Lindhurst fights to save its librarian
What's a school without a library? Is it just classrooms filled with youths reading from a computer? I ask this because Darlene Kidd, our librarian at Lindhurst High School, will lose her job by the time next year rolls around due to the extreme budget cuts California schools are facing.
Nikala Ollar, a senior, is very passionate about this. She said, "Mrs. Kidd is a great librarian, and she does so much for the school. Her losing her job because of the budget deficit seems ridiculous to me, as well as many other students and teachers. I believe the money should be taken out elsewhere, not from our librarian.
"I ask you this," Nikala continued. "What is a library without a librarian? Nothing! Mrs. Kidd is a wonderful inspiration to many students. She does too much for everybody at the school to be let go. It'll be quite devastating to students, staff and Lindhurst High School if Darlene Kidd does not come back in the fall of 2011 as our librarian."
It's hard for me to imagine a school without a librarian, but it's also hard to say where else we could cut spending. But at the end of the day, we need our librarian. As a school, we depend on Mrs. Kidd so much.
Bill Priddy, LHS social science teacher, said, "Having a full-time library aide at Lindhurst High School is vital to student success. Our library has the only functional computer lab on campus, and without the full-time availability of that resource, our students will suffer. Enter our library during any period of the school day and you will see students doing research or writing papers. Many of our students don't have access to computers or the Internet anywhere else. To deny them this valuable resource in 2011 seems to be a travesty."
Morgan Thome, a senior, said, "Due to the fact that a librarian is in charge of not only reading material for the students but also book material for classrooms, I don't see how our school would manage to keep not only the interested students that enjoy reading, but also the classrooms learning. I know a librarian's job can't be easy, but they don't do this job for the money — they also do it because of the love they have for students getting the chance to get lost in a book or two. Losing our librarian would not only hurt students but also slow down the learning process for teachers, especially the English department."
Our librarian is a great woman. Mrs. Kidd is an unbelievable individual, and she will be terribly missed by the student body and the staff at LHS. Students have talked about challenging the decision of cutting Mrs. Kidd's job, but not everyone is sure it will change anything. Mrs. Kidd, we will be sure to fight for your job as much as possible. You deserve it!
Ashley Hickey is a senior at Lindhurst High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.
