Spring Branch plan would cut librarians
Some Spring Branch school district parents and staff members say they are baffled by the latest round of proposed budget cuts that would slash all librarian positions from schools.
Spring Branch parent Courtney Prochaska told the school board that she was frustrated by a lack of transparency and called the district’s explanation “far from clear.”
“I question myself, ‘Am I right? Did we just lose … librarians on our campus?’”
School counselors faced similar cuts, but administrators rallied and found money to restore the positions. Not so with librarians.
Superintendent Jennifer Blaine called it an unfortunate decision.
“When you have a $35 million deficit, that comes in people,” she said.
School officials across Texas have blamed a wave of budget shortfalls on the end of federal COVID-19 relief money and no increase in per-student funding from the state, but librarians have endured some of the deepest cuts.
The Keller district, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, made such cuts after bookbanning feuds put librarians at the center of widening debates about which books and themes are suitable for children. Spring Branch has been embroiled in a similar book-banning debate for years, bringing new attention to the district.
Laney Hawes, founder of the nonprofit Texas Freedom to Read Project, said these cuts are retribution for librarians’ opposition to book bans that many school boards have passed.
Hawes is a parent of four in the Keller district. Keller recently made cuts to help with a $27 million deficit, reducing librarians by 50%. The move came after a hotly debated 2022 decision by the board to ban books that mentioned nonbinary or transgender people.
“Libraries have been under attack for the last year or two, and now these politicians get to come in and fire them,” Hawes said. “That’s the message here in Keller and in Spring Branch. There’s no question that that is exactly what librarians are feeling and believe.”
Spring Branch district officials have not linked the budget cuts to the debate about book banning.
Eliminating all librarian positions in a district with 35,000 students appears to be among the most extreme cuts in the state.
“Districts that lay off librarians are losing a highly knowledgeable and versatile educator who is essential to student achievement and success,” the Texas Library Association’s executive director, Shirley Robinson, said in a statement. “Librarians do not just sit behind desks and check out books.”
James Shaddix, a Spring Branch parent, said he understands the need for budget cuts but doesn’t agree with the decision to eliminate librarians. He said he would prefer restructuring the library system to find needed savings.
“The teachers need the partnership with the librarian to maximize the benefit they deliver to those kids … to instill in them a legitimate interest in reading,” he said.
What libraries mean
Karen Anne Harrell, a Spring Branch librarian for more than 30 years, said her positive experience with librarians as a Spring Branch student led her to work there as a school librarian.
“Spring Branch has always been … cutting edge,” said Harrell, who retired in 2022. “We’ve always been just learning and doing, being on top of everything. … It’s kind of like a step backward.”
Harrell saw Spring Branch students through many pivotal moments in her library, from the arrival of computers to teaching students how to find unbiased facts online.
“There’s more to the library than most people know. Most people just see us checking in and checking out books, and that’s not what we did,” Harrell said.
During a recent meeting, Board President Chris Ernest said the district learned from previous budget cuts that targeted academic jobs over administration, such as librarians.
“We have prioritized academic positions over libraries. It’s unfortunate, but it is true,” he said.
Librarians, including
“We’re all about academics. That’s the world we’re supporting, academics . ... We’re not just fluff,” Harrell said.
Afraid to speak
Harrell, disagree.
A current Spring Branch librarian, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said the positions are not administrative overhead.
“Librarians are teachers. We are academics. … You did cut academics by cutting a huge support for them,” she said.
Some librarians have been at odds with school boards in Spring Branch and elsewhere over book bans. The librarian said she thinks the deep cuts might be linked to that feud.
“I can’t seem to shake that feeling that maybe that is what’s going on here,” the librarian said.
She said librarians have been too fearful to express their opposition to book bans publicly. She said she has been called names by people who had never even met her.
“We’re afraid, and that fear speaks volumes,” she said.
Hawes, with the Texas Freedom to Read Project, said that the trend of shuttering libraries across the state will only have negative effects for students.
“The loss of librarians is going to damage students’ literacy rates and core competency,” she said. “It’s no question that this is devastating for kids.”