The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children runs library programs in district schools. Photo courtesy of the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children

For years, Philadelphia school librarians have not seen much affection from the City of Brotherly Love.

Massive budget cuts have decimated the ranks of school librarians, from 176 in 1991 to only four today. That leaves most of Philadelphia’s 216 schools and more than 116,000 students without access to a library, let alone a librarian.

Finally, though, there’s hope. This spring, a job posting appeared for the role of a district director of library science, whose responsibilities will include overseeing all library and digital library programs and services.

While still in the early phase of planning and hiring, according to the district’s office of communications, the new library director position is part of an overall effort to build a comprehensive plan for libraries within the School District of Philadelphia.

“Libraries were an integral part of the district prior to budget cuts and layoffs of librarians,” a district spokesperson wrote in an email to SLJ . “We recognize that libraries can play a vital role in accelerating student achievement, and we are envisioning and reimagining school libraries around the focus [of] accelerating student achievement.”

Continue reading the full article here: https://www.slj.com/story/Hope-Philadelphia-School-Libraries