Newton Public Schools (NPS) is facing a $2M budget deficit. NPS proposes to make up this $2M shortfall by making major cuts to the library department. Under this proposal, nearly 40% of the school library positions will be cut — impacting every school. Elementary school libraries would be closed 2-3 days a week. 1 library teacher for north side middle schools & 1 library teacher for south side schools. Newton North & Newton South would each lose a librarian.

Look you guys. You don’t need to be a famous writer (like me) to understand how important librarians can be in a young person’s life. Hugely influential (like this blog). These are deep cuts to an important part of our school system. Why is the library department responsible for making up 25% of the $2M budget deficit? What about math? Nobody even uses it.