[Libs-Or] Fwd: [alacro-l] Support School Libraries! We Need Your Help Now

[Suzanne Sager]

FYI,

Please read this, then contact your senators and members of Congress.

Thanks,

Suzanne L. Sager


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Don Wood <dwood at ala.org>
Date: Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 7:34 AM
Subject: [alacro-l] Support School Libraries! We Need Your Help Now
To: "alacro-l at lists.ala.org" <alacro-l at lists.ala.org>


All across the country, millions of children are returning to school. For
many of those students, their education and success are being threatened.

In some communities, we see that testing pressures and budget decisions
have led to the elimination of school libraries and school  ­librarians. In
some districts, we see that school libraries are seen as a “frill”—nice to
have but not essential to student learning.

Yet school libraries and school librarians are among the most effective and
efficient resources to boost student academic achievement. More than 60
education and library research studies have produced clear evidence that
school library programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a
significant positive impact on academic achievement.

Schools with an effective school library program and a certified school
librarian teach students how to learn and help teachers drive their pupils’
success. When school libraries and school librarians are eliminated,
students suffer.

Unfortunately, much of the blame lies at the federal level. No Child Left
Behind, the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA), reduced targeted funding for school libraries and eliminated
language that recognized school librarians as an integral part of the
school’s instructional program. Federal dollars used to support library
activities under the act dwindled until they were eliminated altogether
over five years ago.

Library supporter Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) did manage to designate funds for
school libraries, first through Improving Literacy Through School
Libraries, then the Innovative Approaches to Literacy. But these are small
grant programs and don’t adequately support the critical role school
libraries play in a student’s education.

This year, Reed, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Sen. Thad Cochran
(R-Miss.) worked to bolster federal support for libraries through S. 1177,
the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (the Senate bill that would
reauthorize ESEA).

Because of their efforts, the Senate bill includes several new provisions
in support of libraries, including:

   - state and local planning requirements related to developing effective
   school library programs and digital literacy skills under Title I
   - professional development activities for school librarians
   - partnership opportunities for libraries
   - competitive grants for developing and enhancing effective school
   library programs

As the House of Representatives and Senate prepare to compromise on their
differing versions of ESEA reauthorization, we need your help now to ensure
that we can maintain the library provisions already included in the Senate
bill. Please contact your senators and members of Congress and ask that
they contact members of the conference committee (Sens. Lamar Alexander and
Patty Murray and Reps. John Kline and Bobby Scott) to encourage them to
maintain library provisions from S. 1177 in the conference agreement to
reauthorize ESEA.

We have a historic opportunity to win back federal support. But we need all
hands on deck. All libraries—academic, public, and school—are part of an
ecosystem that supports literacy and lifelong learning for all. Wherever we
work, we must support one another.

In October, ALA will be launching its new Libraries Transform
<http://www.librariestransform.org/> public awareness campaign. At its
heart is the message that libraries transform the lives of individuals and
transform communities. It is hard to think of anything that has more impact
on the lives of students than a good school library. For millions of
children, libraries make the difference between failure and success.

For more info on the campaign, see cqrcengage.com/ala/home.

By Keith Michael Fiels
<http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/authors/keith-michael-fiels/> | September
4, 2015



Don Wood
Program Officer
Chapter Relations Office
<http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/cro/index.cfm>
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
dwood at ala.org
1-800-545-2433, ext. 2429; 312-280-2429
312-280-4392 (fax)
Become a Fan of ALA Chapters <https://www.facebook.com/ALAChapters>

Follow CRO on Twitter <http://twitter.com/ALA_CRO>

Take Action for America’s Libraries <http://cqrcengage.com/ala/home>



“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only
thing.”—Albert Schweitzer




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-- 
Suzanne L. Sager
Oregon ALA Representative
Portland State University Library
PO Box 1151
Portland, OR  97207-1151

Phone: 503-725-8169
Fax: 503-725-5799

email: sagers at pdx.edu
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