In this month’s issue of Teacher Librarian though, David Loertscher puts it all in perspective with this list:

Ten Things Worse Than a Library Without Books:

1. A library without a credentialed teacher-librarian.

2. A library without information in the format users prefer.

3. A library that restricts access to information in any format.

4. A library that most teachers ignore.

5. A library that most students Google around.

6. A teacher-librarian who is afraid of, or ignores the impact of technology.

7. A library that only deals in print materials.

8. A library of antiquated computers and computer networks.

9. A library where tech directors have a big sign behind their desks reading: Just say NO!

10. An empty library.

He makes a great point – what’s the point of having a library (with or without books) at all, if students and teachers aren’t using it?

In a time when information is plentiful and easy to get, users have to believe that coming to the library adds value to their information experience or they will get what they need elsewhere. What are you doing to add value to your students’ and teachers’ experiences in the library?

TLA recently conducted a public opinion poll of Texas voters to find out how much support there is out there for all types of libraries.

Other sources of data about school libraries:

AASL – Research and Statistics

David Loertscher’s web site

Michael Eisenberg’s presentations

IASL Online

Library Media Program: Data Sources, the School Library Media Specialist

Library Research Service

Resources for School Librarians

The TLA survey was a statewide telephone survey conducted in October – November 2008.

The survey found that nearly all Texans (99%) are an essential part of the educational experience and more than 9 in 10 agree that school librarians are critical to student achievement. The vast majority would support legislation that would require public schools to provide students with a school library and librarian that meets statewide standards. More than 8 in 10 voters across every demographic segment and geographic region support the legislation, including 88% of Republicans, 95% of Democrats and 96% of Independents.

Strong majorities support increasing public funding for school libraries!

Data from the survey shows that the general public feels that school libraries and professional give every child the opportunity to read and learn.

How can we use this data to promote school libraries?

Use it as a message to administrators, school boards, PTA groups, teachers, students, relevant associations and legislators.

Expand the Strong Libraries Strong Scores mini-conference model to other areas of the state, to other associations and organizations and with other related events.

TLA recommends focusing on the unique contribution of school libraries to round out and encourage student development and achievement. Instead of trying to be another classroom, focus on what makes us unique.

The 81st Legislative Session ended June 1 with “partisan meltdown” and many bills died.

Two key issues for schools were the K-12 databases and a full-time librarian on every campus. The databases funding made it through, but was not increased as requested. The state library will be doing some “creative” budgeting in order to keep the resources at the existing level. While we didn’t get quite what we wanted, we didn’t lose any ground.

The full-time librarian issue is a difficult one. There has been discussion of this for a long time, but many have been reluctant to press it with the legislators. The hope is that we could possibly replicate the standard for counselors, which are mandated at schools of 500 students or more. The timing must be right to move forward on the issue.

HB 915 specifies that TEA must consider of a school district provides a certified school librarian on a campus as part of the accountability rating for a district. The bill was referred to the Public Education committee, but never got a hearing. Inquiries into the feasibility of a similar bill in the Senate were met with heavy resistance – no unfunded mandates.

HB 3/ SB 3 was the “accountability” bill. Rep. Dennis Bonnen worked to amend the bill to include certified librarians as part of the accountability ratings. The amended language was stripped by the Conference Committee, as were most floor amendments added in the House. Bonnen did not give up, though, and worked with Rep. Rose to add library services to her amendment 72. Unfortunately, all amendments that passed the House were removed by the Senate.

School library advocacy efforts are important and all are encouraged to attend TLA Legislative Day. Legislators really do not realize that every school does not have a certified librarian on every campus and need to be made aware of the situation.

The school library study mandated by the last legislative session was presented in December 2008. It was very positive towards school libraries. Other initiatives include the Shirley Igo Award for PTA members who are supportive of their school libraries. TLA had a booth at state PTA conference and PTA had a booth at the TLA conference. The Spokane Moms are confirmed to present at TLA 2010.

Take home ideas:

Vote! for school board, legislators, congress
Create an administrator of the year award for an administrator who advocates for libraries
Create a librarian of the year awar
Create a Friends of School Libraries grou
Reach out to your PTA group and other civic groups
Attend Town Hall events
Invite legislators to school literacy events
Send thank you letters
Reach out to smaller districts around you
Attend Advocacy Pre-Conference at TLA 2010
Plan to attend Legislative Day in 2011 and TLA in Austin in 2011

Volunteer to help advocate for school libraries at these upcoming events:

PTA Summer Leadership Conference
Austin, July 24-25

TASA/TASB Conference
Houston, October 1-4

Case in point: Right before Spring Break, Margaret Beasley, librarian at Cannaday Elementary hosted a Library Expo. This evening event featuring the library attracted over 200 students, parents and siblings! Attendees were treated to demonstrations of technology that is used in the library, including a Promethean interactive white board lesson

and podcasts created by 3rd and 6th graders.

They were also given a hands-on lesson in the computer lab on how to access the library’s online resources from home.

This year’s event was so successful that Margaret is already making plans to do it again next year!

The benefits of a program like this are many. Not only does it make stakeholders aware of what their kids are doing when they come to the library and of the resources that are available, it increases the likelihood that those stakeholders will advocate to keep the library program, if there should ever be a possibility of letting it go.

What are you doing to get parents into your library?

Legislative Issues – Gloria Meraz

Gloria Meraz started the morning with some information about the work TLA has been doing with the legislature to advocate for school libraries. She believes that we now have a foothold in several important governmental agencies, both at the state and national levels. We are poised to work with and through TEA and TSLAC in order to move forward and get school libraries into state policy. This is an extremely complex issue that we need to approach with caution. Gloria encourages us to start at home talking to our local district officials, parent and student groups to educate them regarding the benefit of school libraries.

The TEA and TSLAC study of school libraries is due to the legislature in December, which is probably too late for legislation to be drafted for this session. We hope that the report will convey a sense of needed action, but understand that the agencies involved may not feel that it is within their purview to provide that. If they don’t, it will be up to us to come up with an action plan. This legislative session will be a time for us to stack up some building blocks and strengthen the legislators’ understanding of our needs.

Our job #1 is to get administrators, superintendents and parents to speak on our behalf. This is the time that things are happening, we need to do it now!

Tejas Star Book Award – Maria Elena Ovalle

Region One ESC has a reading program called the Tejas Star Book Award, that gives an award each year to a bilingual book. 129 languages are spoken in Texas schools, but Spanish is the highest. Region 10, 11, 14 all have high populations of English Language Learners. There aren’t many research articles written about supporting ELLs in the library, but the research that we do have shows that ELLs need culturally relevant texts in order to make reading easier for them.

The purpose of the award is to promote reading among all students, but also to promote the benefits of bilingualism/multilingualism in a global community. The program also aligns with TAKS objective 1 that deals with culturally diverse written text. The 2007 PEIMS snapshot shows that 46% are Hispanic and 16% are LEP.

To make it on the list, a book must have an accurate and positive representation of the Latino culture with authentic and affirmative portrayal of characters. A book must also have been published originally in Spanish or in full Spanish/English format. The content of a book must be appropriate for students in grades K-6, be of high literary quality, and have received a positive review by a major review source or by one of the Tejas Star committee members. If a book is published outside the US, it must be of interest to Texas school children.

The 2007 winner was Juan and the Chupacabras by Xavier Garza. The 2008-2009 book list can be found here.

Instructions for participation and voting

Tejas Star participation and tally form

The new list consists of 12 titles. Students must read 3 of the titles in order to vote for their favorite one.

After a check of the Mesquite ISD library catalog, DS found that many of our libraries already have most of them. This would be a great addition to any library’s reading promotion activities.

The morning break was sponsored by Heinemann-Raintree.