Monrovia School Link ~ Number 184 ~ January 20, 2007
Happy New Year! There is a note below about the upcoming Monrovia election that will determine whether we adopt a bond to build a new library. It reminded me that I have a few thoughts about the library proposal, which I've tacked on the end. And thanks again to Maritza for this school board report.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Maritza Diaz
Bryan Wong, excuse me, *President* Bryan Wong, started the first meeting of 2007 on time. So, he gets brownie points for that. This was a really short meeting. Short, when compared to other meetings that have gone for hours and hours. Anyway, Most of the time was spent honoring Monrovia's star employees.
CONGRATULATIONS ~ There were flowers, camera flashes, tears and cheers. Before getting down to business some recognition needed to be given to some Monrovia employees who are doing an awesome job in the schools. If you see the honorees around town, offer your congratulations. I'm sure they won't mind.
- Instructional Aide Belle Gagne from Canyon Early Learning Center
- Teacher Dora Loera from Canyon Early Learning Center
- Health Clerk Cathy Partain from Monroe Elementary School
- Teacher Cindy Lopez from Monroe Elementary School
In a touching moment, the recipient of the Seaver Award, Gretchen Esparza, talked about how, at times, she questioned whether teaching was the right path for her. She spoke about how - while helping everyone isn't possible - the ones that you can help, are affected. Although tough, it turns out teaching was the right path for her.
BUDGET ~ Here we go again. Hold on to your seats, folks. Budget talk is coming back! It never really goes away, now does it? There wasn't any serious numbers talk this time, just the board approving the calendar of when to talk about the budget. Interested? Well, there will be budget talk every month so don't worry about missing anything.
AUDIT ~ I know audit is a scary word, but don't panic. An independent analysis of the district's financial statements for 2005-06 by Niro, Niro and White, certified public accountants, found that Monrovia keeps pretty good books. The CPAs found no major problems and they commended the district for keeping such a tight ship when it comes to the numbers. Props to the financial department. ["Props" is slang for proper respect, but, you knew that, right?]
LIBRARY ~ Mark your calendar for March 6. That's the day you get to vote on whether or not to pass Measure L. If passed, the measure would fund the construction of a new library in Monrovia through a parcel tax. More information is sure to come.
JOBS ~ The board approved a change to the salary ranges for certain job positions. Apparently several employees in the instructional series and student support services are doing jobs outside their current job classification. So this is designed to make that right.
BENCHMARK ~ In its third year, Tungsten Learning and Data Director is doing well. This program helps to monitor where students are doing well and where they are not. By keeping track of where students do poorly, the district can make changes to improve performance. Currently, the program is only at the elementary and middle school levels, but will be implemented the high school.
GIFT ~ Anne Carroll donated a 1989 Chevy Blazer that will be used in the auto shop program at Monrovia High. That's a pretty big car so I'm sure the auto shop students will have plenty to work on.
OPEN HOUSE ~ Plymouth Elementary School will have an open house on February 8 at 6:30. It should be fun. I'm sure there will be priceless art on display and works of literature from the kids.
Stop by for the next meeting if you can. It's on February 14 at 7:00 p.m.
THE LIBRARY ~ [Brad talking now] I love books, I love reading and love the Monrovia Library, and most likely I'll end up voting for the bond to build a larger library, but there is one concern I have with the new proposal. It is not - in my view - an argument against building a new library, but rather it is an argument to modify how the new library would be used.
My problem is this: The new library would be approximately 100 percent larger than the current library, but in the plan there is only shelf space for about 30 percent more books. I understand that there are other uses for a library than just books, and it is unreasonable for me to demand that the shelf space be exactly doubled, but it seems to me that the main purpose for a library is, uh, books, and just 30 percent more shelf space just seems, well, kinda skimpy.
So, what would I chop to make room for those extra books?
Well - and I'm speaking here as someone who loves computers and works with them all day - I think I'd cut way down on the number of computers the library is planning to add.
Yes, I know the library computers are popular and I know they can be educational and entertaining, just as books can be. But the same argument could be used about television. Television can also be educational and entertaining, but I'm not sure that's a good enough reason to install television sets in the library.
Some people have argued that with the Internet, books are becoming outmoded so there should be more Internet connections at the library. I haven't seen books being outmoded. What I see at the Internet company where I work are computer programmers with six or eight $30 computer books on their desks. If computer geeks buy books - expensive books - then I don't think they're outmoded yet.
As kind of a compromise in some email discussions I've had with city officials, I suggested replacing the proposed desktop computers with laptops that would take less room and could be used anywhere in the library. But I was told that laptops tend to walk out of libraries and never come back. Okay, I can see that, though I'll bet there are security measures that could be taken to minimize that problem.
Deputy City Manager Tito Haes gave me some very helpful information. He said that for other libraries in California, "the statewide average for volumes [books] per capita is 2.16. However for cities with populations between 25,000 and 45,000, the average is 3.70 and our new proposed library is designed to hold 3.45 volumes per capita. As you can see, we are above the state average and slightly below the average for a community our size."
Okay, that's good data to go on, so my plea would be that in the new library we *at least* have the average number of books for a community our size.
In closing I'd like to again say that I'm not opposing the library. I'm quite likely to vote for it. I'd just like to see more books.
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