1995 Administrative Leadership Award for Library Media Services

Dr. Donald V. Delong

When he became superintendent of the Merced City School District in 1991, Dr. Donald DeLong found each school staffed with a full-time library media clerk and a certificated library media teacher, or a certificated teacher in the process of acquiring a library media credential. He and his staff have had to make severe cuts in the district budget since that time, as have many districts. But the Merced library staff remains intact!

Dr. DeLong's testimony before the commission on teacher credentials makes it clear that his support for the library media program is not simply financial. "Even though our school district is blessed with outstanding paraprofessionals, our library media program could not succeed without the leadership of the library media teacher . . . [The] Merced City School District has successfully implemented the philosophy that each library media teacher must work collaboratively with the classroom teacher in the development and teaching of units supportive of the district's curricular goals. While the cost of maintaining credentialed library media teachers may seem economically impossible, the benefits to the classroom and the school are enormous. In short, we could not provide a library media program without a credentialed library media teacher."

Merced County is identified as having the highest per capita refugee population in the United States, and the Merced City School District reflects this ethnic diversity. The county also has the highest unemployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley. The pre-ponderance of English as a second language and bilingual/bicultural programs speaks to the need for increased literacy and the need for support of reading programs. Of these needs, Dr. DeLong has been quoted as saying, "I believe reading is a lifelong skill. Flowing from that is the media center that supports the lifelong skill of reading."

Last year, all 16 library media centers in the Merced district were upgraded with the most recent circulation programs and required hardware. Three of the four middle school media centers have a school-wide network designed to be linked intradistrict and to the information highway during the year 1995-96. Planning for linkage of the other K-8 schools is under way.

The California School Library Association salutes Dr. DeLong for his vision and his commitment.

• Dr. Donald V. DeLong, Superintendent
  (Grades 4-8; enrollment 1,300)
  Merced City School District
  444 West 23rd Street
  Merced, CA 95340; (209) 385-6641