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Students, teachers and librarians urge Seattle district not to cut school libraries
Summary
Dozens of students, teachers and librarians testified at the Jan. 22 Seattle School District board meeting urging the board not to reduce library hours or librarian positions as the district crafts its 2025–26 budget and considers staffing changes.
Dozens of students, parents, teachers and school librarians told the Seattle School District No. 1 Board of Directors on Jan. 22 that proposed staffing changes threaten daily library services that many students rely on.
Speakers described libraries as daily academic and social supports and urged the board to preserve librarian positions and library hours during the budget process. They delivered petitions, school-by-school counts and first-person accounts of how libraries function as safe spaces and academic hubs.
Several students said reduced hours would remove essential supports. Rowan Harper, a junior at Ballard High School, brought a school petition and told the board, “If you cut our librarian’s hours in half, you’re basically taking these opportunities straight out of the hands of your students right in front of them.” Ryan Sander, a Ballard student who helped gather signatures, said simply, “Our libraries matter.”
Librarians and teachers described services that would be lost or reduced if positions are cut. Stacia Bell, librarian at Madison Middle School, said the Madison library serves as a daily refuge for students and that “150 students choose to start their school day in our Madison library.” David Furman, a special education teacher at Ballard High School, told the board that librarians make possible programs such as a queer pride book club and help students with intellectual disabilities practice community participation: “Our libraries offer that. And they only offer that if they’re open.”
Speakers cited specific evidence of community concern: Donna Sabo Hutchinson, representing West Seattle High School students, said more than 200 people signed a petition to restore library funding at her school. Ballard students reported collecting signatures from over half of a 1,600‑student school. Several speakers referenced a district slide deck from Aug. 28 showing reducing secondary librarians to halftime as a budget option.
Board members did not take action on library staffing at the meeting; the district’s budget study session that followed focused on multiple scenarios for 2025–26. Several parents and community groups asked the board to publish clearer staffing reduction scenarios and to commit to preserving full‑time secondary librarians in any budget choice.
The board acknowledged the testimony and said staff will include community feedback as the district refines budget proposals. Speakers asked the board to publish the prioritized cut list and staffing scenarios before decisions are finalized so families and school communities can evaluate tradeoffs.
The public comment block on libraries was part of a larger testimony period that also included remarks on ethnic studies, dual language programs, special education and other topics. Several library speakers asked the board to formalize a written commitment to keep libraries and librarians as part of the district’s prioritized services.
Looking ahead, district staff and the board said further budget proposals will be presented at upcoming study sessions; ballot return for the district’s February levies is Feb. 11, 2025, and the board will consider final budget votes later in the spring.
