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P.S. 177 before (inset) the VITAL grant helped recreate the library and after (above and below).Photos courtesy of Brittany Falesto |
The question came randomly to Melissa Jacobs one morning: What makes a library vital?
For the director of library services for the country’s largest school district, New York City public schools, advocating for libraries is always top of mind. But on this morning, Jacobs really dug into this essential question. What interventions would prevent a principal from dismantling a library, from eliminating a library program altogether, she wondered.
“It came down to the school community,” Jacobs says. “If there [was] a community of stakeholders truly invested in the library program, then it becomes something truly essential to the school and is integrated with the experience of…
