Don't cut teacherlibrarians

As a teacherlibrarian employed by Los Angeles Unified School District, I know the current dire fiscal situation facing education in California. To my great dismay, I read in The Acorn that the Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Education is considering cutting teacher-librarian positions. This is a very short-sighted response that will negatively impact our children. To its credit, the LAUSD is not cutting library personnel.

A teacher-librarian is just that: a credentialed teacher and a professional librarian. Times have changed since the days of stamping books and warnings of "don't bend the pages."

Teacherlibrarians teach students how to find information efficiently (both online and in print), analyze its accuracy and use it responsibly. They promote literacy and support the classroom teachers by providing the needed expertise in research and information literacy skills, incorporating technology into the curriculum and knowledge of current ageappropriate literature.

Many other states recognize the vital role of the credentialed teacher-librarian and require one in each school from elementary through high school. To prepare our children for the rigors of university studies and lifelong learning, this instruction needs to begin as early as possible and certainly by middle school.

LVUSD cannot maintain its vision or quality of education if it makes reductions in instructor positions that cut at the heart of the skills our children need to prepare them for the 21st century. The LVUSD board needs to think again about the path it is taking.

Roza Besser

Calabasas