A conversation about widening disparities in access to school librarians.
There’s a quiet epidemic wiping out school librarian positions across the U.S. Between 2015 and 2019, the number of librarians declined by 20%, and one in five school librarian positions was eliminated entirely. But why is nobody noticing? According to researcher and Antioch faculty Deb Kachel, it might be because there hasn’t been a nationwide data set showing the staggering numbers—until now. In this conversation, we talk with Kachel about the SLIDE project, the way marginalized communities are hit hardest by the loss of school librarians, and how communities can fight back.
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Visit the SLIDE project’s website, libslide.org, and don’t miss their data browser where you can look up your local school district and see how many librarians it currently employs. You can also read the article that Deb and her co-authors recently published in the Peabody Journal of education: “The School Librarian Equity Gap: Inequities Associated with Race and Ethnicity Compounded by Poverty, Locale, and Enrollment.”
Deb teaches in Antioch University’s School of Education.
This episode was recorded October 30, 2023 via Riverside.fm and released November 15, 2023.
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The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University
Host: Jasper Nighthawk
Editor: Johanna Case
Digital Design: Mira Mead
Web Content Coordination: Jen Mont
Work-Study Interns: Sierra-Nicole E. DeBinion, Carrie Hawthorn, Stefanie Paredes, and Georgia Bermingham.
A special thanks to Karen Hamilton, Amelia Bryan, and Melinda Garland
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