Cost of library inventory project raises concerns at Highlands
Concerns about the cost of a project to inventory library books at elementary schools in the Highlands School District has administrators and school board members considering other options.
At a board meeting Monday, a few residents said the more than $62,000 cost of the project with Follett School Solutions was too much.
A representative of Follett declined to comment.
As proposed, the project would start with conducting an inventory of the collections at Highlands Elementary School, Highlands Early Childhood Center and the now-closed support center, which had previously been a primary center and elementary school.
“It is long overdue in this district,” school board President Debbie Beale said. “We need to know what we have on the premises.”
After an inventory, the collection would be “weeded” to get rid of books that are obsolete or no longer used.
The collection would be analyzed to move books to where they would be most appropriate for the reading level, and there would be a catalog and re-barcode of the entire collection.
School board member Misty Chybrzynski asked if there is a cheaper way to do it.
Residents asked if the district could find ways to eliminate or at least reduce the cost by getting the community involved and turning to other organizations for help.
“My concern is it’s a lot of money,” Chybrzynski said.
Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said it’s work that needs to be done — and will eventually need to be done at the district’s middle and high schools.
Mawhinney said district officials will investigate other options. A scheduled vote on the agreement with Follett at Monday’s upcoming board meeting may be called off, Beale said.
It’s a time-consuming task that the district’s librarians don’t have the time to do, Mawhinney said.
Mawhinney said the district could have the same books in each of the three elementary schools.
“We can’t keep ordering books until we know what we have,” she said.
The district would look to donate the books it weeds out of its collection.
“I don’t want to throw something out if people need it,” she said.
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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