Month: January 2006

End of an Era

The Bookmobile left yesterday. No brass bands. No ceremonies — but more than a few tears and an imperceptible wave of the hand.

SELCO no longer provides the mobile library service that it has provided for over 30 years in southeastern Minnesota. After considerable study, the SELCO/SELS Board of Directors made the difficult decision to cease bookmobile service at the end of 2005 to communities where no public library exists. The recommendation from the Finance Committee came to the Board for approval on a black-bordered document.

The SELCO Executive Director wrote in a letter to the 7 affected counties currently receiving service:

SELCO’s decision is the result of escalating operational costs, in particular ever increasing fuel and maintenance expenses. While the seven counties currently receiving mobile service jointly support the operational expenses, SELCO has been underwriting this service and covering annual operational deficits ranging from $6,000 – $15,000 per year depending upon the nature of the unexpected repair work. In addition, the current vehicle is reaching the end of its lifespan with a projected replacement cost of $175,000. This capital amount is simply not available within the SELCO budget and given the financial challenges facing each of the seven counties, the SELCO Board recognized it could not tap its county partners for a significant contribution.

While it is true that there are 36 public libraries in the 11 counties of southeastern Minnesota, the absence of the bookmobile leaves some people unserved in communities that do not have public libraries. The last couple months were very difficult for staff and patrons. Thanks and tears and hugs were shared. A huge hole is in the hearts of the staff who have made their appointed rounds on rural roads when they were covered with snow and ice as well as when they wound through lush green valleys flooded with magnificent sunshine.

The bookmobile has a new home with the Plum Creek Library System in southwestern Minnesota. The books that filled the shelves are being given to other libraries. Most of the former bookmobile patrons have been offered a variety of alternative services.

Life goes on . . . but today the bookmobile garage is empty, and we have a lump in our collective throat.

Thank you, SELCO and counties who supported this personalized service
Thank you, Doreen, Karine, John, and Cindy
Thank you Bookmobile
Thank you, men, women, and children who needed us!
Godspeed to services that take the place!

Governor Pawlenty’s proposal

The following was on the school E-list today (orange text because of the hot discussion it generated):

GOVERNOR PAWLENTY PROPOSES REQUIRING 70 PERCENT OF EDUCATION SPENDING BE IN THE CLASSROOM — January 9, 2006

Under a proposal announced by Governor Tim Pawlenty today, more than $112 million would be redeployed from school district administration and other non-classroom expenditures to classrooms. The proposal would require every Minnesota school district to spend at least 70 percent of expenditures directly on classroom instruction.
“After dramatically increasing K-12 funding last legislative session, we want to ensure that those dollars are well spent,” Governor Tim Pawlenty said. “Requiring at least 70 percent of funding be dedicated to the classroom is common sense – taxpayers expect state funding to be targeted on children, not bureaucracies.”
The 70 percent plan would still allow local school boards to set the specific budgets for each school and the district. It would, however, require superintendents to certify each year the percent of the district’s total operating expenditures that are intended to be spent on direct classroom expenditures.
Under the proposal, classroom expenditures would include classroom teachers and personnel (salary and benefits), special education, vocational education, classroom instructional supplies, instructional aides and activities. Non-classroom expenditures would include district and school administration and support services, operations and maintenance, staff development, pupil and instructional support services, athletics and co-curricular activities.

Having started out my career as a teacher — well, alright, a music teacher (but that’s another post) — I have a passion for schools. And as a multitype librarian, one of my four types of libraries is the school library media center. This proposal has left MEMO members (Minnesota Educational Media Organization) scratching their heads. We are left to assume that media centers are “pupil instructional support services” which leaves them competing with the football team for the remaining 30% funding.

It appears that where the media center lies (classroom expenditure or support service) depends on its position within the school budget. For those schools where the media center is another classroom where curricular learning activities take place, the media budget will be in far better stead than the media center where students go to give the classroom teacher release time and where nothing occurs directly related or enhancing classroom learning.

But then, where is the classroom? Is the classroom only the room behind the “Grade 4” (or whatever) sign? Or is the classroom wherever the student is involved in experiential hands-on experiences in a corrdinated learning atmosphere. This should be the goal of the entire educational team, which includes every person who impacts a child’s school day.

Online Communities

The SELCO regional integrated library system (ILS) is a multitype automation system. It was designed to be so, from its inception, when the first 3 online libraries were 2 public libraries and a high school At present, 41 school library media centers are members of the ILS. They are in 2 private high schools and 22 public school districts. 9 of the districts have all their schools’ media centers online with SELCO, in the others, just the high school and middle schools are regional ILS members. In my 6.5 year tenure at SELCO two schools have withdrawn from the SELCO ILS. 21 additional districts in the southeast region are not affiliated with the regional library automation system, but are members of the multitype region.

We met today with a school district contemplating membership in the regional integrated library consortium (ILS). Their estimated automation fees would be roughly 8 times what the raw cost of their current stand-alone software is (not considering technology services and support, training, online databases included in automation service package, or unfettered access to materials beyond their holdings through interlibrary loan.)

Their over-riding question was why was membership in a regional consortium worth the price? An equally troubling question was what data do we have to show increased circulation after a school media center becomes a regional online library.

I’m feeling very defensive, and don’t have good answers for either question. I think the answer lies in the school’s educational philosophy and the place of the school media center in the educational and curricular climate. If the media specialist is part of the teaching team, using the materials of the media center and the regional and statewide connectivity to inspire beyond the textbook research and learning, the price is part of the education of the children. The ILS is the doorway through which the student’s learning world is expanded beyond the school building.

If the library is the place where books are kept, and the automation system is an inventory control tool, then I suspect, to them, the automation system is a very expensive database. I also project that the media center is not a bustling place of learning, but a museum of print artifacts where the nerds may occasionally visit. Although, I suspect the nerds are buying books or using other libraries, if they are lucky enough to have or be able to travel to a public or academic library in their community. I will write more on the appropriateness of the place of those libraries in the education of children on another day.