Learning to Get By

Inside the library at Lemay Street Elementary School, rows and rows of wooden bookshelves stand empty.

The library, built to hold 5,000 books, is dreadfully short with its total of about 1,200. And many of the books that are available are old, some dating to the 1960s.

For many teachers, parents and students, that just won’t do, regardless of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s tight finances. Those affiliated with Lemay are trying all kinds of ways to raise money for books.

Take Jerrie Wickman, the school’s office manager and “ice cream lady,” for example. Every day, with the help of students Catherine Cresswell and Stephannie Beaudry, Wickman sells ice cream for pocket change, with all the proceeds going toward the school’s library fund.

Other efforts included the school’s second annual cultural festival in March.

“The ice cream sales are great, but we can only make so much selling items for 25 cents,” said Connie Gibson, Lemay’s principal. “We needed something bigger.”

According to the school district, about 10 million books are needed to fill the city’s 420 school libraries with enough books to match the national average of 18 books per pupil. The estimated cost for that goal is $200 million.

While district officials can only dream of having that much money for books, they have outlined a five-year plan that allocates $4 million a year toward the purchase of library books districtwide.

For the most part, school administrators and parents realize that improving their libraries will require raising at least some money themselves.

Once periodic fund-raising events, bake sales, raffles and carwashes have become routine at schools.

“We have to come up with all these fund-raising ideas just to buy books,” Gibson said. “It sounds cliche, but we’re struggling to keep our heads above water.”

So far this year, Lemay has raised roughly $7,000--enough to purchase several hundred books, but still too little to make a big difference.

Last fall, Supt. Ruben Zacarias spearheaded an $11-million effort to get new textbooks for students, a small portion of which was to be used to purchase library books.

“There’s no doubt this problem has to be addressed,” said Bonnie O’Brian, head of the the district’s school library services. “The schools can’t do it on their own.”

To help, the district has created a plan to raise the amount spent for books from $4 to $4.25 per student.

Another part of the plan already has been implemented: The district recently hired part-time library aides to catalog and order books and to conduct lessons with students in 103 school libraries, O’Brian said. The long-term goal is to have a certified library teacher at each school.

The district also plans to modernize each facility with a computer cataloging system--at a cost of several thousand dollars per school--to replace outdated card catalogs. While educators agree the new system is necessary, they also recognize it means less money for books.

But even these measures are not nearly enough, school officials say.

Garden Grove Elementary School in Reseda reopened last fall after declining enrollment had forced it to close for years, but conditions remain tough.

Through fund-raising, aggressive pursuit of grants and the help of the city attorney’s office, which donated $5,000, the school has accumulated boxes full of books waiting to be placed on library shelves. However, the dozen boxes scattered about the library do not contain even half the books necessary to fill the facility.

“It’s frustrating because it’s so obvious just how important reading is and we just can’t buy any more books,” said Peggy Scaramastra, Garden Grove’s principal. “It’s hard to believe that in this day and age, schools have to worry about having enough books.”

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Library books per pupil in public schools:

National Average: 18

LAUSD: 5

Lemay St. Elementary: 3

Source: LAUSD and Lemay St. Elementary