Stranger than Fiction: Advocating for Philly’s School Libraries at #alaac25

To start, #alaac25 was stranger than fiction. The fiction: In episode seven of Abbott Elementary’s third season, Quinta Brunson’s character pilots a program that brings a librarian to the show’s titular Philadelphia school. Brunson, who also created the show, has spoken of how her childhood in Philly—and her mom’s teaching there—inspired the show.

Read-In at #alaac25

The strange truth: Today, at the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) and Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians (PARSL) Read-In, I read next to someone who spoke of attending Philadelphia schools from Kindergarten through twelfth grade and never once encountered a school library in that time. Unfortunately, this is the case at most of Philadelphia’s public schools. 

In spite of today’s rain, nearly 200 folks of all ages showed up to read on the steps of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) administration building. PSLA and PARSL organized the read-in to advocate for libraries and librarians in SDP schools. Beyond the fact that the majority of SDP schools lack a functioning library, five mostly part-time librarians serve the more than 117,907 students at SDP’s 220 schools.

It’s an issue that’s far from fiction for many of us. In my own district, we only have school librarians because we voted for an increase in property taxes. Even still, our school board tried to reduce some school librarians’ hours and eliminate other positions altogether. (Thankfully, our community convinced the school board that this went against the ballot language.)

You can visit restorephillylibrarians.org to learn more about PARSL’s mission, sign their petition, or donate to support their work. 

Are libraries and librarians stranger than fiction in your local schools? Drop a line in the comments or at ktaksier@ufl.edu. 

Kelley Taksier (they/them/theirs) is a former classroom teacher pursuing a Ph.D in special education at the University of Florida. Currently their research focuses on students’ access to texts in public schools. As a part of this work, they collaborate with school and public librarians. They are proud to be a part of Diverse BookFinder’s third Community of Practice cohort and enjoy reading science fiction outside of the reading they do as a part of their work. As for #alaac25, they are most looking forward to learning about how to be a better advocate for libraries. 

The post Stranger than Fiction: Advocating for Philly’s School Libraries at #alaac25 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 To start, #alaac25 was stranger than fiction. The fiction: In episode seven of Abbott Elementary’s third season, Quinta Brunson’s character pilots a program that brings a librarian to the show’s titular Philadelphia school. Brunson, who also created the show, has spoken of how her childhood in Philly—and her mom’s teaching there—inspired the show. Read-In at #alaac25 The strange truth: Today, at the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) and Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians (PARSL) Read-In, I read next to someone who spoke of attending Philadelphia schools from Kindergarten through twelfth grade and never once encountered a school library in that time. Unfortunately, this is the case at most of Philadelphia’s public schools.  In spite of today’s rain, nearly 200 folks of all ages showed up to read on the steps of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) administration building. PSLA and PARSL organized the read-in to advocate for libraries…
The post Stranger than Fiction: Advocating for Philly’s School Libraries at #alaac25 appeared first on ALSC Blog.  Read More

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