Counting the cost of librarian job losses

Early this morning I received an email from the Texas Association of School Librarians (TASL) listserv.  Carolyn Foote, a high school librarian near Austin, TX, has created a Google map to pinpoint job losses of librarians, library aides, and library directors in Texas.

When I first opened the map this morning, it was basically blank.  This afternoon it is a sea of blue pin points, and I'm sure more will follow.  It is heartbreaking.

It is heartbreaking to consider the hundreds of persons who will be out of work. 
It is heartbreaking to consider the hundreds of schools that will be without library services.
It is heartbreaking to consider how many years it will take to rebound from these cuts.

And most of all, it is heartbreaking to consider the thousands of kids who won't have a librarian. 
Who will hand these kids that one book that turns them into readers for life?
Who will show these kids how to be fluent in this information age?

The cost of these jobs is devastating on so many levels and for so many years to come.