Digital Bookends

It’s a happy day in Texas school libraries!  The Texas State Legislature added Rider 88 to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) budget.  Rider 88 directs the Commissioner of Education to transfer amounts not to exceed $2.5 million in each year of the 2008-2009 biennium to TSLAC for the purpose of acquiring “online research and information resources for libraries in public schools, and for administrative expenses.”

The problem with this situation is that school librarians have had no choice in which databases will be made available to them “free of charge.”  In fact, the decision of which databases would be made available to schools was based upon the fact that TSLAC had an exisiting contract with EBSCO, rather than what school librarians  might want or need.  In fact, it was explained to me this week (by someone who wanted to “clarify things” for me) that school librarians were “given a chance to review the various database vendors in 2006….” Hello?  I think some of the databases have made some significant changes in the past year…and many more are scheduled to take place soon….but perhaps school librarians need more “help” in making these types of decisions than other librarians might, so we aren’t offered choices.

When I questioned the reasons why school librarians have not been allowed an opportunity to choose vendors, I was “reprimanded” by two individuals at TSLAC–I will post the first reprimand and my response today.  This first explanation / reprimand was posted on the “Database Wiki” by Peggy Rudd, TSLAC Director. 

(By the way, the”Database Wiki” was created to allow school librarians the opportunity to “choose” which online encyclopedia they would prefer since we weren’t given the opportunity to select vendors for the databases.  The problem with TSLAC providing an online wiki for feedback from school librarians is that MOST schools block access to wikis.  This, then, is virtually worthless and creates an illusion that school librarians aren’t interested…we ARE interested but are restricted by the very districts for which we need to make professional decisions….but I’m sure that with all those “free evening hours after school,” most librarians would be more than willing to voice their opinions to the wiki from their home computers….NOT!)— Is anyone at TSLAC thinking about how school libraries function or how school librarians are able to access information from within their schools?  Wikis, blogs, and other 2.0 technologies are largely blocked in public schools…unlike public and academic libraries, public school libraries have restrictions that are much tighter, even for the teachers / librarians.

Here are Peggy Rudds’comments:

 ”Let me clarify something. TSLAC continued the EBSCO databases for the k-12 library community because we had a contract in place, we could “turn on” access immediately for the current school year, and EBSCO was willing to work with us on pricing. We understood from the school library community that librarians wanted a database package that would begin at the start of the school year; therefore, issuing a bid document was not an option.

We understand that $2.5 million is not enough to be able to invest in all of the electronic resources that school libraries need to support students and teachers. We are pleased that we are able to squeeze out enough money to cover an encyclopedia, however.”

My guess is that most any database company under consideration to provide resources to K-12 schools in Texas (and to become the K-12 statewide database provider),would be more than willing to provide an extended trial evaluation / usage period if a selection process needed to be made by all school districts later in the school year.

“Turning on” these products is done easily by hundreds of database companies every day, so this shouldn’t have been an issue. Because several of the database companies offered free trials throughout the summer months (a time when many school librarians are not actively monitoring their email or checking for database funding news / legislative updates), it actually seems more reasonable to ask for trials during the school year so that school librarians could actively utilize the products with their students and teachers, rather than during the summer months.

While every school librarian appreciates the funding made available to provide online databases for their students, many schools will not be given any opportunity to choose “additional databases” because their budgets will not allow for that.  As a result, these schools have had no voice and no choice.  Because the needs of many rural or smaller school districts are often not taken into consideration when educational programs are implemented, these districts must often deal with what is handed to them. It would appear then that a ‘digital divide’ is created when ALL K-12 schools aren’t provided the opportunity to select, choose, or vote for which “free resources” they would select when those resources are provided through state funding. Well-funded schools receive the “free” databases and have the funds to purchase additional resources to supplement what is missing.  Poorly funded school districts receive only what they are given without any opportunity to choose.

Luckily, my district can select other databases to supplement the EBSCO products; however, for those districts that expected an opportunity to voice their opinions about their database needs, it is disappointing that these school librarians are restricted from selecting resources for their students by other librarians who “know what is best” for all of us.