Beaverton School District librarians will not be shushed as they fight for their jobs in face of budget cuts

Article Author name(s): Wendy Owen Title of article: Beaverton School District librarians will not be shushed as they fight for their jobs in face of budget cuts Title of journal: The Oregonian Date of publication: Friday April 8th, 2011 http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2011/04/beaverton_school_district_librarians_will_not_be_shushed_as_they_fight_for_their_jobs_in_face_of_bud.html Key Points: Half of Beaverton School Districts 50 librarians (who are all certified teachers, many with Master’s level education) may see job loss as a result of budget cuts. These teachers are very much “behind the scenes”, so they rarely get the support from community members and parents that they hope for because parents do not always understand the full scope of how these librarians help students. These days’ librarians are not just experts on written literature, but are experts on social media as well. They teach students how to do research, compile date, create projects and become tech savvy, which is a role that classroom teachers simply do not have to time take on. Internet safety, cyber bullying and book clubs are extracurricular activities that stand to be cut as a result of cutting librarian jobs. Upper education often suffers as a result of the lack of services that librarians provide. Students lack the skills necessary to do proper research, and many professors believe that plagiarism is often the result of not knowing how to properly cite sources. Amy Schuff is a teacher at the International School in Beaverton, and explains that this rigorous IB program requires a lot of research, technology and studying outside of the classroom. She states that, "when you have a librarian who will work with you" on the curriculum, Schuff said, "the richness of the work you can put together for the kids is that much better." Relevance: It’s interesting how as a whole, I think we sort of disregard the “lesser known” teachers and the very important although quiet role they play for students. It also seems interesting how the public seems to value the role of librarians, although they are just as educated as any other highly qualified teacher.