Hi all, On Monday the BOE voted in favor of a budget that will eliminate two full-time library positions in the 2016-17 school year. That means that Columbia High School will only have one librarian next year who will be responsible for serving over 2,000 students and teachers. There will also be only one librarian who will split her time between the two middle schools. In other words, neither of our middle schools will have a full-time librarian. The budget also imposed cuts to library materials at the elementary-school level. These cuts most likely mean the end, or at the very least a crippling, of what remains of the award-winning library programs at the middle schools and CHS. The message these cuts sends to our kids, to our community, to society as a whole is that access to quality literature and literacy skills are not essential to academic success, and that they are a "luxury" that some kids -- like ours -- don't get to have. We thank you all for your support to keep libraries in our schools. Sadly that support seems to be falling on deaf ears, but we will continue the fight. Please continue to write and speak out, and demand the restoration of library services at the middle and high school levels. The budget will not be finalized until the end of April, and we can still make a difference. We can demand that they restore at least one library position, so that every school in the district has a full-time certified librarian. It is not ideal, but it is better than what is about to happen. All students in our schools deserve the access and equity that the district claims to support. Thank you.