Editor:

Recently there has been a series with School Board President Gary Agopian. He feels that the students are doing very well. I am very happy to hear that. However, there is one area of the school district that is not doing well: the libraries. When the budget crisis occurred in 2004, the library system was essentially gutted and no effort has been made to resurrect it.

Here is a list of personnel previous to the budget crisis: the district library had a certified district librarian, two library assistant IIs and two to four extra helpers. At present, the district library no longer exists.

The Video Media Center had one library assistant I (17.5 hours per week) and now the Video Media Center no longer exists.

Deer Valley HS had one certified librarian, two library assistant IIs and 100 hours of extra help at the beginning and end of school. At present, a part-time certified librarian and two library media tech IIs.

Antioch HS, prior to the budget crisis, had one certified librarian and two library assistant IIs and 100 hours of extra help at the beginning and end of school.

Prior to the budget crisis, four middle schools had one library assistant II and one library clerk with 100 hours of extra help at the beginning and end of school. At present, for four middle schools, they have one library media tech II.

And lastly, for elementary schools prior to the crisis, one library assistant I, and at present, one library media tech I.

There is no district librarian or district library. There is only one certified librarian in the school district and that is a part-time position. The middle schools no longer have library clerks to aid the media tech II.

So what does this all mean? It means that your children are not going to be able to check out books that are appropriate for them. It means that the libraries are going to be closed at times due to lack of personnel. It means the libraries are not going to be the resource that they should be in this information age. It means that books are not going to get into the libraries simply because there is no one or no time to process them.

I think that is a shame. It's time for the school board to do something about this shameful situation.

Sharyn Obrigewitsch

Antioch