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From the Article of Daily Southtown:

Sunnybrook District 171 touts library renovations but lacks certified librarian, advocates say

District 171 administration center (Sunnybrook District 171)

By Olivia Stevens | [email protected] | Daily Southtown
PUBLISHED: May 18, 2026 at 5:10 AM CDT
As Sunnyside Elementary District 171 in Lansing celebrates recent renovations to Nathan Hale Elementary School’s library with more work on the way at Heritage Middle School, a statewide advocacy group says the district lacks a certified librarian to make use of the new spaces.
“Because everybody loves libraries, they assume that the library is a well-taken care of place,” said Gail Meyer, advocacy chair for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators and librarian at Thornton Fractional South High School. “Nobody thinks to question, is our library actually functioning? Is our library running? Is our library staffed?”
The advocacy group published an op ed in the Lansing Journal May 7 that raised concerns about the district’s lack of a certified school librarian and called on residents to speak up at the next board meeting, drawing interest from the district’s PTA.
“Our students absolutely deserve updated libraries and access to great resources, and it’s wonderful to see investment being made,” the PTA wrote on social media May 8. “At the same time, having credentialed librarians can play a huge role in supporting literacy, research skills, and student learning.”
The post sought feedback from other district taxpayers on the importance of school librarians.
District 171 Superintendent Erika Millhouse-Pettis says adequate staffing of both Nathan Hale Elementary and Heritage Middle Schools’ libraries is a priority, as the district brought back a retired reading specialist for the majority of the school year to help students across both schools.
Millhouse-Pettis said the district had to bring back the retired reading specialist unexpectedly, as a different staff member training to become a certified librarian did not return after “some unforeseen things happened.”
“Unlike other school districts, we are not just putting anyone in our library space,” she said. “We’re truly putting someone who has a love of books, a love of children, in our space.”
The superintendent said the primary focus is to ensure all classrooms have certified teachers at the helm, and once that is fulfilled they will look to secure a librarian.
Millhouse-Pettis said others have been recruited to help out within the library spaces, including a district paraprofessional and the district’s own fourth grade students, who are sometimes tasked with returning books to their correct shelves.
“They’ve even assisted with checking out the books, you know, to give them a sense of responsibility and job duties — it’s really amazing and cute to see,” she said.
But Meyer from the library association says the difference between a librarian and a reading specialist is significant, like the difference between a biologist and physicist. While reading specialists work with specific groups of students to improve their reading skills, school librarians are trained to develop their own curriculum that helps all students grow.
“They’re both science, but they’re two completely different branches,” she said. “They’re not interchangeable.”
A downward trend of school library staffing has been seen nationwide, with the total number of positions decreasing 20% between 1999 and 2016, according to the School Library Journal.
The Illinois State Board of Education recommends a ratio of one certified librarian for every 450 students at elementary and middle schools and one librarian aide per 300 students. However, these recommendations are not enforceable mandates because schools do not receive state funding for hiring and retaining librarians.
Tim Sullivan, a social studies teacher of 10 years at Thornton Fractional South High School, said he lives within the district and was surprised to hear that Sunnybrook District 171 lacked certified librarians on staff.
He referenced a study on the Illinois State Board of Education website showing schools with a certified librarian average significantly higher advanced reading scores and significantly lower unsatisfactory reading scores than schools without.
“I want my tax dollars being invested into the kids of the community, and them not having a librarian is, I think, doing them a disservice,” Sullivan said. “From the outside looking in, when you do facility upgrades and don’t really handle the infrastructure of how it works, it seems gilded. And it just seems like it’s being done for appearances and not actually improving what it’s intended to improve.”
The Association of Illinois School Library Educators has previously sent letters to districts that employed fewer than one full-time certified librarian per school. Meyer says Hazel Crest District 152.5 and Steger District 194 are among districts that agreed to add librarians to their staff for the 2026-2027 school year and is encouraging Sunnybrook to do the same.
“You have a beautiful new space that can be put to the advantage of so many kids, if you have someone there who knows how to use it,” Meyer said.

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Transportation contract heads to vote : Sunnybrook School District 171 Board of Education agenda for May 18, 2026 - The Lansing Journal The Sunnybrook School District 171 Board of Education will host its regular meeting on Monday, May 18 at Heritage MIddle School.