OK -- I will go on the record here: everything is NOT alright with the new library catalog software. Perhaps people should do more investigation out in the schools before making such comments.

1.) At least 1/3 to 1/2 of our existing book records were not successfully "transferred" from the old to new system and do not show up in the system when barcodes are scanned, and we still have to use makeshift spreadsheets. Is that "up to speed"? Noooo...

2.) We do not yet have the ability to catalog new books. Our school received some donation money, we bought new books, and we can't yet enter them into the system. We can use a temporary Excel spreadsheet, but can't shelve books yet without spine labels. We have put them on a cart near checkout, but students cannot look up a title or author in the catalog and be told whether or not we have any such book.

3.) The online link to the new catalog was recently made available, but unlike the old software which actually let us search only our specific school's library collection, this new system does not yet have that capability.

4.) The WAY in which this transition was made from paid software to free software was poorly handled. Library staff at North Ave (a total of 2 people for the whole city) were blindsided at the last minute when the old software was cut, and they have been scrambling, along with tech services at North Ave, to get something up and running. THAT is what happens when you decentralize services which, by state law, are not supposed to be decentralized (i.e. libraries in schools -- look up the COMAR). This kind of thing is supposed to be managed centrally for a reason...

5.) Visit the catalog yourself, and pretend you are a STUDENT, then try to find out if there is a book at a specific school. I just did a search for Shakespeare, and no books showed up on the first page for my school!!! Insane... http://library.bcpss.org

6.) I am sorry, but isn't LITERACY supposed to be a priority for our schools?!?! Well then why on EARTH are our libraries being so shortchanged, when each and every school in this city is supposed to, by state law, have a functioning library?!?! It is criminal to disable and shortchange our students' access to BOOKS, especially in this way which furthers the slide into a technological ghetto in which our kids struggle each day... President Elect Obama succeeded largely due to his mastery of 21st century technologies, but our students in the BCPSS do NOT have the same access...

7.) The catalog is often "down" and inaccessible several times each and every day. Back to the Excel spreadsheet.

I admire many of Alonso's changes and his overall courage to lead, but his treatment of libraries makes me seriously doubt his sanity. It just seems so obvious to me -- what am I missing?!?! If kids were really the priority, then libraries, which have been PROVEN over and over again by objective research to raise student achievement, would have never been ignored and disabled this way... I mean it's not like we had a library in each school to begin with before all this chaos from the decentralization of school libraries this year. ESOL wasn't decentralized. Special Ed wasn't decentralized. But libraries?!?! Even though law says they should be centrally managed, that doesn't matter apparently. And, as we have seen, this is only one serious reason why it's a problem.

Many of the city schools' libraries are in a state of chaos right now, but it's low on the list of priorities so it doesn't get the coverage it deserves. But how on earth can LITERACY be low on a priority list?!?!

A librarian has described our situation exactly.
Please, Sara, talk to the right people before you blog to the world.

Thank you thank you BCPSS librarians for stepping up and speaking out! I am disappointed with the Baltimore Sun for checking this story with North Ave only - instead of speaking to librarians.

I am not sure that this mess is due to a decision by Dr. Alonso - I think the timing puts it prior to his taking the reins.

You know, school libraries are actually simple to get right. ONE committed and engaged librarian, supported by ONE piece of software that works right every time all the time, and you have yourself a great little system.

Compared to issues like school nutrition, curriculum, and safety - all things that North Ave also needs to fix, and fix soon - you would think that such a simple investment would look like low-hanging fruit: an easy way to provide one excellent thing to 89,000 BCPSS students who are underserved in so many other ways.

The libraries in most high schools are awful. Not the fault of the librarians here, folks. At my school, we went for at least 5 years without getting ANY new books and when we did, they were woefully inadequate for the needs of the student body. Add to that the fact that most libraries in schools are not open to students before and after school and you have a situation where the library is nothing more than an oversized room. Or how about the library being closed for testing, meetings, professional development, the list goes on and on. Libraries have not been a priority in BCPSS for a very long time.

Amen, ynl ! A library is such a cost-effective investment because we are able to do so many diverse things within the realm of our job, as well as checking out books -- that's the least of our jobs, to be honest, and yet, if we can't even get North Ave support for that, it proves how much we are respected and valued...

A certified librarian HAS to have a Master's degree -- a certified teacher can become certified with only a Bachelor's degree (taking up to 10 years to then earn a Master's or equivalent credits). But people (including administrators and North Ave folks) still think we are glorified checkout and circulation grunts who just read books to students? Maybe in some schools where that's all the principal wants them to do (because of planning time needs in the teachers' contracts).

LIBRARIANS should be leading the cooperative planning efforts Alonso lobbied for last year, since co-teaching and being a curriculum partner and leader is a major part of our job description. If we had access to real technology, that is another part of our job -- sorry, but there is no need for a "computer teacher" or technology liaison if you have a certified librarian... What about writing grants to provide literacy programs like thematic book clubs? Again -- it's in the job description. What about arranging author visits that support diverse parts of the curriculum? Yep -- a librarian's job.

But until principals stop using librarians on fixed schedules to cover planning time, teaching up to 8 preps in K-8 schools, then all of those wondrous creative and academically supportive endeavors will be severely curtailed, at least for elementary and sometimes middle school librarians. High school librarians are able to accomplish much more of their job descriptions, although they often have to give up lunch periods to keep libraries open for students during their lunch periods, as well as for classes, and they won't speak up because they don't want to lose a high school position...

Your certified librarian should be the busiest EDUCATOR in the school, next to principals, if they are utilized correctly (and not just babysitting planning periods or checking out books, although getting books in the hands of our kids is a sacred job these days).

I just want to know

a) how it was decided that the Integrated Library System software from TLC was an expense that could be eliminated

and

b) who is responsible for that decision

I know we get short shrift, and I know some schools don't even have librarians, but shutting down the ILS without converting to a new system immediately - guarantees that NONE of the system libraries would be fully operational. To me, it sounds negligent to the point of sabotage.

Ditto all of the above, but especially the first one. Sara, the system is definitely NOT working, despite the hard work of the library office and IT. If you visit KOHA, you will see how difficult it is to use -- and I dread trying to teach it to our younger students, or even the average middle schooler.

We've spent years trying to build independent learners, and now all that we accomplished, or could develop, has been seriously undermined.

What was Central Office thinking?

Sara, I'm both disappointed and irritated that you dealt with this tip by making a simple phone call to North Avenue to get the party line.

I expected some real reporting. Talk to the librarians! Find some parents. Investigate. This is a serious issue, one we can't afford to dismiss.

BCPSS Mom, I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't mean to be dismissive of your concerns, but the reality is that I am swamped every day with tips that people want investigated and stories they want written. Given our reduced staff at the newspaper and our space constraints in the print edition, it wasn't an option for me to do a full investigative report on this subject at this time. I could have done a blog item, or I could have done nothing. By doing a blog item, I let school officials know that I'm watching this situation. I provided a link to a librarian's blog spelling out the concerns. And I provided a forum for all of you to delve into the topic more deeply, which you have done.

I have forwarded this blog item to School Library Journal and American Libraries. No disrespect, Sara - the space constraints and reduced staff at the Sun are evident every morning when we open the paper - but possibly national library-focused publications will be in a better position to bring investigative resources to bear on a story that affects so many public school children.

Just not a very "hot" story, is it? But hey -- it just underscores our point: people talk a lot about education and literacy and kids and books, and it's all just a bunch of blah blah blah.

How about doing a real story now that you see all the interest this has generated? More traffic than any recent Inside Ed post, actually, even the recent violence. Does that tell you something?

Books.

Kids.

Schools.

School libraries.

It's not a difficult equation... and yet, here in Baltimore City, the "City that reads" (remember that one?!?!), we can't add it all up...

You provided a forum for US?? You are watching the situation?? North Ave must be quaking. Excuse me, but BCPSS librarians are already dealing with the fallout from the badly planned software switch. The librarians KNOW what's been going on. How about making non-librarians aware of the situation?

Another BCPSS librarian: This is a forum that people at North Avenue read. We have thousands of people reading this blog every week who don't comment, and most of them are not librarians. So we have made non-librarians aware of the situation.

I attempted to access the link for the BCPSS library system mentioned in the first posting: library.bcpss.org.

As of this morning, Nov 25, that link did not work. I tried different combinations of *.bcps.k12.md.us and related BCPS urls without success. A search on the main site, http://www.bcps.k12.md.us, did not provide any live links to the on-line library system, nor any information about the transition from the old paid software and the new web-based system.

If I were a student, and could not remember the apparently non-public URL for the on-line system, I would have given up quite a while ago. However, as a parent, I am still very interested in "test driving" the new system, and look forward to a valid, working link.

Folks out there (especially people who are not BCPSS employees): what do you think of the whole point that BCPSS is in violation of state law by decentralizing school library management, thus creating all sorts of chaos and lowering of support for school libraries?

Here's what happened when school libraries were decentralized and given over to principal control as part of the budget reform: about 28 principals at first tried to replace their librarians with HALL MONITORS or teachers not certified in librarianship last spring (even though librarians have to have a Master's degree) -- until principals were "reminded" by North Ave that they couldn't do such things... it means that librarians no longer have professional development from the head of library services -- most of our professional development (i.e. training on the new Koha catalog) was recently offered AFTER SCHOOL -- so librarians had to go, on their own time, unpaid, to learn how to use a catalog that is a REQUIRED part of their job... it means that schools are not getting the same money for the purchase of library books -- at least, schools have no IDEA what kind of money is there just for library books. Books for libraries were paid for centrally, but all that money was "pooled" and divided up among all BCPSS schools, even ones without libraries or certified librarians, as part of that lovely per-pupil budget. Does that seem fair: for schools without commitments to libraries to be getting book money that they are probably trying to use on janitorial supplies or paper?!?! Do you see the kinds of insane decisions principals are having to make?

BUT THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN! Maryland state law actually protects library funding by requiring it to be managed centrally, so that money for books and librarians can't be diverted by principals in tough times, but the BCPSS doesn't really care about its school libraries (or state law), so they decentralized management and staffing, and then many principals tried to cut libraries and librarians out of budget desperation. It took MAMMOTH efforts last spring to stop that from happening -- a brand new school library in Highlandtown was almost CLOSED this year because a principal claimed they couldn't fund the position! A position that already existed...

Librarians still don't know where their books or book funding is supposed to be coming from; in a field that requires constant technical updates, we are being told to receive school-based professional development, but who knows about school librarianship better: a school principal, or a library curriculum specialist with 30 years' experience?!?! I think most principals would agree that they WANT central office to take care of librarians -- local control doesn't work in all areas...

And let's not forget the whole point that BCPSS is in violation of COMAR law, and MSDE is doing NOTHING about it! Parents, community members, please help us speak up about this -- real school libraries with real librarians and real books are BASIC to student achievement... RESEARCH shows this, so what is going on?!?!

Sara, if, as you say, people at North Avenue read this blog, then hooray. That means that we few who are participating in the discussion AND those few who ALSO know about the situation - BCPSS personnel - can read about it.

You can't possibly imagine that any of this is news to North Ave. I myself talked to Dr. Alonso about it on August 26, and I've emailed everyone else. So here we are preaching to people who are already in the habit of ignoring the situation.

The Sun appears to be reducing its print content as much as possible, but people do still read it. I urge you, especially given some of the points that A librarian makes, to push for an article on the subject.

YNL: What did Dr Alonso SAY about this issue when you met with him??? What type of justification or explanation did he provide for this whole thing?

And yes, Mr Marvit, the catalog seems to be down yet again -- it is supposed to be a public link, but is still a "work in progress." It will probably take all year to get it up and running. I also heard that we'll have to end up paying a company to help us iron out well-known "kinks" in the free Koha software -- apparently there are companies out there that operate solely to help make free software actually work...

Well, keep in mind it was the second day of school, and he was on a school visit. We were walking and talking. It appeared to be news to him, and he looked pretty disgusted about it. I moved on to another administrator that I know and we discussed who I should contact.

At that point the catalog being inaccessible felt like a missed deadline, not the major cockup we now know it to be.

I am a BCPS librarian and just want to add that everything written on this blog by librarians is true. I believe that the library is the heart of the school, the center of inquiry based learning, and the place where a love of reading is nurtured. Frequently, I am the in-school suspension person, the on site sub, the therapist, the caretaker of kids who need a break, the tutor,the reading teacher, the science and social studies resource person and on and on.I provide meeting space, coordinate special events,teach ten grades,(prek-8), also work a flexible schedule, support and collaborate with teachers and do it all with a smile! With the decentralization of the library department and the basic lack of understanding of the librarian's job description by well meaning staff,librarians need to stand up and be heard! This blog is a great beginning. We need leadership and we need to organize. And please STOP calling teachers,librarians just because some principal has given them the library. What an insult when many of us have spent years and a great deal of work and money to become certified.AAA wants kids back in school. I agree and often the library is the only place some students want to be. The circulation system is a mess but it is in the works. I can connect kids with resources in other ways. My biggest issue is trying to believe that BCPS respects the library postion and gives me the resources I need to meet the needs of my students. Being a literate person is the ticket to success. If a child can read and enjoys reading, anything can be accomplished. Sorry for the rambling nature of this posting. I just found the library discussion and suddenly felt I had company in my frustration and possibility for positive solutions!