Growing up, your school library was probably the first library you ever became intimately familiar with. It might have been where you spent recesses when it rained, your class’ first “field trip” or the place where you first fell in love with reading.

April is School Library Month, where school librarians and their libraries are recognized for the noteworthy services they provide to students, parents and teachers nationwide. This year, the theme is “Because School Libraries Empower Students,” which signifies the contributions school libraries make to students who come to school with a diverse range of experiences and access to knowledge. It also represents the types of programs that school libraries across the country will be putting on this month.

As technology has evolved, so have school libraries. In the past, card catalogs, VHS tapes and microfilm readers were mainstays; the peak of technological advancement that was necessary to supplement learning. But as the internet made its way into schools, the importance of online literacy, database knowledge and academic software did as well; and school librarians — who were once called library media specialists but were officially bestowed the more professional title in 2010 — had to be among the first to adapt to these changes in order to pass them on to the students they served.

We need School Library Month because we need school librarians; they are essential resources to student learning in the course of a quality K-12 education. Yet, when school districts are looking to slash budgets, libraries — and by proxy, librarians — are often the first to suffer cutbacks. This may be due in part to what remains an unfortunately popular view of libraries in general: that they are outdated, archaic bastions of knowledge best suited to a time before Google could point you in whatever direction you needed to go.

But those who raise this point are choosing to remain ignorant to the value of school librarians. The school library is like a supplementary classroom, one that not only provides technologies not found in the classroom, but employs people who are experts in teaching these technologies to students. School librarians provide a baseline knowledge of information gathering and research that students can build upon as they enter college. Need an MLA expert in high school? More often than not, your librarian was the one to provide that education, if not the resources that your teachers used in class.

School librarians are also often the most vocal opponents of banning books — during Banned Books Week each fall, many school libraries take the opportunity to teach students about topics like intellectual freedom and censorship. In the process, they also stand up for the rights of readers to consume the content they want.

This month, thank a school librarian for all the work they put in throughout the year to enrich learning and provide students access to so much knowledge. Write a thank-you note to your own elementary, middle or high school library, or show your support on social media with one of the many School Library Month graphics. Without school libraries, and school librarians, education as a whole would not be nearly as comprehensive or inclusive as it is today.