School Libraries and Site Based Management: Let’s Move Forward

By Dorcas Hand 
On its face, Site Based Management seems like a good thing. It puts the decisions about how a campus budget is spent entirely in the principal’s hands: who to hire, what positions to fill, what extras to offer, etc. HISD is the only district in Texas to still use this method; it was a trend for a while, but other districts realized they needed to exercise some central control while still giving schools some local control over decisions and budgeting. They, for example, require a nurse, counselor and/or librarian on each campus – and they adjust campus funding so that these roles are centrally funded leaving the campus to decide the rest.
Several things have affected the HISD culture around libraries, but I want to focus on two.

• State funding cuts: When the state cut their portion of school budgets dramatically in 2010 and subsequent years, the site managers (read HISD principals) were left to sort out how to balance their own budgets. With little time and inadequate advice, libraries took a huge hit, and the trend has continued.
• District culture: Since before the era of Terry Grier (2009-2016) , the district has not actively supported school libraries – and it has gotten worse over time. When principals get advice from the HISD Office of Budgeting and Financial Planning, those advisors know nothing about education or the benefits of libraries to academic success. They see an extra line item that could be cut. And those principals – many of them inexperienced - have had minimal interaction with strong school librarians either in their certification process or in their own K-12 years decades ago. They don’t know how exciting libraries are in 2021; they only know the stereotypical shushed rooms we see in films. 

Fast forward to 2021, with only 55 certified librarians in 280 schools. Turning that around has been and remains challenging. It is not a change that the School Board can decree, although the School Board can contribute to a change in district culture that honors school libraries for their support of literacy skills, critical thinking applications, and enticement to love learning in school and beyond. 

The decision lies with HISD administration and will require careful thought and a slow timeline that includes educating all HISD principals to the benefits of having a school librarian and a fully funded library on every campus as well as an in-house Alternative Certification Program to train librarians for the positions that job insecurity over the last 15+ years has vacated. 

The ESSER money being spent this year and next to update the book collections of all campuses not meeting the state definition of “Proficient.” [Wait, you say? There are Texas Standards and Guidelines for School Libraries? Why yes, there are. These include recommended quantities of books per student among other definitions - see p.43.] Having books on the campuses that are current, include popular titles, and are ready to inspire even reluctant readers at all grade levels to read for pleasure as well as for information. And that is only one aspect of the impact school libraries can and do have on the students who use them. Students who graduate from schools served by school libraries with certified staff are more successful in college. [Farmer, Lesley J. and Skyler Phamle, “Transitioning to college: Impact of high school librarians”] 

Our job as advocates of school libraries is to speak up often to campus administrators and district staff, including our Superintendent, and to our SB members, asking why students in the most challenged areas of the district have the least access to library resources and staff to help them grow as learners. While SNL does this often, we need parents and community members to speak up, too. It is your children that are in school now and will soon be heading to jobs, trades, the military or college. Every one of those students deserves a fully stocked and fully funded school library staffed by a certified librarian.
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Takeaways from this post:

• Site Based Management has many good components..
• Some roles (librarians, nurses, counselors) need to be required of all campuses, even under Site Based Management.
• The decision to restore libraries to all HISD schools belongs to Superintendent House and his team of experts, but the School Board can play a strong role in stressing that all HISD students require a fully funded, fully stocked library staffed by a certified professional to achieve their best academic growth.