Finding Information: Life Skills, Not Just School Skills

Many CMS librarians losing jobs. (Charlotte Observer, 5/18/2011)

Excerpt: CMS last week sent pink slips to 739 teachers, counselors, media specialists and others on the teacher pay scale. Media specialists have contacted the Observer to say at least 20 schools will be left with no trained staff to tend the libraries.

The librarians say they are concerned not only about their jobs, but about the prospect of students losing trained faculty who can teach them how to navigate the waves of information coming at them in today's Web-centered world.

"These are life skills. They're not just school skills," said Shelley Worman, media specialist at Eastway Middle School. "They're skills you would use for everything from buying a car to planning a meal and cooking it to purchasing a house."