The school board voted Nov. 4 to allow Heather Tome to remain as fulltime librarian at Warren Area High School for the remainder of the school year.

The board previously planned to move Tome to Beaty-Warren Middle School in November to replace retiring teacher Rebecca Gnage.

Tome also retires at the end of the year.

Ninth grader Colton Stuart said that was glad that Tome is staying at WAHS. “She has always been very helpful in helping students fine books,” he said. “It would be harder to get books and classes would change without her.”

At the meeting, school board president Paul Mangione said that original decision was based on the principal that staffing younger grades receive priority over secondary school, however, after teachers, students, and a board member spoke on Tome’s behalf, the board approved an alternative plan to allow Tome to continue at WAHS while approving a long-term substitute for Beaty.

Senior Ben Scott was one of the students who spoke at the school board meeting on Tome’s behalf.

“Having a librarian there full time opens up the opportunity to have clubs… to really expand on people’s interests and things like that so that they can work on their future careers,” Scott said.

Tome co-advises Dragon Lens, which produces a broadcast news show at WAHS, and which also hosts a popular cafe periodically.

Amy Rossman, who teaches 11th grade English, also spoke at the meeting. She said that not having a fulltime librarian at WAHS would be disrespectful to the student body.

“We have students who view the library as their safe place, and books as their solace,” Rossman said.

Board member Mary Passinger said she believes that all high schools should have a librarian.

“Once again, I think that we underestimate what librarians do in their various schools,” she said.

The board voted unanimously to approve to keep a fulltime librarian at WAHS. It voted to fund the librarian position, as well as two elementary school teachers and a paraprofessional, through a $500,000 contingency fund that was budgeted for the 2024-2025 school year.