The phone call came right before Thanksgiving break. Within the hour, Jacquelin Guthrie's principal told her they had to talk.
"He came into the media center just as I was starting the book fair," Guthrie recalled last week. "His face was so white. He looked at me and said, 'They're closing us down.' "
A 34-year veteran of Pinellas schools, Guthrie was stunned by the news. The last she had heard, the district was planning to move a 14-classroom "relocatable" to Palm Harbor's campus.
After Guthrie, the school's media specialist, recovered from the shock, a question formed: What will happen to the library books?
She learned that it would fall to her to sort through 9,000-odd volumes and determine which ones would be recycled and which ones would be moved to their next home.
That home, as it turns out, will be whatever Pinellas school hires Guthrie. But she won't know until after she attends the district's job fair in June.
That realization led to a question from a PTA member who had been involved in an effort several years ago that raised $10,000 for library books. The member wanted to know: Don't those books belong to Palm Harbor Elementary?
After consulting with district officials, an arrangement was finally worked out: The books purchased by the district — enough to fill 81 boxes — will move with Guthrie. The books purchased by Palm Harbor's PTA will go home with students on the last day of school.
PTA members figure there are enough to give each child four or five books.
"It will be their final gift to our kids," Guthrie said. "As a media specialist, I can't think of a nicer legacy."
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