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Legislation governing the administration, staffing, and funding of school library programs exists in Chapter 15 of Massachusetts General Law

This legislation charges the Board of Education with:

• Establishing a formula for funding school library programs to guide local school committees
• Establishing minimum standards for school library personnel
• Establishing minimum standards for the acquisition of print and nonprint materials for school libraries

This legislation predates the passage of Chapter 70, which does not include any mention of school library programs.  MSLA believes that this omission was an unintentional oversight in the drafting of Chapter 70, and we would like to see this rectified by the passage of H564.  However, MSLA understands that the legislation governing school library programs is the law.  It is our hope that the Massachusetts Board of Education will adhere to this legislation and set specific guidelines for the staffing, collection and programs for Massachusetts school libraries.

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CHAPTER 15. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Chapter 15: Section 1R. School library and nonprint media services; funding

Section 1R. The board of education shall provide for the establishment of school library and nonprint media services, including:

(1) the acquisition or rental of library and nonprint media materials, resources, and appropriate equipment.

(2) supplementary library and nonprint media subprofessional personnel.

(3) consultative services.

Funds as may be appropriated shall be disbursed according to a formula established by the board which shall take into account the average expenditure over the immediately preceding five years by the local school committee for the library and nonprint media resources; the ratio of library and nonprint media center professional staff to pupil enrollment; the per pupil expenditures for said staff; and the current year school committee expenditure for library and nonprint media resources.

In certifying school library and nonprint media programs eligible for aid, the board shall establish minimum standards for personnel, accessibility of resources, appropriateness of library and nonprint media services and the local budget support.

Massachusetts Schools Need an Adequacy Study

The Massachusetts School Library Association believes that our state needs a strong commitment to its school libraries.  Studies from 14 states demonstrate a link between student achievement on reading tests, literacy, or general learning and an adequately staffed and funded school library program1.  This includes a study conducted at Simmons College showing that schools with library programs have higher MCAS scores, regardless of socio-economic or educational levels of the community.

S291 would provide us with an opportunity to evaluate our schools carefully and ensure their excellence.  We believe that a great education includes access to a great school library with provisions for professional staffing and collection development. 

The members of the Massachusetts School Library Association endorse bill S291.

For complete text of Senate bill 291, please see: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00291.htm

MSLA has developed a wiki that describes its advocacy initiatives.

The MSLA Advocacy Initiatives wiki provides links to advocacy resources and documents created or collected by MSLA, with an outline for a workshop designed to enlist parents as advocates. MSLA members and other school library supporters are encouraged to use it as a resource for local advocacy efforts and presentations.

Access the MSLA Advocacy Initiatives wiki at http://mslaplanning.pbwiki.com

• Find Advocacy Resources for Parents and other school library supporters on the MSLA Advocacy Initiatives wiki
• Join our MSLAfriends email list for parents and other citizen supporters of school libraries. Email your request to:  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
• Help advocate for school libraries
• Share ideas for building support
• Invite other school library supporters to join this effort
• Contact MSLA Executive Director, Kathy Lowe for more information

MSLA members will receive a postcard in the mail, including one to send to your legislator.

Need additional postcards? Make your own using the electronic file:

Download the Postcard

Copy onto card stock (2 sides)

Cut apart to yield 2 postcards for legislators.

OR,

Make your own postcard/letter to your legislator:

Dear Representative/Senator _______________________ ,

On Wednesday, April 2, the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) and the Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA) are holding a joint Legislative Day with an exhibition in the Great Hall at the State House in Boston. As a librarian from your district, I would like to invite you to stop by and see the value that librarians and library teachers add to schools and communities in Massachusetts.

In addition to visiting legislators throughout the day, we have some exciting events planned in the Great Hall. At 10:00 we will present prizes to Massachusetts students who won the MSLA's annual Bookmark Contest. At noon, we will host "Telling Our Stories," a forum for Massachusetts residents to explain how libraries transform lives. We will also be presenting our annual advocacy awards. For more information, please see our websites:

MLA at http://www.masslib.org

MSLA at http://www.maschoolibraries.org

Sincerely, 

(Your name)

Address

There is no mention of school libraries in Chapter 70, even though a substantial body of research since 1990 clearly demonstrates that good school libraries have a positive impact on student achievement.  Administrators take this omission to indicate that school libraries are not a priority in Massachusetts schools.

Studies from 14 states demonstrate a link between student achievement on reading tests, literacy, or general learning and an adequately staffed and funded school library program.  This includes a study conducted at Simmons College showing that schools with library programs have higher MCAS scores, regardless of socio-economic or educational levels of the community.

H564 puts the word “libraries” into Chapter 70 so that school administrators will recognize that Chapter 70 funds can be used to purchase school library books and equipment. 

This simple change will not cost any money.  It will send an important message to school administrators and school committee members that school libraries remain a valued part of a public school education.

We urge members of the Joint Committee on Education to favorably vote to move H564 out of committee.

H 564:  An Act to provide certain materials, funding, and staffing levels for school library media centers

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1.   Chapter 70 Section 2 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Book” in line 38, the word “,libraries”; by inserting after the word “books”, in line 39, the word “,libraries”; and by inserting after the word “book”, in line 39, the word “,libraries,”.

For specific study results consult the Massachusetts School Library Association website http://www.maschoolibraries.org and the booklet, School Libraries Work!

 

A Message from Bob "Doc" Roth, chair of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Legislation Committee:

Please support AASL's efforts to have Congress enact the Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act.  One way to do this is to send requests on your listservs for other school librarians, parents and other supporters to ask their Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the SKILLs Act.  In the Senate the bill number is S. 1699.  In the House it is H.R. 2864.

The ALA Take Action webpage makes this easy.  Just go to http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=9951101&PROCESS=Take+Action and enter your zip code.  You get links to your Senators and Representative; and space to add a personal message if you wish.

People who prefer to send their own message independent from the Take Action page can find their Senators' contact information at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and their Representative's contact information at http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml   The Take Action webpage can still be useful for finding the names of Senators for each state and Representatives for each district.

The Take Action page also gives you more information about the SKILLs Act.  For example, the first paragraph says this:

On Tuesday June 26, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced the Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act that guarantees students across America will be served by highly qualified, state-certified school library media specialists and will have the library resources they need to succeed.

Among other things, the Take Action page also says:

Because NCLB does not highlight the direct correlation between competent school library media specialists and increased student academic achievement, library resource budgets are increasingly being used to mitigate the effects of budgetary shortfalls. . . . A substantial body of research since 1990 shows a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. The research studies show that school libraries can have a positive impact on student achievement – whether such achievement is measured in terms of reading scores, literacy, or learning more generally.

For these and other reasons spelled out on the Take Action page, the SKILLs Act will require "school districts, to the extent feasible, to ensure that every school within the district employs at least one highly qualified school library media specialist in each school library."

To help move the SKILLs Act through Congress and into law, please encourage the librarians in your state association to Take Action now, and to ask parents and friends to Take Action, too.

Thank you for your help in gaining support for this important new legislation.