Phased-out position could be replaced with teacher
By:Eric Schwarz
Manville’s four public schools will have one librarian next year though the Board of Education on May 16 freed up $60,000 for the other librarian’s position, which was eliminated May 9.
At the same time, the district is looking to upgrade the library at Alexander Batcho Intermediate School, which serves grades 6-8.
Diane Cornick, Weston School librarian, last week was given a “reduction in force” notice that her position would be eliminated.
Ms. Cornick has been working in the district for 14 years, said Elaine Walters, who acts as a librarian for the other schools in the district.
Ms. Cornick was not available for comment.
James Brunn, ABIS principal, said the lost position may be replaced with a teacher with a background in English, social studies and computers who can teach the use of the computers to students at ABIS and Roosevelt School, which serves grades 4-5.
“From my understanding Mrs. Walters would then go to Weston,” said Dr. Brunn.
Dr. Brunn sits on the district’s library committee with board member Jeanne Golden; Suzanne Koegler, the director of curriculum, instruction, technology and assessment; and several teachers.
“Nobody has notified me where I’m going,” Ms. Walters said after the May 16 meeting.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade, except for sixth-graders, have weekly classes in the library.
Ms. Walters, a 27-year veteran of the district, said Weston has the district’s busiest library.
Ms. Golden, a former library secretary in the district, at Tuesday’s meeting also objected to transferring money from the library at ABIS, where the board meets.
“This room is a disgrace,” Ms. Golden said. “The shelves are empty.
“These books are 15 years old,” she said. “You’re taking the money out of here in dribs and drabs.”
The total budget for ABIS library supplies this year was $500, leaving $100 for cards, glue and other supplies.
The district had budgeted $4,000 last year for library books at ABIS, but that money was transferred to pay for textbooks to replace outdated ones at the beginning of the school year, Dr. Brunn said.
“The library has a dearth of equipment,” Dr. Brunn said. “We’re trying this year to make it a media center.”
“We’re not trying to ignore the library,” Dr. Brunn said.
“Encyclopedias although they’re important, can be (accessed) online,” Dr. Brunn said. “The computers access more than any book can do.”
He said this is the first of his three years as principal when there has been no money spent on library books.
“It wasn’t a priority when we didn’t have textbooks,” he said.
ABIS would like to place 30 computers in the library, Dr. Brunn and Dr. Koegler said.
The library has three computers and they need to be upgraded, the principal said.
“We could replace them, but it may be more efficient to replace their memory, things along those lines, to get them back into service,” Dr. Brunn said.
Dr. Koegler said she’s seeking both state and private grants to buy new computers, and if that fails, the district can move computers already in the ABIS classrooms to the library.
The classroom computers are about two years old, she said, with four or five in each classroom.
Because of the small number in each room, “they’re used minimally,” and could be used to teach a whole class if they’re moved to the library, Dr. Koegler said.