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County librarians urge board to defend certified library positions as state bill lowers requirements
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Summary
Librarians and educators urged the Hamilton County Board of Education to publicly support certified school librarians after testimony that House Bill 2423 would loosen certification and staffing thresholds; speakers asked the district to protect library positions and create district librarian leadership.
Charles Rayburn, a librarian at East Ridge High School, asked the Hamilton County Board of Education to publicly recommend that every county school employ a certified library information specialist and maintain a functional library space, citing a new state bill he said would weaken librarian certification and staffing requirements.
“We are asking the school board to publicly recommend that every school in Hamilton County have a certified librarian in information science and a functional library space,” Rayburn said, arguing that librarians teach research and digital-literacy skills essential to student success. He told the board that House Bill 2423 would change certification rules and reduce the enrollment threshold that triggers a full-time librarian.
A Hamilton County librarian who also spoke described the everyday and instructional roles librarians perform — from troubleshooting technology and maintaining collections to running clubs and teaching research skills — and warned that reassigning librarians or shrinking library spaces erodes literacy supports. “Let librarians be librarians, and it can only make Hamilton County Schools stronger,” Rayburn said.
Board members and the superintendent discussed whether local administrators had urged the bill; the superintendent said the administration did not originate the legislation and that the bill’s flexibility is tied to school enrollment thresholds. Several board members pushed back on the district’s definition of “base” positions, arguing librarians should be protected from local flexing or reallocation.
Why it matters: Speakers pointed to research tying funded, staffed libraries to improved achievement, graduation and literacy metrics and warned that staffing changes would have districtwide effects on equity and access. Board members asked staff to follow up and clarify the district’s policy on which base positions can be “flexed.”
What’s next: The board did not take action at this meeting; members said the issue should be discussed in budget deliberations and that they would seek more information about the bill’s origins and local implications.
