Local opinion: How much should we value literacy?

“If you think education is expensive, try estimating the cost of ignorance.” — Howard Gardner, educational researcher

Perhaps the question is how much we are willing to pay for a literate community through supporting our early childhood programs, public and school libraries, and K-12 district public schools?

I recently learned from an article in the “Three Sonorans Newsletter” that the Pima County Public Library (PCPL) District tax levy reserve funds are being used to pay for Pima Early Education Program Scholarships (PEEPS). To learn more, I met with representatives from County Supervisor Rex Scott’s office, PEEPS, and the County Administrator’s office. Their responses to my questions were helpful. I also made comments and posed questions at a PCPL Library Advisory Board meeting.

PEEPS is a countywide initiative to expand access to high-quality preschool for 3- to 5-year-old children from low-income families. Data shows this much-needed program currently meets only 41% of the need in Pima County. Data also shows PEEPS increases kids’ literacy readiness for kindergarten. In the long run, high-quality preschool can benefit their success throughout their lives.

The county has put me and other advocates for early childhood literacy, libraries, and public education in a tough position when speaking up for protecting public library funding. It makes us unwilling “enemies” of a successful early childhood education program.

Should PCPL funding pay for PEEPS?

The 2025 Pima County budget shows Library District levy funds were the primary source for PEEPS funding at the rate of $12.1 million last year. This transfer of funds has been implemented without asking the public via a ballot measure, a poll of voters, or any communication soliciting public comment as to whether this is the best use of taxpayers’ library levy funds.

It was my understanding that library funds are levied to meet the literacy and information needs for people from birth through old age through libraries and library programs. However, in 2021, the state Legislature permitted library levies to be used for early childhood education and workforce development. Branding PEEPS as “early childhood literacy” may be accurate in terms of children’s outcomes, but it is not administered by PCPL and is not a library program.

Libraries are literacy centers

Whether in a building in your neighborhood or housed in a school, libraries and librarians serve everyone who walks through the door; they also extend their reach into the community. Public librarians build collections of resources that impact early childhood family literacy, K-12 learners, adult workforce development, and more. School librarians build collections and provide instruction that support students’ curriculum standards-based learning. Parents and K-12 classroom teachers use both kinds of libraries to help them develop our youth as literate members of society.

I believe our community can and must do much more for literacy and learning. PCPL services have not yet returned to their pre-COVID level in terms of staffing, library hours, programming, and outreach. I believe the library could make excellent use of ALL of the Library District levy funds. Tucson Unified School District is preparing to hire professional school librarians to begin to reverse the severe inequitable access to literacy learning in TUSD schools.

In my view, an important early childhood education program is being quietly propped up by the redirection of library levy funds. It should instead be openly supported by the county’s general fund, by the local business community that has much to gain from this outstanding program, or by a specific sustainable source separate from the library levy.

Literacy is a right that should not need to be negotiated. Perhaps most importantly, it’s way past time for the Arizona Legislature to step up. Rather than ignoring Arizonans’ need for early childhood education and instead of defunding our district public schools through universal vouchers, our representatives in Phoenix must elevate literacy and learning in our state by fully funding our pre-K-12 public education needs.