Editor’s note: This commentary was written jointly by the school librarians named at the bottom of the piece.

Recent reports from the state Department of Education reveal some alarming statistics regarding schools and libraries. Out of 261 public schools in the state, 42 of these schools (16 percent) currently have a library but no librarian position allocated to it.

When these figures are broken down by district, the figures become even more alarming: On the Big Island 37 percent of our public schools have no librarian (and anecdotal evidence indicates this number will increase to at least 41 percent for next school year); on Maui the figure is 19 percent with no librarian; Kauai has 18 percent; the Honolulu district has 16 percent; and the remainder of the Oahu districts have 9 percent, 7 percent and 3 percent. This means that the students in these schools have either no access to library services or very limited access.

Numerous studies have shown that students with full access to a librarian and library services on a regular basis have significant achievement gains over the long run.

Not everyone may realize it, but school librarians must not only have a master’s degree in library and information studies, but also be fully certified teachers.

In addition to literature appreciation, we teach a full range of research and information literacy skills, which are essential in today’s high-tech world.

Why are Big Island schools giving up their librarians in such alarming numbers? There are a number of factors, none of them good:

» School budgets across the state have been slashed every year for the past several years, and the Big Island seems to get even shorter shrift with the way the weighted student funding (WSF) formula works, which penalizes schools with smaller enrollments. Given these budget constraints, many schools are choosing to cut their support positions — librarians, counselors, program coordinators — rather than classroom teachers.

» The federal No Child Left Behind law mandates continual testing of our students and forces many schools to contract with a restructuring company (which are for-profit entities), which requires even more testing of students. Many school libraries are de facto computer labs, and are thus taken over completely for testing. In addition, these restructuring programs leave little room for teachers to schedule library time or research.

» Many public schools in rural areas do not have a dedicated school library, relying instead on public library facilities on school campuses. In past years, these schools have funded a separate school librarian who works within the public library facility to serve their students. With cuts in funding, many of these schools have decided they can do without their dedicated school librarian, although most public librarians do not provide the full range of services that the school librarian does, and some have even closed their doors to students during the school day.

If any of you are alarmed by these statistics, we urge you to contact your legislators, your Board of Education representative, the state schools superintendent and, most important, your local school principal to voice your support for school libraries and librarians.