An expendable library in Brooklyn

We were following this story last week about the unjustifiable conversion of great middle school library in Brooklyn into a room for planning, meetings and small classes.

That's because the three charter schools sharing the building with JHS 126 have the clout under BloomKlein's charterization campaign to get what they want when they want it.

According to Daily News staff writer Elizabeth Lazarowitz,

Access to the library for more than 400 middle schoolers will be restricted to one side of the space for less than two hours each day, with an extra hour on Wednesdays.

Why they think that a room full of bookshelves is the best use of that space for meetings or classes is beyond me, particularly when such care went into creating that library for kids doing their first research projects and having a place to get themselves lost in a world of literature and dreams.

Last year, the library got an overhaul, with volunteers painting the walls with a castle motif. Now, the 13 donated computers, comfy recliners and futon have been removed.

What else is wrong with this picture?

The same old story about charters using the building on their way to their own facility, then not moving out as originally promised or planned. And of course the overcrowding. Lazarowitz reports 1,400 kids are being stuffed into facility designed for 1,320.

Read the whole article here.

— jw