Arlington expands certified librarians and pilots digital learning in elementary grades

The district’s library and digital learning team reported that Arlington now has a certified K–12 librarian in every school, a milestone staff said has enabled deeper instruction in research, media literacy and reading promotion.

Presenters — including Stacy Kitses (AHS librarian), Chrissy (Christine) Collins, Jennifer Lachland and Melissa Maldonado — said circulation of physical materials and digital content use (Sora and databases) have risen alongside increased professional library staffing. They described pilot digital learning residencies (grades 3–5) that introduced robotics tools (Ozobots, Finches) and code.org curriculum; next year the district will pivot to library teachers taking primary responsibility for DLCS instruction with DL specialists providing support.

Library staff credited full-time placements with stronger teacher partnerships, more consistent student relationships and richer research instruction, citing classroom examples where librarians guided students to better database searches and produced higher-quality student work. The team also emphasized media literacy and AI-era digital citizenship as priorities as instructional technology evolves.

Budget pressures and staffing constraints were acknowledged as ongoing challenges; the team said continued support for library paraprofessionals and DL specialists is essential to sustain programming. Committee members praised the staffing shift and requested updates on implementation as the K–5 DLCS integration proceeds.