Library Budget Articles

Book Budgets-
Loosing funding is never something that people enjoy, but often times it happens in the field of education. We are always getting reminders, ‘this money has to be spent by this point in time’. I really like the idea of the book jobber that was mentioned in this article. It’s a great way to make sure that you have all the money that has been allocated to you in a given year, without the worries that it will be jeopardized. The only thing that would worry me about this is that you might not get ‘the best deal’. When I’m searching for books or resources I always check around 3 different places for the cheapest price before I commit to buying.

Budgeting for Mean, Learn Times Part 5-
I like the three components they talk about when writing successful budgets. First are goals, making sure that the program will have a positive effect on students learning. Second, that everything is specific, how much money, and EXACTLY what will it be spent on? Lastly, assessment, did the money help reach the goals of the program? One line in this article jumped out to me, it was to be sure that the financial decision makers are aware of the consequences of student learning by either an underfunded or non-funded program. I think the realities of what might happen would probably be a little shocking to them and make them rethink about some of their decisions. One thing that I’m sure will appeal very much to them is to make sure that the budget relates directly to the districts or buildings long range plans.

Help Sweep up the Budget Dust-
I learned a valuable lesson by reading this article as a future librarian and current teacher- the end of the year is a great time to ask for money. Being in the upper grades of an elementary school I often feel like we’re neglected when it comes to budget, so it’s good to know all the ins and outs that are available to me. I’m the type of person that will go out and buy something with my own money instead of doing without. We’ve learned the hard way that often times if you don’t use a budget in its entirety you will lose it for the next year. Believe me, we had plans for it, communication was just jumbled and items weren’t ordered. It was interesting to read about how meticulous this librarian was in records keeping, and how it paid off. It was mentioned that a bunch of PE equipment had been purchased with library funds ‘accidently’. Call me crazy, but to me it seems that resources for education might be a little more important than dodge balls or jump ropes.

Zero-Sum Budgets and Technology-
I found this article to be ruthless, but also necessary. The portion where they talk about taking away funds from someone else if you believe your program is important enough really jumped out to me. The reason why I found this as a great idea is because I do see waste often time by other educators in our building. For our entire grade level of 6 teachers we receive around 125$ for textbooks, lit sets, construction paper, colored copy paper, art supplies, etc. What I find interesting is the fact that I’ve worked in a younger grade before and saw them struggle to spend the amount that they were given, which was almost double what we received. So, this comment leaves me to believe, what’s wrong with fighting for more budget if I truly believe we need it? However, I can see where this would also cause problems in the atmosphere of the workplace. In my building, nothing is secret. This leads me to believe that if I went to someone (including administration) and asked for more money from a different area, I would quickly make enemies! Also, I think that everyone believes that what they’re doing is the most important. After all, that is why they’re doing that job. So if funding is pulled from the PE class to put books in my classroom, the PE teacher might not feel as though they can properly do their job.
Another thing that popped up in this article that I saw repetitively throughout the other was to have an advisory committee help you make budget and financial decisions. For some reason I always saw this as a group of adults within the school system, but here it mentions including parents, students, and even community members. This is a fabulous idea, because not only are you getting to showcase how important your activities are, it’s also a lot harder for financial decision makers to say no to a board vs. one person.