While Montgomery County Council signaled its intent to fund a large portion of next year’s MCPS budget, it’s disheartening that it still fell short, creating a gap of about $36 million. School library programs need your help as media assistants remain on the chopping block. 

What are the potential impacts of no media assistant? Reduction/elimination of open library access to students throughout the school day, elimination of timely and efficient tech support for both staff & students, and likely more limited media classes as the media specialist will be without support on all collection management tasks (processing new materials, organization/shelving). It will drastically change the function of the media center. A single person cannot run the circulation desk, help students with follow up instructional tasks, show students where to find books, and respond to walk-in tech requests at the same time.

What can you do if you want to show support? Write to Superintendent Thomas Taylor (Thomas_W_Taylor@mcpsmd.org) and the Board of Education (boe@mcpsmd.org) and encourage them to fully staff school media centers. Stress the impact to students: less access to the library, delayed service on technology necessary for instructional tasks, and less individual attention to help students find books that will encourage their growth as lifelong readers.  If you're a PTA member, consider getting the word out to your community. 

Sign this petition to advocate for  keeping our essential library media assistants in our schools and to fully staff school libraries!