With the district's decision to eliminate all 32 librarian positions during the 2003­04 school year, media centers will be run exclusively by library aides, teachers and parent volunteers, some of whom lack formal training in managing library programs.

The eliminated positions are part of $16 million in cuts to the district's budget for the upcoming year. The cuts were forced by the state's $38.2 million deficit, and a recent parcel tax initiative that would have brought the district several million dollars in revenue failed in a special June election.

The cuts have raised a number of concerns among parents about a lack of library time, the staffing of some formerly librarian-managed reading programs and potential inequities between the districts. Wealthier schools and those with active parents' groups will be in better positions to seek out private funds to help maintain library staffing.

While district policy prevents individual schools from using discretionary funds to retain and pay for librarians, parents' groups are permitted to use donations to extend the hours of library aides and add noncredentialed staff to assist with library programs. With outside funding, schools may also retain and reclassify former librarians as resource teachers, a position that allows them to assist with some library programs.

Several parents and library-staff members addressed the district board of education at its Aug. 7 meeting and voiced their concerns about the cuts and the potential for inequalities between district schools.

"I am a media clerk and parent volunteer and help keep the libraries open and functional for student use, but I don't have the skills or the knowledge to run curriculum-based programs," said Gail Buckley, a library aide who works at Simons Elementary and volunteers at Castillero Middle and Leland High. "I understand that some choices have been made due to the budget cuts, but I also believe that taking away the library programs will hurt every reading program that the district has. So much emphasis has been placed on standardized test scores—it would be a shame to lose reading programs that support and enhance those standards."

San Jose Teachers' Association President Marlene Mattoon addressed the issue of parents' groups retaining former librarians as resource teachers, which will allow certain schools to keep library programs that other, poorer schools may have to do without. A school's ability to mobilize parents' groups, Mattoon said, will create a situation of "haves and have-nots" in the district.

While the district doesn't plan to release its finalized budget until September, Associate Superintendent Jerry Matranga says it will likely be similar to the latest draft budget, which includes the elimination of the 32 librarian positions. Meanwhile, officials at district schools are analyzing ways to address the cuts to their libraries and rally parents' groups for assistance.

Willow Glen Middle School Principal Darla Briggs is upbeat about her school's ability to maintain the library according to standards set in prior years—the Willow Glen Middle and High School Foundation has a long history of providing generously for the media center shared by the two schools.

"We have great parent support at Willow Glen Middle, so I know we'll get the support we need," Briggs said. "I'm sure the community will do all that it can to make sure we continue to have a wonderful library."

Kathryn Billington, president of Hablemos, the new parents' group at Gardner Elementary, is less optimistic.

"As a parents' club we're going to do everything we can, but since we're brand-new and we don't have the history of being able to generate lots of money, it's going to be a lot harder on Gardner," she said. "It's a really grim time."

Library aides have been budgeted at one per school, with 10 hours a week allotted for elementary schools, four hours a day for middle schools and six hours a day for high schools. Most librarians have been reassigned as regular schoolteachers within the district.