Librarians, community organizer press Richland Two board during budget input

Marty Brown, a Westwood High School librarian, told the Richland School District Two board during the public-input session that proposed budget cuts to libraries and library staff would undercut student services and supervision. "I would respectfully request that all high school libraries be fully staffed with two librarians," Brown said, noting librarians serve "an average of 360 individual students per day" and perform functions ranging from readers advisory to technology support.

Brown warned that the loss of TLC positions would shift responsibilities onto remaining librarians and recounted a recent incident where one librarian rendered first aid while the other summoned help—an example he said shows the safety and supervision risks of understaffing.

Sandra Ramirez Metzdorf, who identified herself as the founder of the Growth Path Project, used her three minutes to describe a neighborhood program she said addresses mental-health symptoms such as suicide and loneliness and invited the board and public to a launch event. "I've spent five years and $250,000 of my own money," Ramirez Metzdorf said, explaining her personal investment in building the program and asking the community to attend the launch.

Both speakers appeared during the board's 30-minute public-input session on the 2026–27 budget and framed their remarks around how the budget choices would affect student support and neighborhood services. The chair closed the public-input session and the board moved on to its regularly scheduled business.