The SKILLs Act

The SKILLs Act:

* Requires school districts, to the extent feasible, to ensure that
every school within the district employs at least one highly
qualified school library media specialist in each school library;
* Defines highly qualified school library media specialists as those
who have a bachelor's degree and have obtained full state
certification as a school library media specialist or passed the
state teacher licensing examination, with state certification in
library media in such state;
* Establishes as a state goal that there be at least one highly
qualified school library media specialist in every public school
no later than the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year;

* Broadens the focus of training, professional development, and
recruitment activities to include school library media specialists;

* Ensures that funds will serve elementary, middle, and high school
students; and
* Requires books and materials to be appropriate for and engage the
interest of students in all grade levels and students with special
learning needs, including English language learners.


Urgent Action Needed:

This legislation is critical to the future of school library media
specialists. Contact your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 1699.
Contact your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 2864.

Talking Points:

* Multiple studies have affirmed that there is a clear link between
school library media programs that are staffed by a school library
media specialist and student academic achievement. Across the
United States, research has shown that students in schools with
good school libraries learn more, get better grades, and score
higher on standardized test scores than their peers in schools
without libraries.
* Long regarded as the cornerstone of the school community, school
libraries are no longer just for books. Instead, they have become
sophisticated 21st century learning environments offering a full
range of print and electronic resources that provide equal
learning opportunities to all students, regardless of the
socio-economic or education levels of the community - but only
when they are staffed by school library media specialists trained
to collaborate with teachers and engage students meaningfully with
information that matters to them both in the classroom and in the
real world.
* Only about 60 percent of our school libraries have a full-time,
state-certified school library media specialist on staff.
* With limited funding and an increased focus on school performance,
administrators are trying to stretch dollars and cut funds across
various programs to ensure that maximum resources are dedicated to
improving student academic achievement.
* Because NCLB does not highlight the direct correlation between
school library media specialists and increased student academic
achievement, library resource budgets are increasingly being used
to mitigate the effects of budgetary shortfalls.