Parents and community members urge Belton ISD to retain librarians amid staffing concerns

Several community members addressed the Belton ISD Board of Trustees on Feb. 2 to urge continued professional librarian staffing and to express concern about library collections.

Amy Longfield, a parent, told the board she has heard from librarians who feel "very small" and "undervalued" and said librarians provide continuity of care and have professional degrees. Her remarks described librarians as essential to children's learning experiences and asked the board to consider the human impact of staffing decisions.

A child speaker (Catherine Longfield, age 10) also spoke in support of the district's librarians, saying they should not be fired and noting the role librarians play in fostering reading and related activities.

Later in the meeting, Robin (an alum) reiterated that cutting professional librarians would be "an alarming injury to the learning environment," and Jose Martinez raised concerns about book withdrawals and censorship, noting an example of a book marked "withdrawn" from a district library. Martinez also urged preservation of courses and materials he said increase college-going rates for historically underrepresented students.

Board procedure: Trustees did not respond during public comment because of Texas Open Meetings Act constraints; staff and trustees noted that the district follows board policies on public comment (BED local) and that the board may not discuss non-agenda items during the meeting.

What the transcript shows: The record contains multiple appeals from parents and community members for the district to retain librarian positions, to publicly explain any changes and to ensure communication with staff.

Provenance: Public comments and subsequent public-comment exchanges (SEG 704'0 SEG 857; late speakers SEG 4569'0 SEG 4671).