Posts tagged School Libraries
(via nerdbrarian)
Simply put, students suffer when they don’t have adequate resources—and, in particular, we’ve found that student achievement suffers when schools lack libraries that are staffed by full-time librarians. “Nearly every public school in Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties has a library with certified staff, which has been proven to increase student reading and comprehension.”
At last night’s rally in support of Garfield teachers, there was a voice I hadn’t heard so far during this debate: school librarians. They’re furious that their libraries are taken over during testing, for weeks at a time, and that the precious tech resources the district has are devoted to testing instead of making sure the technology that students and teachers use in the classroom and the library is functional and up-to-date. Laurie Amster-Burton, who spoke on behalf of librarians, says she actually switched schools in part because of how invasive MAP testing had become in regard to library time and space. The district has told educators that it thanks them for their concern but it needs time to work out a solution, but Amster-Burton says that these problems have existed for years, and educators have been bringing them up with the district the whole time. She brought with her a letter to Superintendent Banda, signed by 35 Seattle school librarians, in support of the Garfield teachers and in opposition to the MAP test.
Pundits and politicians from both parties agree that while the 112th Congress may have averted an immediate plunge over the fiscal cliff through its New Years package of tax extenders and sequestration delays, this debate is nowhere near over. That’s where the 113th Congress comes in. With almost 100 new members of the House and Senate, there are a lot of new faces to meet, greet and persuade on the value of libraries.
Your voice is more important now than ever before. Only you can help stop immediate and dramatic cuts to LSTA, IMLS and other critical funding programs. Wait, federal funding isn’t your main concern? How about averting changes to cybersecurity, copyright, broadband and elementary and secondary act policies that will negatively impact libraries around the country?
In short, everyone in the library community should join us for an update on the fiscal cliff / sequestration situation as well as the policy issues most likely to be considered in the coming year. Perhaps most important, we’ll tell you how best to speak up — and make a difference.
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2013
Time:4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
