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Orange superintendent wins library award as number of librarians drops
Kudos to an administrator who believes in librarians--even if he can't keep them on the payroll. The superintendent himself figures the aware is based on "fond memories."
Maybe the American Library Association will pick up on this idea and give the "Belief in Libraries" award--as libraries across the country close their doors.
by Laureen Roth
The Florida Association for Media in Education -- a librarians' group -- has honored Superintendent Ron Blocker for "keeping certified library media specialists in the schools" and "maintaining quality and current book collections," among other supportive qualities.
Which is all well and good except for this: Among the district's 178 traditional schools, 34 don't have certified library media specialists this school year, which is nearly a third higher than the number of schools that lacked these positions last year. (They have clerks or resource teachers in libraries at the other schools).
Blocker was nominated for the group's first-ever administrator advocacy award by four librarians. District media specialist Nancy Pelser-Borowicz's nomination letter merely notes that five years ago all district schools had these full-time, certified librarians. Her letter also credits Blocker with driving updates to library materials and launching library media committees and task forces.
But the budgets for school library collections in Orange varied widely when I checked a few months ago, and some schools are not committing to Blocker's vision.
So giving the award now is a bit of a head-scratcher. The group's executive director did not return a call from the Orlando Sentinel. Blocker himself seemed at a bit of a loss to explain the award.
"This organization recognized me as a supportive superintendent several years ago so I guess there are people that still have fond memories," he wrote in an e-mail.
According to Pelser-Borowicz, Blocker recognizes media specialists as "the proven catalysts for improving student reading scores." It will be interesting to see if that belief will lead to any changes in the way schools staff their libraries.
Blocker's award will be presented during the statewide FAME conference, which will be held October 7 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando.
UPDATE: I just heard from FAME president Pat Dedicos, and she said Blocker has been dedicated to libraries for his whole career. In addition, "Orange isn't in as bad a shape as a lot of the rest of the state." She said that winning the award doesn't mean Blocker is "changing the world," but that he believes in the cause -- certified media specialists in every school.
— Laureen Roth
Sentinel School Zone blog
2011-09-02
http://tinyurl.com/3frtvfr
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