UPDATE November 11, 2021:
The New Jersey Senate Education Committee has moved S3464 out of their committee with affirmative votes. The bill can now be scheduled for a reading and a vote by the full Senate. Please ask your state Senator to co-sponsor the bill and ask it to be scheduled for a vote in the Senate. Likewise, please ask your Assembly representative to co-sponsor A248 and ask that the Assembly Education Committee post this bill for a hearing in their committee.
Students across New Jersey are struggling to navigate "information overload" and they face an excessive quantity of daily information which can cause difficulty with finding and critically evaluating information effectively. Information literacy skills are vital to help students achieve academic success and make informed decisions. Information Literacy is at the core of their ability to be civically engaged, socially aware, and ethically centered in a very turbulent media and political world.
The New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) is advancing legislation in Trenton that creates a new statewide Information Literacy standards in New Jersey schools. We need your support today to move this legislation forward.
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Help us reach more New Jersey residents like you.
It’s a smart legislative approach that would create a new standard for students to understand and use information sources and evaluate the quality of information, all within an ethical framework. The bill clearly states that certified school librarians are needed to lead this effort.
We’re asking you today to help move this Information Literacy legislation forward by contacting your state Senator and Assembly Member now.
It’s important to share that the two companion bills A248 /S3464 (Information Literacy) are co-sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans because this topic cuts across all political lines. Among the bills’ key goals are creating standards so students can learn to evaluate information critically and competently, to recognize relevant primary and secondary information, and to distinguish among facts, points of view, and opinions. This is a powerful and important opportunity for all New Jersey students and families.
Please join the New Jersey Association of School Librarians in support of A248 / S3464 by contacting your state Assembly Member and Senator today. It’s important that they hear about how important this legislation is to you, their constituent. As our schools are coming through the COVID-19 pandemic and a very disrupted social and political time in our communities, these information literacy skills are more important than ever.
Thank you for helping to make this bill a priority for New Jersey.