New Jersey: School Librarians are Reduced in Volume

From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Once a staple of nearly every school, the school librarian/media specialist is feeling underappreciated these days, if not under siege.
Over the last five years, the number of certified library/media specialists in New Jersey public schools has dropped by almost 15 percent, according to the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, whose own membership has been cut almost in half.
There were 1,580 certified specialists statewide last year, down from 1,850 in 2007-08, serving about 2,500 schools.
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State law now requires every school to have a library/media program, and every district to staff those programs. “But how that is all defined, that is the question,” [Pat] Massey [former president of the NJ School Library Association] said.

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Filed under: Libraries, News, School Libraries