When Worcester Public Schools open for the year next Monday, seven of the city’s 34 elementary schools will have new libraries with permanent staff, some for the first time in more than two decades.
While the openings are a welcome milestone for parents and kids — at a time when there’s been increased debate about the role of technology in schools — there is still one more goal: filling these libraries with physical books.
“I cannot express enough what a big deal it is for our kids to have a library space in their school,” said Aislinn Doyle, a member of the grassroots Worcester Elementary School Library Coalition, a parent-led group that is leading a fundraising campaign to purchase more books. “It’s about access to books but I also just think libraries are often the heart of the school.”
Officials from the Worcester Public Schools say they have committed $25,000 for new books but acknowledge that’s not enough. Some of the new libraries also have leftover or donated books, but volunteers also don’t want to only rely on outdated hand-me-downs. Doyle said they are making the effort “so that our students can have a robust library that reflects current literature and things that they deserve to have access to.”
Coalition volunteers estimate that in order to reach their goal of 35,000 books, they need to buy almost 17,000 more. Among libraries seeking more books is the new library at Quinsigamond Elementary School, which has about 1,500 books that were either left over or donated. Volunteers hope to raise money to have 7,000 books — about 10 for each of the school’s 700 students.
“They very much need more books,” said Noelia Chafoya, a parent and member of the library coalition, who spoke with GBH News while she was helping to prepare the library for its opening. “My biggest thing is having real books in real hands.”
The push comes as a number of studies show that access to libraries with librarians increases literacy, and also increases test scores in reading and math. Worcester is one of the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, formerly industrialized communities with high proportions of foreign-born residents and lower averages of educational attainment and income than the rest of the state.
A recent report released by the nonprofit MassInc found that which students get access to libraries is often based on race and family income. Four percent of white students attend a school lacking a library, while 12% of Black students and 13% of Hispanic students don’t have a library at school.
In terms of finances, 11% of low-income students don’t attend a school with a library, while 5% of students who are not low-income do, according to the report titled “Fixing the Foundation: Uneven Access to Modern Schools and a Blueprint for a More Equitable Future.”
“There’s definitely a disparity, for sure, in who gets a school librarian,” said Reba Tierney, current president of the Massachusetts School Library Association. “The kids who might benefit from it most oftentimes won’t have access to it.”
Since elementary school is structured throughout the day, library time provides kids an unstructured part of the day to pursue their interests and the freedom to explore, she said. And not all kids have regular access to their town’s public library.
“The one thing about a school library is there’s no barrier to the students using it and it’s accessible,” Tierney said. “Just the fact that they see that there’s this space that’s dedicated to literacy and books, I think that that can’t be understated how important that is in the formative years that the kids see literacy as important and valued.”
Even in cases where a library has a dedicated space and staff, Tierney said, resourcing the library with enough books can be a challenge.
“One of the ongoing problems is, even when there is a librarian and they have the job and the role, a lot of times ... they don’t get the budget or the support they need,” she said.
The first seven libraries opening in Worcester this year are in schools that had a physical space for a library. Some schools had converted their old libraries into classrooms to keep up with increasing enrollment and some had functioned partially with parent volunteers.
Ellen Kelley, executive director of schools for the Worcester Public School’s Doherty Quadrant, which encompasses schools in the western part of the city, said officials hope to open libraries in all 34 schools in the future. She acknowledged that the libraries would not have enough books without the campaign.
“We greatly, greatly appreciate the help of the parents,” she said. “It’s going to be great to see books back in the hands of kids.”
Meanwhile, volunteers are hoping to get more help in a social media campaign. They have currently raised about $3,000 out of a goal of $72,000 to make that happen.
Parents like Lisa Stoddard, also a member of the Worcester library coalition, hope the campaign can ensure that new books reflect Worcester’s diverse and bilingual population. About 40% of the population speaks a language other than English at home, according to census data.
“We’re looking for a variety of books,” said Stoddard, who is a professor of teaching at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “Worcester is really diverse, and so having books where students feel represented and recognized, that the authors or the characters are characters that they can identify with, that they can follow along in the story and connect with.”
This story emerged from a conversation held at a listening session in Worcester, part of a GBH News held initiative to visit all 26 Gateway Cities this year. Do you have something about your community that you want to share? Email us at equityandjustice@wgbh.org.
