If you walk past the library door, you'll see a sign listing the times the library is closed to students on that particular day. That's because there is no backup during the librarian's lunch and preparation period, and the room must be closed to students if there is no one to supervise it. Before the library aides were cut at the elementary level, our library was open all the time.
So students cannot come in to type or do research or find a new book or read or reflect. The library is closed to students for 16% of every day as a result of district budget decisions. To say it saddens me to close the library to students is a vast understatement. Librarians are all about service. Being prevented from providing service to students for a significant amount of time every day deadens the spirit of a librarian. The clock is definitely ticking, but it is counting down seconds of silence and no service.
