Ann Soldo Elementary kindergarten instructor Rita Uribe helps students Marvin Labato (left) and Rigoberto Alejo get started with making a birthday card for Dr. Seuss Monday at the school library as part of Read Across America Day.

The chilly wind and intermittent rain showers made Monday a perfect day to stay inside and curl up with a good book.

It was an excellent backdrop for Read Across America Day, when librarians, teachers and parents across the country encouraged children to put down their schoolwork and spend time in their libraries.

The students at Ann Soldo Elementary School — most of them wearing their pajamas as part of the day’s activities — spent part of the day in the library, and much of the rest of the day in their classrooms, talking about books.

The Ann Soldo library is a sunny, brightly lit place, with shelves teeming with colorful books, posters on the walls and stuffed animals for snuggling.

Library media technician Pamela Abanas-Moreno, wearing a thick red bathrobe over her pajamas and fuzzy polar bear slippers, said Read Across America Day is one of the few days of the year where teachers may put their lesson plans aside.

“Our curriculum is so strict, and there’s not a lot of leniency to focus on artistic or literary things,” she said. “Today, teachers can have fun.”

The day included guest readers in the classrooms, discussions about favorite books and art projects.

Read Across America Day is a 12-year-old program sponsored by the National Education Association to motivate children to read.

“This day is great,” Abanas-Moreno said. “The kids love it, the teachers love it. We just get to read. Anytime we can do that is a great day.”

The kids, she said, have been excited about the day for weeks.

The day falls on the birthday of famed children’s author and illustrator Dr. Seuss.

When she was in elementary school, Abanas-Moreno said, Seuss’ vibrant color, otherworldly characters and tongue-twisting prose was considered a sharp and dangerous breakaway from the Dick-and-Jane standard of the day. Today, his books are considered a must-have on bookshelves and in libraries throughout the country.

“You can’t go wrong with Dr. Seuss,” she said.

The classes that came, one at a time, into the library made birthday cards for Seuss, which would later be mailed to NEA’s national headquarters. For each one received, the organization would give a book to a child in need, Abanas-Moreno said.

The day also carried sad undercurrents for Abanas-Moreno, who will be among several library media techs who could lose their positions next year.

Library media techs are responsible for far more than managing the outflow and influx of books, Abanas-Moreno said. In addition to spearheading activities during Read Across America Day, they also host book giveaways through Reading is Fundamantal, Inc. and manage school book fairs, among other things.

And their duties go beyond organizing, Abanas-Moreno said.

“Every activity that draws them to the library brings them one step closer to making sure they love books, they love reading and they can succeed,” she said. “How are we going to facilitate days like this if there are no more libraries?”

Leslie DeRose, president of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, said the California Education Code requires schools to keep their libraries open. The law does not, however, specify how they are to be staffed.

“I know how important it is to the whole educational process,” she said. “If kids can’t understand what they’re reading, they’re not learning.”

Abanas-Moreno said it’s not yet clear what will become of the thousands of books currently on the shelves, but stressed that if library media techs are not available, nobody else is permitted to take on their duties. Both union rules and state law prohibit teachers and volunteers from even checking out books, she said.

“It would be the equivalent of crossing a picket line,” she said.

Last year, after the board of trustees chopped $8 million from the budget, a last-minute influx of money funded the positions, and thus kept elementary school libraries open for another year. But the positions were not a part of the 2008-09 budget, and with $17 million in cuts facing the board of trustees Wednesday night, it’s not likely the positions will survive another round. If the techs are not brought back, all elementary school libraries will be closed, while those in middle and high schools could see limited use.

After the board of trustees used money from a lawsuit settlement to fund the positions after making $8 million in cuts last year, Trustee Sandra Nichols said that she felt optimistic about the value the board puts in libraries. Still, the bleak budget picture leaves little room for hope, she said.

“I don’t have confidence that we’re going to be able to save them,” she said.

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The board of trustees will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Ann Soldo Elementary School multipurpose room at 1140 Menasco Drive in Watsonville to discuss the budget. It will meet again for final action on the item on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. in the Aptos High School Performing Arts Center at 100 Mariner Way in Aptos.

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*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

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