New York City’s attempt to duck its responsibility to properly staff school libraries by getting a waiver of state requirements is a shameful move that would hurt students, particularly those from low-income families who lack books, Internet access or other information resources at home.

The state should reject the waiver request and insist that the DOE meet the librarian staffing mandates for the city’s middle and high schools.

Enforcement of these state requirements is particularly important now as schools begin to implement the new Common Core Learning Standards.

How can the state and the city expect all students to learn the higher-level thinking skills promoted by the Common Core if schools are deprived of the tools and staffing necessary for that learning to occur?

According to the DOE, school librarians have become less essential in this age when anyone can do their own research on the Internet.

That is a false and dangerous assumption. In this era when research can be performed with a few clicks on a keyboard, librarians are crucial for teaching how to sort the good information from the bad.

New York State requires that middle and high schools with 700 or more students have full-time librarians and that those with fewer students have certified librarians who devote part of their day to library services.

But, over the past four years, the number of librarians in city schools has fallen by about 20 percent, from 399 to 333, putting an estimated half of the city’s middle and high schools in violation of the state requirements, according to news reports.

By allowing this severe shortage of librarians, the city is setting up our children and schools to fail.

The UFT has filed two complaints to force compliance from the DOE on library staffing and in June went to the State Supreme Court over the issue.

Through their support of teachers as well as their direct work with students, librarians help children develop into critical, discerning users of the Internet and other information sources.

Why would the DOE want to allow schools to eliminate a program that works?