Just 4 of Philly’s 218 public schools have librarians. A $150K grant hopes to move the needle

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For years, a nonprofit group has fought for more libraries and librarians in the Philadelphia School District and across the commonwealth.

In the last several sessions of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, for example, the Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians (PARSL) has advocated for legislation that would require all state public schools to have a library and a certified librarian, said Debra Kachel, who is PARSL’s liaison to the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association.

Last week, the group got some good news.

The School District of Philadelphia and PARSL received a $149,120 federal grant that will allow them to partner on a strategic plan to recruit and train personnel to build a pipeline of diverse candidates to restore librarians and libraries in the district, as part of the Urban School Library Restoration Project.

The grant will also allow the partners to examine how school districts in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Washington D.C. have added librarians.

The effort will be funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program and will be used as a nationwide model for other school districts.

“In collaboration with PARSL and other internal and external stakeholders we are looking forward to reimagining and working towards developing a model of restoring librarians and libraries that are centered on accelerating student achievement and innovation,” said

Monique Braxton, a school district spokesperson. “We are in the final stages of hiring a director of library sciences that will be leading the development of a comprehensive plan for this work.”

Schools with libraries with certified librarians have higher achievement and graduation rates, especially for students of color and those in underserved communities, according to a 2023 national study by Antioch University Seattle.

“There have been years and years of research that supports the role of the school librarians in the academic achievement of students,” said Kachel, who teaches an online course on librarian certification at Antioch University Seattle. “Recent research shows the (positive) correlation between libraries, and reading and writing skills, as well as graduation rates.”

Education advocates like City Councilmember-at-Large Isaiah Thomas have complained about the lack of librarians in the city’s public schools.

According to the School District, four of its 218 schools have full-time, certified librarians: Central High School, James R. Lowell Elementary School, Penn Alexander Middle School and South Philadelphia High School.

Another 26 teachers in the district are also certified librarians, said Braxton, the school district spokesperson.

In the 1990s, the school district had 176 librarians, but it had more schools, according to Debra Grill, a PARSL member, former librarian and teacher who was employed in the Philadelphia School District for more than 30 years. Eventually, Grill was laid off, like many others, in face of budget cuts.

“They just started cutting them and not replacing them,” Grill said. “You have to read to get better at reading and you have to have a selection of books that you can enjoy on all levels.”

At some schools, a group of dedicated volunteers staffed the libraries, said Jenny Lowman, PARSL founder and former executive director of West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, who helped coordinate volunteers in that section of the city until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city. During the pandemic, it wasn’t sustainable, she told WHYY.

“We were depending on the kindness of strangers to keep the libraries open,” Loman said, calling the lack of librarians an “inequity.”

Nationwide, the fate of librarians isn’t much better.

According to the Antioch study, about 35% of schools in cities across the country reported having no librarians in the 2020-2021 school year. The same study revealed that about 30% of schools nationwide have no certified librarians.

Additionally, schools with a student population that was majority non-white during the 2020-2021 school year were more likely to have no librarians than those with majority white populations, according to the study. About 31% of non-white majority schools reported not having any librarians compared to roughly 25% of majority white schools.

More than 80% of Philadelphia’s student population is non-white, according to the School District.

“As a lifelong educator and learner, I’m excited at the prospect of more fully functional libraries in schools,” said Thomas, the council member and chair of the body’s education committee. “For me, my passion was always on the basketball court. For some, it was the art room, and for many it was the library. The more safe and enriching spaces we can provide for our young people, the more opportunities for growth and potential. I am excited at the prospect of libraries with librarians and support staff – and we should continue to grow from there.”