Once a week librarians

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin School Board's finance committee agreed this week to a plan that will require "all schools that have students in seventh grade and above to have a certified school library media specialist on duty at least one day a week, starting in September."

The plan comes in the aftermath of a June decision by the state Department of Public Instruction, which ruled that Milwaukee Public Schools are " out of compliance with state requirements for librarian services in schools." The agency gave the schools 15 months to
rectify the situation.

Like many school districts across the country with limited resources, those in Milwaukee are putting their money in other areas, which means a lack of professional librarians and library services.

A requirement proposed by school board member Jennifer Morales was approved by the committee: school officials must provide a report next month "on the correlation between library staffing and student achievement in Milwaukee Public Schools." The school board will vote on this recommendation at a meeting next week.