To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Save school libraries
Every school receiving Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds should be mandated to provide an on-site school library with 20 books per-child, ongoing per-child funding for print and digital library resources, and a credentialed Teacher Librarian to teach a love of reading, cyber safety and Information Literacy research skills to all students, at all grade levels.
Why is this important?
School libraries nationwide continue to be decimated and closed by exclusion from Race To The Top (RTTT) and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funding currently up for renewal in congress. Teacher Librarians and well stocked school libraries not only instill a love of reading and access to books, e-books and computers, but are often the only place where ALL students, especially those living in poverty, receive access to those resources and training from a qualified teacher in cyber safety and Information Literacy research skills; how to find, evaluate and appropriately use a spectrum of print and digital media and information. Democracy depends on an informed citizenry of lifelong learners. If reading support and Information Literacy training vanish from our school libraries, or if our school libraries close, our whole nation is dumbed down.