This Monday, 2/24/20, the Sweetwater Union High School District will have a board meeting about whether or not the school board should diminish all the public libraries and fire the librarians. This means that all libraries will be closed by the end of the school year. However, if we can get enough support that the school board SHOULDN’T shut down all the district’s libraries, that would help students and faculty a lot! If we are able to gain enough signatures and support then we may be able to convince the board not to close the libraries.

I, myself, am an 8th grader from Chula Vista Middle who loves going to the library. I love books and the librarians here are very kind and caring. It would break my heart to see it all gone. Without a library, there would be no manga, fiction, or non-fiction section to read. No place to have a quiet spot to work on homework or silently read.

Of course, the question is; will it only effect me? No, it will effect everyone in our school district. In our library, we have a fiction section, a nonfiction section, and other sections dedicated to sub genres and authors. In fact, we have a section called the Manga section - organized by one of our students here - a mark left for students to remember him by. All that hard work will be forgotten if the library is closed. It is also important to note that we have a group called Friends of the Library. Basically, it’s a group of students who want community service hours or loves the library in general. They will also be effected by this; especially the 7th graders who also work there. Yes, there are other ways to earn community service hours, but think about this; there is also the reason that the students don’t have time to earn community service hours any other time after school or on the weekend. Having Friends of the Library is convenient for those who can’t earn community service hours outside of school.

This will also effect everyone at school as well. How many times have you checked out a book from the library? What reason? Because you enjoy the book? You need AR points? Or because your teacher checked it out for the whole class to read? If the library closes, then what other place can we check out books? Yes, we have local libraries. However, how inconvenient is it to take time out of after/before school life to take a few minute walk to check out a library book when you could just go to your school library? Quick Google Maps research, the closest library to me is about 14 minutes away IF E-books? Yes, some books do give you AR points, however how long could you read an e-book until you can’t find a good book for you to read anymore? E-books don’t have many books - especially some of the more popular ones (i.e Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Divergent, Hunger Games). What about buying books? Some families don’t have the finances to afford books for school needs.

So, yes. This doesn't just affect me. This also effects students of the Sweetwater District as well.

The meeting will be held at Chula Vista Middle School on campus. Students like me will be attending to convince the school district to not cut the library or librarians. Please sign the petition, and help support our cause.