ALA President Calls for All Librarians to Advocate for School Libraries

In his March/April column for American Libraries magazine, ALA President Jim Neal calls for all librarians to join in the fight for school libraries. He writes:

“Libraries constitute an ecology of educational, research, and community services. In this environment of inter­dependency, we, as a family of libraries, must embrace advocacy for school libraries as foundational to the success of our collective work for students who love to read, as we prepare them for college, career, and life.

“We must all fight the closing of school libraries, the reductions in professional staffing, the erosion of budgets for resources and technology, and the consequent weakening of the librarian–teacher partnership in the classroom. We must advocate for the federal funding that supports network access in schools. We must continue to document and demonstrate the powerful link between student success, educational enrichment, and well-supported school libraries.”

Read the full article on American Libraries.

Author: Meg Featheringham, KQ Editor

Meg Featheringham is responsible for the development and production of the AASL journal, Knowledge Quest. When not working at AASL, Meg enjoys playing euchre, attending concerts and plays, spending time with family and friends, and reading (of course).



Categories: Advocacy/Leadership, Association News, Blog Topics, News

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