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In July, it was one of the biggest stories in the city: Newly installed Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles was getting rid of library staff at dozens of schools serving mostly low-income students under his sweeping overhaul of the district.
In the months since, Miles’ critics have decried the lack of library staff at long-struggling schools.
Several speakers, including a student and two HISD librarians, argued at a board meeting earlier this month that the approach is inequitable. One speaker distributed charts suggesting students at overhauled schools have checked out far fewer books this year than children at other campuses, comparing the library conditions to Jim Crow. A Reddit poster made similar allegations Sunday, citing the district’s decision last week to stop sharing book circulation data among HISD librarians.
Whether the allegations ring true, however, remains a complicated question.
The district has offered few updates on book circulation, leaving community members in the dark on how the new policies have impacted students.
There’s a reason, HISD leaders said: It’s virtually impossible to track how often students are now checking out books at some schools, which are using an “honor system” allowing students to take and return titles without checking them out.
As the HISD community seeks to understand the impacts of Miles’ decision to reduce the district’s investment in library staff, the Houston Landing examined why it’s so hard to track whether students are still taking books.
What is the library policy?
Miles, who was appointed by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath as part of sanctions against the district, eliminated librarian positions at 28 campuses he required to undergo transformation this year. At 57 other campuses that opted into the changes, he said library staff would be “assessed on a case-by-case basis.”
Miles has argued his changes focus the district’s resources on what he considers higher-priority investments, such as revamping reading instruction. Nearly all librarians earn annual salaries ranging from $62,500 to $87,500, according to HISD payroll records.
HISD officials repurposed many of the rooms that previously served as libraries into spaces for students’ independent work or to send misbehaving students.
Books remain on the shelves at overhauled schools and students may still take them out under an honor system, Miles said.
“The environment is literacy rich,” Miles said in a February press conference. “The libraries are still there. Come to the schools and see the libraries. The books are still on the shelves. Kids can still take those books out.”
Unreliable data
Whether students are using those books at the same rates they once were, however, remains unanswered.
HISD maintains circulation data showing how many books that students have checked out from each campus. The Houston Landing obtained a copy of the statistics through the end of January, which showed less than 100 book checkouts this year at most overhauled schools, while most other schools had over 1,000.
However, HISD said the numbers do not accurately represent students’ book use. Instances in which students took books out under the honor system might not be logged, spokesperson Jose Irizarry wrote in an email.
“The figures cannot and should not be used to convey how students are accessing books in HISD,” Irizarry wrote. “Some schools do record when books are checked out and give a due date for when they should be returned. In other schools, students just ask their teacher, teacher apprentice, or learning coach when they want to take a book home.”
That means there may be no way to get an accurate accounting of the number of books that students are taking from schools that eliminated their librarians. When the Landing asked HISD if it had data more reliable than the circulation statistics, the district did not respond.
As recently as the 2021-22 school year, HISD reported about 55 librarians working in its roughly 270 district-run campuses. Before the state takeover, HISD had long used a “decentralized” staffing model that gave principals wide discretion over their budgets and hiring. Many school leaders chose to invest in priorities other than library staff.
However, the district hired more librarians last school year under then-superintendent Millard House, though various district records contain conflicting information about how many. From 2021-22 to 2022-23, student checkouts increased roughly 60 percent, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Robust library programs have been linked to higher student achievement and improved graduation rates, even when controlling for students’ poverty levels, according to a 2018 review of research across 26 states published by the education-focused publication Phi Delta Kappan.
Crackdown on circulation statistics
At the Feb. 8 school board meeting, Almeda Elementary School Librarian Brandie Dowda presented data to HISD’s board of managers, saying students at the district’s 10 most-affluent schools have checked out roughly 100,000 print books so far this year while the 10 highest-poverty campuses have checked out about 3,000.
Days afterward, HISD Library Services Coordinator Len Bryan sent a message to campus library staff, obtained by the Landing.
“I have been told to restrict access to our districtwide library statistics so that you can only see your campus’ statistics,” Bryan wrote.
It’s unclear whether Dowda’s statements prompted the change.
At Dogan Elementary School, a campus that Miles transformed this year, Principal Rim Mohamed said she and teachers keep an informal log of which students borrow books, but they do not record checkouts through the district’s library system. She was unsure why her campus showed 51 checkouts in HISD’s circulation statistics.
Miles’ elimination of Dogan Elementary’s librarian position has not impacted students’ access to books and reading, Mohamed said.
“It’s not about having a library. It’s about building students’ love of literacy and appreciation for a book,” Mohamed said. “That’s what I feel like, this year, the (new) curriculum and even the (new) model encourages.”
Next year, 130 schools will be part of Miles’ overhaul program — roughly half the district.
Miles has said these schools will follow the same staffing model as the schools that have already undergone transformation, which does not include library staff. He has not indicated whether the overhaul model will change in any significant way in 2024-25.
Asher Lehrer-Small covers Houston ISD for the Landing and would love to hear your tips, questions and story ideas. Reach him at asher@houstonlanding.org.
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