Schools win fight to keep librarians

STUDENTS at 30 disadvantaged schools will still have staffed libraries when they return in September after a Department of Finance row-back on plans to cut librarian posts.

The contracts of at least 21 librarians were not going to be renewed later this year as part of the public service recruitment ban, but the Department of Education has secured a reprieve.

They were part of a project aimed at improving literacy skills in the most disadvantaged communities, with major investment in books and literacy software over the past few years.