FWISD kids can’t get library books due to long inventory project. That’s poor planning | Opinion

Fort Worth ISD has closed school libraries for two weeks to conduct routine inventory. While an important task, no doubt, it’s demonstrative of a lack of planning and foresight. Students should not lack access to library books due to administrators’ and librarians’ lack of planning.

District officials told the Editorial Board that the reason was not to review controversial books after parents complained at a recent school board meeting, though some local news reports linked the two.

“We are not closed because of the review,” district spokesman Cesar Padilla said via e-mail. “We are reviewing books as a separate process. We are closed to do inventory. We did not do inventory during the summer because librarians aren’t on contract then.”

When we asked for clarification about why inventory wasn’t done before school started, when most teachers are on campus getting ready for the school year, officials said that wasn’t feasible in part because librarians needed training to comply with a new state law limiting books on sensitive topics such as race and gender, and because, like teachers, they return to work one week before classes start.

“Inventory includes librarians having to physically scan each book, and they have thousands of titles in each library,” spokeswoman Jessica Becerra said. “They should also be working on their webpage, getting the library ready for students, completing some informational surveys related to library services, collaborating with teachers, and some are assisting with device distribution and other duties assigned by principals that support the mission of getting students enrolled and registered.”

That libraries were closed not to accommodate a more recent law but for a routine procedure, like inventory, seems like a poor use of time.

It’s odd, too, that inventories should take so long. Surely the district had a good starting point of what books were in each school. And even if this specific action wasn’t related to book controversies, the district, like others, has known there’s an issue there and that state lawmakers were acting on it. This would have been a good time to be proactive.

We get it: Librarians, teachers and school administrators have a lot to do before school starts. But there is a definitive first day of school on the calendar those employees know months ahead of time. Librarians and administrators should have reviewed the amount of preparation time librarians would have needed to conduct such an arduous inventory process, and, if necessary, contracted librarians to return — with plenty of help! — earlier than the week before school.

Students should have access to the books in school libraries all year and at the beginning, as homework is starting to be assigned. Delaying the opening of libraries or keeping them closed to catch up on tasks that could have been completed before the beginning of school demonstrates a clear lack of planning, communication and concern for students’ education.