The Long Beach Unified School District said it is significantly cutting school librarians and media assistants (who also work in libraries) for the next school year, a cost-saving measure that comes as the district is operating at a massive deficit.
The district will transition from 55 centrally funded librarians and media assistants to 25 for the upcoming year, aligning staffing with available funding while maintaining library access at all schools, a spokesperson said.
Affected staff said they were surprised and confused by the plans. On Friday, district administrators invited LBUSD’s approximately 36 librarians and 20 media assistants — some of whom are part-time or on special contracts — into meetings to discuss “the budget and reductions in staffing that would affect teacher-librarians and media assistants,” said Jamie Vallianos, a librarian at John Muir Academy who attended.
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What followed was a scramble for information. In the vacuum of clarity, librarians pieced together what they said was a sobering picture of reduced staffing for next school year, which they shared with the Long Beach Post…