into the state budget.

The $4.09 per pupil outlay, starting next school year, may seem small, but Washington has joined only a small group of states that actually budget for school libraries rather than rely on local taxpayer disbursements. “There aren’t that many states where there is a line item for school library materials and positions,” explains Sara Kelly Johns, president of the American Association of School Librarians.

Johns has particular praise for Susan McBurney, Denrette Hill, and Lisa Layera Brunkan—dubbed the Washington Moms—who in less than one year created a Web site (www.fundourfuturewashington.org), mounted a statewide campaign, organized a rally at the legislature, and testified before state committees. “The whole progression was unusual,” Johns says, “[in] the fact that this was started by a group of parent advocates and funded so quickly. It often takes years and years to make such inroads.”