Crumbling collections on Colorado

A Sad Story from Longmont,CO, where out of 13,692 books in the library, the average publication date is 1979. Then and now, even though the number of students has climbed from around 800 to nearly 1,400, the Skyline High library is staffed by two people and has a $16,000 book budget, Meester said.

Now, in her first year at Longmont High School, Meester and a library clerk operate with a $15,500 budget for 2005-06.