Anecdotally we know the impoverished state of school libraries – Parents United for Public Education has been campaigning on this issue since our inception. For most schools, on the ropes with budget cuts for years on end, librarians were considered one of the earliest disposable positions. After all when choosing between a librarian and a grade teacher for 33 kids, not a whole lot of schools hesitate about chopping the librarian.

Although high schools for the most part, had enough general funds to cover library positions, the cruel irony is that it’s the elementary schools that saw the most dramatic losses – ironic because it’s these students for whom access to books and literacy skills can most actively impact and remediate struggling readers.

Earlier this month, the Association of Philadelphia School Librarians posted for the first time in years, a full accounting of the number of full-time librarians in schools (fourth bullet that says "School library staffing by region with maps").

Out of 281 public schools, there are 77 full-time librarians, 31 of which are in the high schools. At the elementary level, when literacy skills are most likely to increase the fastest, more than three-quarters and possibly as high as 80% lack a full-time librarian.

On the Free Library website, you can click on the various branches and observe which schools they formally serve. My research shows that the 11 library branches slated for closure serve about 47 public schools. Here's the breakdown:

• only a quarter of these 47 schools (12 to be exact) have full time librarians;

• an additional four schools are able to pay for part-time positions of either a library assistant or part-time librarian;

• of the 35 elementary schools that are served by the library branches slated for closure, only four had a full-time librarian and one had a part-time librarian on staff.

• That means more than 85% of elementary schools served by the targeted closings have no library staff at all.