I enjoyed reading your Winter Reading (Dec. 1) issue, especially “Not Just Books: Will O’Hearn Sees The City’s Library Providing Help and a Mecca for All Books” by Elizabeth Sotelo. I am pleased to add three more names of local librarians recently hired by our Eugene 4J School District: Debbie Pfieffer at Howard Elementary School, Robbie Cortez at Holt and Martha Dyer at Chavez.
The 4J school board voted unanimously, 7-0, Nov. 16 on board member Gordon Lafer’s motion to use ESSR (federal COVID relief) funds to hire them as a pilot to begin rehiring more school librarians back into our elementary and middle schools.
When I taught at Adams Elementary School and Monroe Middle School, we always had a school librarian who was instrumental in the school’s mission to teach students not only how to read but to love reading. Due to the passage of Ballot Measure 5 in 1990, which restricted local property taxes, our public schools lost much funding and librarians got cut. As the decades passed, other funding priorities won out, including hiring testing coordinators in each school. As late as last year only our four high schools had full-time librarians — none at all in our elementary and middle schools.
Thanks to the 4J school board and Superintendent Andy Dey for beginning to reverse this trend. Our kids need school librarians.
Larry Lewin
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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