Schools squeeze library services

When districts must cut costs, media resource staffing gets trimmed

By EMILY K. COLEMAN - ecoleman@shawmedia.com

Created: Saturday, March 23, 2013 5:30 a.m. CDT

The library at Mary Endres Elementary School in Woodstock is always open, but that’s not true for all the schools in District 200.

Like several districts across McHenry County, when faced with cuts, District 200 has tried to shave its libraries’ budgets. Illinois school codes do not mandate the need for a school librarian.

“When the economy is going bad, the library is the No. 1 place where you should be pouring resources,” McHenry High School West Campus library media specialist Kurt Pearson said. “[The library] creates a level playing field. Everyone can check out books.”

Story Archived

Only the most recent 7 days of articles are available for free. For articles older than 7 days there is a small fee for retrieval from our archive. If you are a registered member of the site, the content is free just by signing in below.

Please sign in with your Comment Member ID and password.

Did you purchase access?

Purchase Access

To allow for flexibility, we offer a variety of options for purchasing articles:

Having trouble?

If you have any technical difficulties, either with your username and password or with the payment options, please contact us by e-mail at archivedesk@shawmedia.com