Girls’ School Gets Library

A half-dozen students from the city’s only all-girl public school publicly chastised Los Angeles school district officials last year for failing to provide their campus with a library.

Then-Supt. Ruben Zacarias promised to personally see to the problem at Ramona High School but was forced to resign a few months later.

On Thursday, the little Eastside high school for troubled teenage girls opened the first library in its 52-year history, built with $250,000 in district funds and donations from nonprofit organizations and private individuals.

In his first public appearance since stepping down, Zacarias was among 50 community leaders who attended a celebration in the tidy pink and blue library named in honor of children’s book author Karen Winnick, who donated $30,000.

“My last telephone call as superintendent was placed on Jan. 15 to Bonnie O’Brian, head of library services for the . . . school district,” Zacarias recalled. “I said, ‘Don’t forget about Ramona’s library.’ ”

But the real heroes of the moment were the girls who brought the issue to Zacarias’ attention when they stood up during a town hall meeting at the Los Angeles Marriott Hotel last October and angrily demanded to know why they didn’t have a library like every other high school. Among them were Ramona juniors Linda Sabori and Berlyn Castillo.

“We didn’t know if people would laugh at us and say, ‘Whatever,’ ” Sabori said. “But just look at us now. We actually made a difference. They heard us.”