I've got issues
Well, issue.
Yesterday, I watched the news. Yeah, bad idea, I know. They did a story on how the Porter County Indiana library system made a new policy stating they would no longer allow children living in homeless shelters to check out books. They stated that they have lost nearly $4,000 in books in recent years as the reason.
This pisses me off to no end. I know that living in a shelter can be stressful, shameful & hard on children. Each school year I have at least one, if not several, students that live in shelters. They have no toys, no school supplies, no clean clothes. They are not well-rested, often falling asleep in school, and often suffer from depression.
And now they have no books.
In the library system's defense, I'm sure they are strapped for cash; they probably are working with a meager budget and are just trying to protect their assets. But I have to wonder, how many books do they lose to people who live in homes? I often think there should be limits on the number of children's books one can check out because they are usually small, & it's hard to keep track of them in a busy household. Is the reason for the missing books solely due to transient children? I doubt it.
I've always tried to get parents to bring their child to the library. I always get a positive response from the parents, but when asked, the children always tell me they've never set foot in the local library. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people checking out books are from "stable" homes, probably not low income. Granted, I have no research to back this up; I'm just judging from my 8 years in the CPS system.
Each year we, as teachers, spend a lot of cash on our classroom libraries. Of course it's something we love to do, but in Chicago it's also a requirement. Each year I lose countless books. I've probably lost close to a grand in books over the years at least. Most of the nice, new, hardcover picture books go for $12-$18 each on average. But I'll be damned if I'm going to deprive a child that's willing to read of a book.
Seems like a small price to pay to foster a love of reading. Plop (falling drunkenly off my soapbox now....)
Yesterday, I watched the news. Yeah, bad idea, I know. They did a story on how the Porter County Indiana library system made a new policy stating they would no longer allow children living in homeless shelters to check out books. They stated that they have lost nearly $4,000 in books in recent years as the reason.
This pisses me off to no end. I know that living in a shelter can be stressful, shameful & hard on children. Each school year I have at least one, if not several, students that live in shelters. They have no toys, no school supplies, no clean clothes. They are not well-rested, often falling asleep in school, and often suffer from depression.
And now they have no books.
In the library system's defense, I'm sure they are strapped for cash; they probably are working with a meager budget and are just trying to protect their assets. But I have to wonder, how many books do they lose to people who live in homes? I often think there should be limits on the number of children's books one can check out because they are usually small, & it's hard to keep track of them in a busy household. Is the reason for the missing books solely due to transient children? I doubt it.
I've always tried to get parents to bring their child to the library. I always get a positive response from the parents, but when asked, the children always tell me they've never set foot in the local library. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people checking out books are from "stable" homes, probably not low income. Granted, I have no research to back this up; I'm just judging from my 8 years in the CPS system.
Each year we, as teachers, spend a lot of cash on our classroom libraries. Of course it's something we love to do, but in Chicago it's also a requirement. Each year I lose countless books. I've probably lost close to a grand in books over the years at least. Most of the nice, new, hardcover picture books go for $12-$18 each on average. But I'll be damned if I'm going to deprive a child that's willing to read of a book.
Seems like a small price to pay to foster a love of reading. Plop (falling drunkenly off my soapbox now....)
posted by kroushlconflict at 7:06 PM
1 Comments:
That blows. Poor kids can't afford books. I think this should go to court.
Who is better served by the public library than transient families/individuals? Go down to Harold Washington on a winter day and you'll see lots of homeless people reading papers and applying for jobs online. Sometimes whole families are there keeping warm while the folks do a little job searching.
If I didn't spend all my time as a kid at the library, I would still be doing shit work and living in Spring Valley in a trailer.
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