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The number of U.S. teacher-librarians has greatly diminished despite advocacy efforts by stakeholders. This case study investigated the factors that led governing board members in a mid-sized urban high school district to retain certified teacher-librarian positions despite a major economic crisis. Themes constructed through the analysis were: stakeholder involvement; transparency in communication; trust between district leadership and the governing board; a commitment to the district’s core values; and the value placed on the school library program by the district’s stakeholders. Future research should investigate school districts’ decision-making processes in the retention of teacher-librarian positions during economic crises. Introduction The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that led governing board members in a large urban high school district to retain certified teacher-librarians despite the major economic crisis of 2009. In the past several years, the number of teacher-librarians has greatly diminished. Currently only 60% of K-12 public schools in the United States employ a state certified teacher-librarian (American Libraries, 2007). In Arizona, the location of the study, only 38% of public schools are staffed with a certified teacher-librarian (Kossan, 2008). The Brookdale Union High School District, a mid-size urban district with 15,000 students in grades 9-12, stands out from other Arizona school districts. Brookdale chose to retain certified teacher-librarians in its nine high schools, despite a major economic crisis in which approximately 10% of its operating expenses were reduced. In order to fulfill mandated budget reductions, other Arizona districts either eliminated or reduced certified teacherlibrarian positions. Some districts replaced certified teacher-librarians with paraprofessionals in order to reduce salary costs, and others eliminated library personnel completely, relying on teachers and volunteers to manage library spaces in schools. The case study of Brookdale provides an understanding of the decision-making process used to retain teacher-librarian positions, sheds light on possible future decision-making in the district and offers implications for future research. Review of the literature Advocacy for public school library media programs in the U.S. has gained attention in recent years as a result of drastic eliminations in teacher-librarian positions and funding reductions in schools and school districts. These eliminations prompted the American Library Association (ALA) to appoint a special Task Force on the Status of School Libraries (ALA, 2005). Since the adoption of its report in 2006, ALA launched several initiatives to advocate for a state-certified librarian in every U.S. public school. The American Association of Teacherlibrarians (AASL) created an Advocacy Toolkit, several resolutions on various aspects of school libraries were adopted by the ALA’s policy-making Council, and responses to position and funding elimination were developed. ALA and AASL’s most ambitious school library advocacy activity to date is the promotion of the SKILLs Act, which amends the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act to require school districts, to the extent feasible, to employ one state-certified librarian in every school library (AASL, 2008). Despite the above initiatives attracting much attention, school district decision-makers across the nation continue to eliminate teacher-librarian positions as part of cost-saving measures. The unevenness of decisions to retain or 1 All descriptive locations are pseudonyms. © 2010 IASL, SLAQ and therein by the authors. Diversity Challenge Resilience: School Libraries in Action Proceedings of the 12 Biennial School Library Association of Queensland, the 39 International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference incorporating the 14 International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, Brisbane QLD Australia, 27 September – 1 October 2010. 2 eliminate is perplexing; little is understood about why some school districts choose to retain teacher-librarian positions while others do not. While advocacy is clearly necessary, advocacy campaigns do not always influence board members to retain teacher-librarians. From Medina, Washington (Whelan, 2009) to Mesa, Arizona (Whelan, 2008) teacherlibrarian advocacy consists of strategies and techniques for advocacy (e.g., Bush, 2007; Hainer, 2005; Leverett, 2001; Schuckett,2005; Williams, 2006) using evidence-based practice as an advocacy tool (Asselin, 2006;Braxton, 2003; Loertscher & Todd, 2003; Logan, 2006; Todd, 2003, 2006, 2008a, 2008b) and reports of successful advocacy initiatives (e.g., Burris, 2006; Giambra, 1998; Kenney, 2008; Russell, 2004). The researcher found no empirical studies specifically describing why or how school district decision-makers choose to retain or eliminate teacher-librarian positions. Therefore, the study of Brookdale Union High School District’s decisionmaking process in retaining teacher-librarians addresses a gap in the literature in school library advocacy. Methodology The researcher used a descriptive case study approach (Yin, 2008). The descriptive case study approach is ideal for uncovering the complex factors that led the Brookdale Union High School District to retain teacher-librarian positions in an economic crisis. Yin describes four applications of a descriptive case study. First, the methodology can explain complex causal links in real-life decisions. Second, a case study can describe the reallife context in which the decision has occurred. Third, it can describe the decision itself. Finally, descriptive case studies can explore those situations in which the decision being evaluated has no clear set of outcomes. The descriptive case study method was appropriate to examine the multiple perspectives of the board, district personnel, and teacher-librarians. The method was also appropriate for examining Brookdale in context. While the outcomes of reducing the budget and retaining teacher-librarians were clear, the circumstances surrounding these decisions was complex and involved multiple stakeholders, thus affirming the appropriateness of the case study methodology. To ensure construct validity (Yin, 2008) and data source triangulation (Denzin, 1984) multiple sources of evidence were collected and analyzed. These sources included financial reports, governing board minutes, and district documents including the district’s core values statement and an explanation of the district’s Learning System (see Figure 1). Additionally, using a semi-structured format, the researcher interviewed five school district stakeholders: the superintendent, the administrator of finance, a governing board member, an assistant principal, and a teacher-librarian. Participants were given copies of the interview questions. These questions guided the interviews but interviews were not limited to the written questions. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The researcher analyzed the transcripts against each other and the other data sources to determine case study themes. Prior to initiating research, the study was reviewed by the Arizona State University Human Subjects Review Board, and was classified as exempt under U.S. federal law 45 CFR 46.101(b). Findings Brookdale Union High School District is a mid-sized urban school district in Arizona, USA. The 97 year-old district serves 15,000 students through nine high schools and two alternative programs. One Brookdale high school is consistently recognized as one of the country’s top 100 high schools in U.S. News and World Report. The school district is guided by four strategic goals: 1. Ensure outstanding student academic achievement 2. Manage all fiscal resources wisely 3. Maintain effective, positive community relations 4. Attract and retain a highly qualified faculty and staff

Why did a U.S. secondary school district retain teacher-librarians in a time of economic crisis?