The school library is a place where inquiry begins and a love of learning is born. This has been quietly vanishing in schools.

School libraries across the United States have faced severe budget cuts. NCES data collected from 13,000 school districts in the U.S from 2009 to 2019 showed a 20% loss of school librarians.

The situation has worsened in recent years. SLIDE, a research initiative that examines trends in school libraries across the United States published a 2024 report that found during the 2020–21 school year, 30% of public schools had neither a full-time nor a part-time school librarian. This is a notable increase from 25% in 2015–16.

This particularly impacts schools serving marginalized communities. Districts with higher populations of students living in poverty, students of color, and English language learners are less likely to have librarians. During the 2018–19 school year, 4.8 million students in predominantly minority districts lacked access to a school librarian.

This crisis is further compounded by the recent dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the nation’s only federal agency dedicated to funding library services. The American Library Association warned that it would “devastate public and school libraries, especially in rural and underfunded communities.”

Libraries are essential. The Library Research Service found that students in schools with well-funded libraries and certified librarians score significantly higher on standardized tests and demonstrate improved reading outcomes, regardless of income level. Despite this data, when education budgets are reduced, libraries are often the first to go. This is a dangerously short-sighted decision that impacts all of our students.

Federal support for school libraries should be an ongoing bipartisan priority. Congress must respond by not only by reinstating IMLS funding but further recognizing the fundamental role libraries have in supporting student success. Representatives and their constituents across the nation have children in our schools impacted from vanishing libraries.

Every child deserves access to a well-staffed school library. Literacy and learning should never be a privilege of the few. Let’s fund these spaces like they matter for all children.

KATIE WHELAN

Highland Springs