Lisa Lindley’s four grandchildren rarely come home from Houston ISD’s Fondren Elementary School with books in their backpacks, largely because their 320-student school doesn’t have a well-stocked library or full-time librarian.

Lindley and her husband try to make up for HISD’s shortcoming by stocking their southwest side home with age-appropriate books, emphasizing the importance of reading to their grandchildren. Still, the couple worries about other children in the high-poverty neighborhood whose parents and relatives can’t afford to buy books.

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“I feel like that’s stripping our children from a lot,” Lindley said of Fondren’s underutilized library. “They’re not getting the advantages of bigger schools that actually have a librarian. Some of these babies probably don’t even know what it means to check out a book.”

In 2018-19, the average child at Fondren checked out one book from the campus library every two months — a trend seen across many schools in the state’s largest school district.

Records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show that thousands of elementary and middle school children in HISD rarely take home books from their campus library, limiting opportunities to hone literacy skills and a love for reading at a critical time in their development. In at least seven HISD schools, all of which serve predominantly low-income students, a majority of children did not check out a single book in 2018-19, the records show.

The paltry checkout rates are indicative of HISD’s relatively low investment in library services, which has drawn criticism for more than a decade from librarians, literacy advocates and some district leaders.

While most Houston-area districts staff nearly all of their schools with a full-time, certified librarian, only one-third of HISD campuses employ one. In a review of HISD operations issued earlier this month, Texas’ Legislative Budget Board found some campuses “have inadequate or nonexistent library services,” tracing the shortcomings to inadequate investment.

“As someone who has been in education, it saddens me that there are libraries that exist in schools, with books kids should be taking home, and they don’t have that experience,” said Julie Baker Finck, president of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and a former top administrator in HISD.

“I would hope that we, as a community, would start to prioritize these experiences that show kids reading is a valuable skill to learn, and it can be a joyful experience.”

HISD administrators did not respond to multiple interview requests or provide any written statements for this article. The district delegates significant staffing authority to campus principals, who decide whether to employ librarians at their schools. Many principals choose to hire additional teachers, employ other support staff and implement programs with money that could be allocated to library services.

The bottom tier

To analyze book checkout rates, the Chronicle submitted a public records request for all campus-level library usage reports for 2018-19 and reviewed a district report detailing rates for HISD’s longest-struggling schools.

The Chronicle only obtained data for one-third of HISD’s elementary and middle schools because HISD did not provide reports for the remaining campuses. Four other districts contacted for this article produced circulation data for every campus in an electronic spreadsheet. HISD only provided hard copies of campus reports, many of which were completed by hand.

The available data for HISD showed 25 out of 77 district elementary and middle schools reported a yearly checkout rate of five books per student or less, far below recommended targets crafted by the state officials.

On the city’s northeast side, Kashmere Gardens Elementary School reported 0.1 books checked out per student last academic year, the lowest rate among elementary campuses. The school sits across the street from a city-run public library, but the facility has been closed since September 2017 due to flood damage from Hurricane Harvey.

To the south, where literacy rates rank among the lowest in HISD, Woodson PK-5 reported 0.3 books checked out per student in 2018-19. To the west, Lawson Middle School’s checkout rate clocked in at 0.2 books per student.

Districtwide, HISD’s 100,000 elementary school students checked out an average of 10 books from their campus library last year, which qualifies as an “improvement needed” rate under standards set by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and Texas Education Agency. The two organizations consider 30 books checked out per elementary-age student as “proficient.”

By comparison, four districts that neighbor HISD - Aldine, Alief, Fort Bend and Pasadena ISDs - reported average checkout rates ranging from 22 to 62 books per student at elementary schools.

“We have certified people at all of our campuses, we have a book budget at each of our campuses that’s provided by the district, and all of our information literacy specialists work with kids and collaborate with teachers,” said Cindy Buchanan, Aldine ISD’s program director for library services. “I really feel like we have a pretty great program.”

Stable scores, missed chances

HISD’s low checkout rates do not necessarily mean that students leave school without books or receive poor reading instruction.

Teachers across the district are encouraged to create classroom libraries, which can house dozens of books. Students also receive assigned books as part of daily instruction. In addition, dozens of community organizations donate books directly to students, while hundreds of volunteers read to children each week through various district-led initiatives.

Notably, HISD scores relatively well on the state’s standardized reading tests compared to peer districts, including some of those in the Houston area with high library checkout rates. About 68 percent of HISD students showed a year’s worth of progress in reading on last year’s state standardized tests, just 1 percentage point lower than the Texas average. (Extensive research conducted over the past 25 years finds school libraries have a modest positive impact on students’ test scores.)

Still, literacy advocates said school libraries offer unique opportunities to foster strong reading habits.

Debbie Hall, who worked in various library service positions at HISD for nearly 40 years, noted that campus libraries often house thousands of books, catering to students’ varying interests.

“Classroom libraries are geared to children’s reading level, and some of those books are really outstanding, but if a child has passion for dinosaurs, it’s probably not going to be in that collection,” Hall said.

Margaret Hale, a clinical professor at the University of Houston’s College of Education, said certified librarians are better trained than classroom-bound teachers to provide students with appropriate books that pique students’ interests.

“They have specific skill sets about books and collections,” said Hale, a former middle school English teacher. “They know how to stay current about what’s coming out, what the award-winners are, what’s popular with kids. If you take that away, you’re adding another load to the teacher.”

A question of priorities

For HISD, much of the low checkout rates can be traced to the district’s dearth of full-time, certified librarians. About 35 percent of HISD campuses employ teachers who are not certified librarians to operate their school library, while 20 percent use a clerk and 15 percent employ no one. While HISD historically has not invested as heavily in library services as others, the district has spent money on several other programs, such as full-day prekindergarten and campus turnaround initiatives.

In January 2017, former HISD superintendent Richard Carranza proposed changing the district’s staffing methods in a way that would ensure every district campus employed a full-time, certified librarian. Carranza argued all schools should employ certain essential personnel, such as a counselor, nurse and librarian.

Those proposals, however, died when Carranza abruptly left the district two months later to become chancellor of New York City’s public school system. Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan shelved the recommendation, saying the proposal lacked sufficient support from educators and residents. Lathan subsequently formed a committee of HISD staff and community members to create an equitable funding and staffing plan for the district, but the group could not agree on a proposal.

Buchanan said certified librarians help ensure students receive consistent help with selecting appropriate books and scouring information online. Most elementary schools in Aldine build twice-a-month visits to the campus library into students’ schedules, contributing to an average checkout rate of 30 books per child in 2018-19, district records show.

“We’re preparing our students to be future-ready and job-ready,” Buchanan said. “Being able to maneuver in the library and find information is one of those things that becomes a lifelong skill.”

For Paula Kobina, the mother of two daughters at HISD’s Forest Brook Middle School, campus libraries remain an essential part of the educational experience. The northeast side campus has a “top-notch” but underutilized library, Kobina said, an assessment backed by the school’s checkout rate of two books per student in 2018-19.

“That’s to the detriment of American society today, because you have to love reading and writing,” Kobina said. “You can’t forget your roots, and we all know it begins in a book.”

jacob.carpenter@chron.com