{"id":1534,"date":"2026-06-05T09:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:03:13","slug":"tucson-usd-librarians-lobby-for-more-funding-after-decades-of-staffing-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1534","title":{"rendered":"Tucson USD librarians lobby for more funding after decades of staffing cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The Tucson Unified School District has cut the number of librarians by nearly 90% in the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Read more New video, 911 calls detail Scottsdale police shooting near Old Town<\/a><\/p>\n

Now librarians are lobbying the school board for more funding.<\/p>\n

For students like Kylie Hipp at Catalina High, the library is more than a place to check out books.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so nice being in here because it\u2019s so quiet too. So there wasn\u2019t any distractions from like work or anything, so it was super easy to work and just concentrate,\u201d Hipp said.<\/p>\n

Library Media Specialist Karin Bernal said that when students engage the library, everything else improves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen their reading rates are going to go up naturally, and we\u2019re going to see better test scores,\u201d Bernal said.<\/p>\n

Librarians say professional staff matters<\/b><\/h3>\n

Without a professional librarian, Bernal said the library can\u2019t be effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a ship with a crew but no captain,\u201d Bernal said.<\/p>\n

There are only 11 certified librarians serving 88 district schools.<\/p>\n

Judi Moreillon retired from the district in 2003 when her position was cut. She said there\u2019s no substitute for certified librarians.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething very important is missing. And the children suffer. The children suffer when there\u2019s no professional librarian,\u201d Moreillon said.<\/p>\n

District policy vs. practice<\/b><\/h3>\n

The TUSD governing board policy<\/b><\/u><\/i> states, \u201cThe school library program will be offered to all students in grades pre-K through 12\u2026and will include the services of a professional, certified teacher-librarian.\u201d<\/p>\n

The District said the current budget<\/b><\/i> includes a certified librarian at most of the District\u2019s high schools. All other schools use library assistants. The District said this board-approved formula has been in use for years.<\/p>\n

Read more Rep. Biggs votes against limiting Trump\u2019s war powers in Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would just love to see the District go back to supporting libraries with a budget,\u201d Bernal said.<\/p>\n

Override funds could help<\/b><\/h3>\n

Voters passed a District override<\/b><\/u><\/i> in November. That money could be used to fund library programs.<\/p>\n

Librarians are taking their case back to the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re back. We want to ask the District to stay accountable to what they said they would do with those funds,\u201d Moreillon said.<\/p>\n

The Tucson USD Governing Board may discuss the library funding issue again on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Isabela Lisco<\/b><\/u><\/i> is a <\/i>Report for America<\/b><\/u><\/i> corpsmember covering education solutions for 13 News. Her position is made possible through funding from Report for America and the <\/i>Arizona Local News Foundation\u2019s<\/b><\/u><\/i> Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.<\/i><\/p>\n

Are you streaming 13 News?<\/p>\n

Watch a free live stream of Tucson Now and 13 News at TucsonNow.Live.<\/p>\n

Be sure to download the free Tucson Now app, which you can find on Apple and Google.<\/p>\n

If you are using a desktop computer, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code below.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Top Gun: Maverick\u2019 actor James Handy killed at 81, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are only 11 certified librarians serving the 88 schools in the Tucson Unified School District.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTucson USD librarians lobby for more funding after decades of staffing cuts - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tucson USD librarians lobby for more funding after decades of staffing cuts - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are only 11 certified librarians serving the 88 schools in the Tucson Unified School District.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T09:03:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Tucson USD librarians lobby for more funding after decades of staffing cuts\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T09:03:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/012df1b1ee8d50ea04d2e1e658f02292.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1534\",\"name\":\"Tucson USD librarians lobby for more funding after decades of staffing cuts - 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