Announcing the Release of Save School Librarians

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our new SaveSchoolLibrarians.org site and an expanded partnership with five state school library associations and Follett Learning to work on restoring school librarians to schools and districts - and to expanding funding for school library programs - in their states.

EveryLibrary has been an active and engaged partner with local school library advocates in over a dozen communities this year alone. Our action platform has helped find and activate thousands of local activists to contact their school boards and superintendents with a "save school librarians" message. Because of our donors we are able to make a difference by engaging thousands of local school library supporters in new and innovative ways and activating them to support their local school librarians. We are proud that we have been able to use these tools to fight against school library closures and librarian layoffs and that we’ve won so many of them. From Chicago to Detroit to Virginia, down to Florida and out to California, the issues are the same: it's been too easy to cut school librarians for too long.

The last-mile of any advocacy campaign is to bring out the parents and local stakeholders to speak up for their school librarian and school library program. EveryLibrary is focused on doing just that.

The SaveSchoolLibrarians.org site and our state partnership activism is made possible with the support of Follett Learning. Their donor support lets us do targeted, smart, and effective outreach and activism wherever and whenever it is needed. With Follett's support, we can build on our successes and try to address this school librarian crisis in schools and districts around the country. SaveSchoolLibrarians.org has one-click 'take action' capabilities that make it easy for concerned parents and stakeholder to make their voices heard for school libraries and librarians. The site will include the best training guides for local school library activists to build their own political and organizing power. But they don't have to do it alone. EveryLibrary is here to help advise on the right tactics to make change happen and, with Follett's support, we can put the power of social advertising to work reaching and activating more potential local supporters than ever before.

The core of the project are five advocacy-partnerships between EveryLibrary and state school library associations. Our focus with each state organizational partner will be different, but each one is similarly focused on bringing more school librarians back to schools and expanding funding equitably across schools and districts. With project-partners like Nevada Library Association and the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, there are bills in their legislatures to mandate school librarians in each school. We will work to bring out voters in support of those bills. With FAME, the Florida Association of Media Educators, and ISLMA, the Illinois School Library Media Association, we'll work to address the ongoing cuts that state budget choices are forcing on schools and districts. With our partners at the Washington Library Association and the Montana Library Association, we are working with them to anticipate big changes in the state funding formula for schools - and those changes need to include libraries and librarians.

Please share the news that SaveSchoolLibrarians.org is up and running and ready to help any school librarian who is facing a funding challenge to rally their community.

John Chrastka

Executive Director

P.S. If you’re coming to Chicago for Annual, please come to the Rally to Restore School Librarians sponsored by our colleagues at the Illinois School Library Media Association on Friday 6/23 at 12n at the Thompson Center in downtown. Details and RSVP here.