Mahwah Parents Prepare To Pack Meeting Over Book Borrowing Policy

MAHWAH, NJ —Township parents said they will pack a Board of Education meeting Wednesday and sound off on a new district policy that reduces the number of times kids can borrow books from the elementary schools' libraries.

The policy was not included on the agenda for the board's 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday, but last week, Superintendent C. Lauren Schoen said administrators would discuss the controversial policy at the meeting. The meeting will take place at the district administrative office at 60 Ridge Road.

Elementary students used to be able to check out a book once a week from their school's library. Now, students at three elementary schools may only check books out once every other week. At Joyce Kilmer Elementary School, it is once every three weeks. (See related:New School Book Borrowing Policy Has Some Mahwah Parents Upset)

Matthew Park, whose 7-year-old son attends Lenape Meadows Elementary School, said he and other parents, "will not allow this to be swept under the rug."

According to Park, book checkouts at Lenape Meadows are down 1,500 in September to the end of October when compared to same time frame last year. He said school officials changed the book borrowing policy to allow the district to meet technology standards for students as outlined and required by the New Jersey Department of Education. Students now work with computers more at the libraries' media centers.

The leaders of three New Jersey library associations sent letters to Schoen expressing their displeasure with the policy.

"Libraries serve many constituencies with a vast range of services —but one of the most foundational is nurturing a love of reading that fuels curiosity, compassion, and a disposition toward lifelong learning," Loida Garcia-Febo, president of the American Library Association, said in one of the letters. "We urge you to reverse the rule limited checkout opportunities and restore full access to your school libraries."

Park said the policy change could affect parents' ability to foster a love of reading within their children, which is something that could have lasting repercussions.

"It's up to us as parents to fight for them, to fight for our kids," Park said.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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