Las Vegas School Librarians May Face Axe

Las Vegas area CBS affiliate KLAS reports that the association of school librarians in the Clark County School District was present in recent meetings. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that the district is holding meetings to gauge parent views on what should be cut due to financial shortfalls. The librarians went to gauge the risk to their jobs as local television reports have noted that parents are strongly considering already terminating art and music education in schools.

The district has posted a chart with cuts under consideration. It is noted there that cutting out middle school and high school librarians would save the district USD$9,510,215. The argument present in favor of cutting such librarians is that teachers or support staff could maintain libraries.

Clark County School District’s boundaries are coterminous with the boundaries of Clark County in Nevada. The district serves Nevada’s population center. According to the US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, as of the 2005-2006 school year the district had 314 schools and served over two hundred and ten thousand students.