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Librarians work toward a stronger No Child Left Behind
The library community, with bipartisan support in Congress, worked hard in 2007 to ensure that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, better known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for its 2001 iteration, would include provisions that would guarantee that schoolchildren have the library resources and support they need for a 21st Century education
The Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries or SKILLs Act, introduced in both houses of Congress in June as a part of the NCLB reauthorization, stipulates that library funds will be available to serve students in elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide; that appropriate books and materials will be available for students, including those with special learning needs and those learning English as a second language, at all grade levels; and that state-certified school library media specialists will be available to assist and support all students with their learning needs.
The SKILLs Act, which strengthens the Improving Literacy through School Library Program of NCLB, is sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D–R.I.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.).
“Study after study proves that students in schools with well-stocked libraries and highly qualified, state-certified school librarians learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized tests than students who do not have the same benefits,” said Leslie Burger, 2006-2007 ALA president. “Today, only 60 percent of school libraries have full-time, state-certified school library media specialists on staff. With limited resources, school administrators are struggling to stretch dollars, and library resource budgets are increasingly being used to make up for shortfalls in other areas.”
Specifically, the SKILLs Act:
“We know that school libraries are a critical component in improving student literacy skills and academic achievement,” said Sen. Reed. “This legislation recognizes what makes this success possible: highly-trained librarians.”
While prospects for NCLB reauthorization remained unclear in an election year, the SKILLs Act spawned at least two state-level counterparts: the Washington Library Media Association and Massachusetts School Library Association have set their sights on getting lawmakers to guarantee professional school library staffing by adding it to education laws in those states.
EPA ordered to re-open libraries
The fiscal year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Bush in December ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to re-open many of its libraries that had been closed in the past year. The EPA must “restore the network of EPA libraries recently closed or consolidated by the Administration” and report on its plans to “restore publicly available libraries to provide environmental information and data to each EPA region. . . .” In 2006, the EPA had closed its Headquarters Library in Washington to visitors and walk-in patrons; the agency also closed several regional libraries, the toxics and pesticides library, and the Ft. Meade (Md.) Environmental Science Center. EPA administrators had asserted that the closings did not affect access to environmental and scientific collections and data sets since online functions meet the needs of the EPA staff, researchers, and the public — a contention disputed by scientists, librarians, and even EPA staff. According to the EPA National Library Network Report to Congress, released in the spring of 2008, the EPA will re-open its libraries by Sept. 31, 2008.
Other successes: Public libraries fare well in Head Start reauthorization
The ALA and one of its divisions, the Association for Library Service to Children, waged a successful campaign to include in the Head Start reauthorization bill language that provides opportunities for libraries to play a greater role in Head Start programs. The Improving Head Start Act thus assures that public libraries can continue to develop innovative programs to provide young children in low-income families with the tools they need to succeed in school and life. . . . Several pieces of legislation dealing with federal student loan forgiveness emerged from the Congress. The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, for example, creates a new student loan forgiveness plan through the Direct Loan program for public service employees, including librarians. The President signed this bill, and several others library-related provisions were making their way through the legislative process at year’s end. . . . Under a mandatory policy included in the fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Bush, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health are required to deposit copies of eligible manuscripts into the National Library of Medicine’s online database, PubMed Central. Articles will be made publicly available no later than 12 months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
A campaign against misleading copyright warnings
The ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) collected data in 2007 in support of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding false and misleading copyright warnings issued by publishers and motion picture distributors — for example, the “home use only” warning on videos or DVDs that may in fact be used in classrooms and, to a lesser extent, in distance education because of exemptions provided to non-profit educational institutions. False copyright warnings confuse library patrons and can lead to schools and colleges mistakenly buying additional rights to use a work that are not required by law.
Internet education vs. blocking and filtering
Fall 2007 saw clear recognition by some members of Congress who were previously proponents of blocking and filtering that Internet education is more effective than such restrictions. This major shift in the approach to children’s Internet safety issues was reflected in several new bills. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), for example, introduced legislation that would establish a public awareness campaign on Internet safety, including activities relating to best practices, a national outreach and education campaign, and information access and exchange and would establish an Office of Internet Safety and Public Awareness within the Federal Trade Commission. |
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