More school librarians are getting put on the shelf in Texas, though most districts aren’t turning the page on them yet.
The number of school librarians in the state’s public schools has slightly dwindled over the past decade, falling 5 percent, amid budget tightening and added scrutiny on what books are available to students, a Houston Landing analysis of school employee data shows.
The figures suggest librarians remain a treasured fixture in most Texas public schools, weathering the heightened focus from some conservatives on the role of librarians and the content of books under their watch.
Still, librarians and some education advocates across Texas are bracing for bigger cuts this school year. Cy-Fair ISD, the region’s second-largest district, slashed about 50 of its 90 librarian positions. Neighboring Spring Branch ISD, the region’s 14th-largest district, eliminated all 35 of its librarian jobs.
A small slide: Texas public schools totaled 4,410 “full-time equivalents,” or FTEs, working as librarians in 2023-24, down from roughly 4,650 FTEs reported in 2014-15. (A full-time librarian with no other duties counts as one FTE, while an employee who spends half their time on librarian duties counts as 0.5 FTEs.)
During the same stretch, enrollment in Texas public schools has increased 6 percent.
Librarian staffing held steady through the back half of the 2010s, then fractionally trickled down amid the pandemic and a halt in regular funding increases for public schools.
The local look: In the Houston area, librarian staffing varied widely in 2023-24.
Among the region’s 15 largest districts, Pasadena, Clear Creek and Spring Branch ISDs and Lamar CISDs reported the highest librarian-to-student ratio, with at least one FTE per 1,000 students. (Spring Branch’s cuts didn’t take effect until the 2024-25 school year.)
Houston ISD reported the lowest librarian-to-student ratio among the 15 districts by a wide margin. The district eliminated about 45 librarian FTEs in 2023-24 under first-year Superintendent Mike Miles, who argued the salaries paid to librarians could be better spent on boosting teacher pay.
Search your district: About half of Texas’ public school districts reported employing staff in librarian positions in 2023-24. To see the number of librarian FTEs and the librarian-to-student ratio for those districts, search the database below. (For context, the average librarian-to-teacher ratio is 0.91 FTEs per 1,000 students.)
The other half of districts don’t employ librarians, didn’t report librarian FTEs, or classified their library staff under different employee categories. Aldine ISD, for example, doesn’t report any librarian FTEs, though district payroll records show about 75 “information literacy specialists” working at campuses across the district.
What it means: Researchers have generally found school libraries and librarians have a modest but consistently positive impact on student achievement, most often measured through standardized test scores.
At the same time, Texas hasn’t significantly increased funding for public schools since 2019. As costs have continued to rise during a high-inflation period, some districts have slashed librarian positions to help balance budgets and pay for raises for other employees.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
