Library Synthesis Essay

In 1968 East Los Angeles High Schools Students united together and protested that libraries lacked the materials to satisfy their inquisitive minds. Due to lack of funding and the apathetic minds of schools, Chicano students did not have enough Spanish material to explore or much of other material as well- therefore these dull, non-cultural libraries did not meet these students’ educational needs and their desire to learn about their culture. In 1968 East Los Angeles Students had enough and demanded these Libraries facilities to be “expanded” in order to accommodate their culture and personal educational needs. Considering the status quo, Garfield High School’s library facility has seen improvements in their Spanish material collection and
improvement in the expansion of the collection of material. While Garfield has seen progressive advancements since 1968, the situation is not the same for other libraries around the area. An LA Times Journalist states in their article, “Libraries, municipal arts agencies are hit in L.A budget proposals, that “City libraries face a reduction from $79 million to $71.4 million and loss of about 115 positions… there will be $1.6 million less for new books and materials, a 19% decrease .” This illustrates that while some progress has been made, it’s not enough to satisfy the state. Moreover decreased state funding means less learning materials for current and future students. The ultimate mission of libraries was to keep generations informed, as said in 2017 AP English Language Exam. Libraries were meant to feed knowledge to people who were willing to take advantage of it, and it would be very selfish to continue to decrease library funding’s because libraries serve the purpose of educating our future generations. We should continue to fight for a more diverse collection of library literature that will satisfy all students and accommodate all educational needs.