NEW LIBRARIANS FOR MMS AND MARSHALL HIRED

In a year of school district budget cuts that initially called for one librarian to be shared by both middle schools, the school board is ending 2016 with the hiring of a new library media special for Maplewood Middle School, as well as one for Marshall School.

The board approved the hires at Monday's meeting, after initially agreeing to seek the new personnel in September following protests.

The plan for a shared librarian was part of the budget adopted in the spring that included 11 teacher job cuts, nine of them at Columbia High School.

The change follows a major online protest effort and petition drive that urged each middle school keep its own librarian.