PETITION: Every Student in New Jersey Needs a School Librarian. Pass A5782 / S1586
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- Every Student in New Jersey Needs a School Librarian
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- Every Student in New Jersey Needs a School Librarian
The New Jersey Association of School Librarians is supporting complementary bills in Trenton to ensure that certified school librarians are teaching in every school and district across the state. It’s a critically important moment for school librarians and the students they serve. A recent national study shows that New Jersey has lost between 300 and 400 school librarians in the last decade. The COVID-impacted school year has seen districts like Chatham, Glen Ridge, and Cedar Grove move to eliminate their school librarians under the guise of financial pressures. And yet, certified school librarians are vital to student success from standardized tests to individualized learning.
The cuts have already started and we only have a short time to act.
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There are two bills that need your attention and support. A5782 / S1586 requires a “ratio of school library media specialists to students” starting with small schools and part-time positions to large districts where the ratio allows every student to have the access they need and the materials they want. NJASL wants to thank the Assembly Primary Sponsors Shavonda E. Sumter (LD#35) and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (LD15) and the Senate Sponsors Jim Beach (LD6) and Linda Greenstein (LD14), along with their co-sponsors Shirley Turner (15), Anthony Bucco (LD25), and Robert Singer (LD30).
Both companion bills clearly state what every school librarian across New Jersey already knows: that “In order to be college-and-career-ready in the twenty-first century, students must be able to use a wide range of information resources including books, media, technology, and the Internet. All students must be able to locate, evaluate, and interpret information accurately for academic and professional success. Both bills have been referred to their respective Education Committees. It’s important to reach out today to your state Senator and Representative to ask to support these bills.
Please sign this petition to send an email to state legislators today
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has repeatedly endorsed the need for school librarians in every school district. As the state’s largest association of educators, they know the power and impact of certified school librarians across the curriculum and on every student population. But as NJEA identified in 2019, ”a new trend is threatening these positions in New Jersey schools. Many certified school library media specialists are being replaced with volunteers, classroom teachers, and technology coaches without the certification to teach information literacy skills. This is like asking an English teacher to take over a math class.” We agree and that’s why we are asking the legislature to pass this important legislation this session.
Every $10 we raise helps us reach 1,000 more Americans like you who can help us support libraries.
The call for a school librarian in every school and district isn’t an uncommon or unreasonable requirement. Twenty-two states currently require school library media specialists in their schools and use student enrollment to determine the number of school library media specialists in the schools. But regardless of where it is, it’s critically important for New Jersey students. New Jersey leads the nation in preschool enrollments. Let’s not fail our kids in K-12 by falling behind in reading and literacy scores. Study after study shows that the single biggest reason for success in reading is a school librarian in the lives of the students.
We want to echo what the bills state when they acknowledge that “a qualified school library media specialist is uniquely suited through educational training and professional development to provide this educational foundation for all students.” Now it is up to everyone in the state who cares about the future of education and the future of school library work to stand up and ask their legislators to make this ideal a reality.
Please sign the petition and send an email to your members of the state Senate and House today. Help keep this bill moving - for all New Jersey students - this session.
The New Jersey Association of School Librarians is supporting complementary bills in Trenton to ensure that certified school librarians are teaching in every school and district across the state. It’s a critically important moment for school librarians and the students they serve. A recent national study shows that New Jersey has lost between 300 and 400 school librarians in the last decade. The COVID-impacted school year has seen districts like Chatham, Glen Ridge, and Cedar Grove move to eliminate their school librarians under the guise of financial pressures. And yet, certified school librarians are vital to student success from standardized tests to individualized learning.
The cuts have already started and we only have a short time to act.
Click to share this petition on Facebook andTwitter!
There are two bills that need your attention and support. A5782 / S1586 requires a “ratio of school library media specialists to students” starting with small schools and part-time positions to large districts where the ratio allows every student to have the access they need and the materials they want. NJASL wants to thank the Assembly Primary Sponsors Shavonda E. Sumter (LD#35) and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (LD15) and the Senate Sponsors Jim Beach (LD6) and Linda Greenstein (LD14), along with their co-sponsors Shirley Turner (15), Anthony Bucco (LD25), and Robert Singer (LD30).
Both companion bills clearly state what every school librarian across New Jersey already knows: that “In order to be college-and-career-ready in the twenty-first century, students must be able to use a wide range of information resources including books, media, technology, and the Internet. All students must be able to locate, evaluate, and interpret information accurately for academic and professional success. Both bills have been referred to their respective Education Committees. It’s important to reach out today to your state Senator and Representative to ask to support these bills.
Please sign this petition to send an email to state legislators today
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has repeatedly endorsed the need for school librarians in every school district. As the state’s largest association of educators, they know the power and impact of certified school librarians across the curriculum and on every student population. But as NJEA identified in 2019, ”a new trend is threatening these positions in New Jersey schools. Many certified school library media specialists are being replaced with volunteers, classroom teachers, and technology coaches without the certification to teach information literacy skills. This is like asking an English teacher to take over a math class.” We agree and that’s why we are asking the legislature to pass this important legislation this session.
Every $10 we raise helps us reach 1,000 more Americans like you who can help us support libraries.
The call for a school librarian in every school and district isn’t an uncommon or unreasonable requirement. Twenty-two states currently require school library media specialists in their schools and use student enrollment to determine the number of school library media specialists in the schools. But regardless of where it is, it’s critically important for New Jersey students. New Jersey leads the nation in preschool enrollments. Let’s not fail our kids in K-12 by falling behind in reading and literacy scores. Study after study shows that the single biggest reason for success in reading is a school librarian in the lives of the students.
We want to echo what the bills state when they acknowledge that “a qualified school library media specialist is uniquely suited through educational training and professional development to provide this educational foundation for all students.” Now it is up to everyone in the state who cares about the future of education and the future of school library work to stand up and ask their legislators to make this ideal a reality.
Please sign the petition and send an email to your members of the state Senate and House today. Help keep this bill moving - for all New Jersey students - this session.