BLAGH. Now the Missouri State Senate is trying to withhold 6 million dollars from libraries in the state for the NEXT fiscal year. Back to it folks, email the state senators and let them know how you feel about it.
You’ve got a chance to make a difference right here, so take 5 minutes and do it!
Local
NYC
www.investinlibraries.org
Are you in NYC next Thursday? Fantastic! Come to the Invest in Libraries Rally on Thursday April 16th at 9am and make some noise!
State
Arkansas
No petition yet, but this is a pretty gross budget cut.
Arkansas Times
Connecticut
http://www.ctlibrarians.org/?page=CLCAdvocacy
Missouri
www.savemolibraries.org
State Senator contact info
http://www.senate.mo.gov/15info/SenateRoster.htm
New York
Say thank you to a legislature that did the right thing!
http://cqrcengage.com/alany/app/write-a-letter?0&engagementId=89093
Federal
National Library Legislative Day
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld
Secure the Future of School Library Funding
ESEA comes up for a vote next Tuesday in committee WITHOUT school library funding included. You can help, if you are in one of the following states, call your senator and tell them to support library funding in the ESEA.
Tennessee call Senator Alexander at 202-224-4944
Wyoming call Senator Enzi at 202-224-3432
North Carolina call Senator Burr at 202-224-3154
Georgia call Senator Isakson at 202-224-3643
Kentucky call Senator Paul at 202-224-4343
Maine call Senator Collins at 202-224-2523
Alaska call Senator Murkowski at 202-244-6665
Illinois call Senator Kirk at 202-224-2854
South Carolina call Senator Scott at 202-224-6121
Utah call Senator Hatch at 202-224-5251
Kansas call Senator Roberts at 202-224-4774
Louisiana call Senator Cassidy at 202-224-5824
Washington call Senator Murray at 202-224-2621
Maryland call Senator Mikulski at 202-224-4654
Vermont call Senator Sanders at 202-224-5141
Pennsylvania call Senator Casey at 202-224-6324
Minnesota call Senator Franken at 202-224-5641
Colorado call Senator Bennet at 202-224-5852
Rhode Island call Senator Whitehouse at 202-224-2921
Wisconsin call Senator Baldwin at 202-224-5653
Connecticut call Senator Murphy at 202-244-4041
Massachusetts call Senator Warren at 202-224-4543
Talking Points:
Point 1: While reading and books are mainstays of the school library program, today’s effective school library programs are also sophisticated learning environments that provide the education and necessary skills to succeed in college and the workplace.
Point 2: Across the United States, studies have demonstrated that students in schools with effective school library programs learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized tests than their peers in schools without such resources.
Point 3: NCES data reveals that approximately 8,830 public schools across the nation do not have a school library and for those schools that do have a library, nearly 17,000 schools do not have a full or part-time state-certified school librarian on staff.
Point 4: Effective school libraries:
1. Are staffed by a state-certified school librarian;
2. Have up-to-date books, materials, equipment and technology;
3. Include regular collaboration between classroom teachers and school librarians to assist with development and implementation of the curriculum; and
4. Support the development of digital literacy skills.