Good Morning,
I've attached the Oklahoma Accreditation Standard that requires certified librarians in our public schools.
An unfortunate issue we are currently dealing with in Oklahoma is since the budget crisis in 2008, the State School Board has granted waivers to districts that allow them to eliminate their school librarian if they show their learners are having their needs met in other ways. These have been almost automatically granted and the bar for how learners needs are being met is extraordinarily low. Parent volunteers, Accelerated Reader, classroom library, etc. We have been working to educate the legislature and the SSB in understanding what we do and why these waivers are damaging to learners and create a huge inequity across the state. Also note--the funding requirement listed in Standard VII had a permanent waiver passed by our legislature two years ago that automatically suspends the requirement to fund collections if we have a state budget shortfall and doesn't turn back on until we have had a budget surplus for multiple years.
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Amanda Kordeliski
Director of Libraries and Instructional Technology
Norman Public Schools
She/Her/Hers
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Original Message:
Sent: Jan 12, 2021 03:09 PM
From: Deborah Rinio
Subject: Legislation mandating school librarians at the state level
Greetings all,
If your state has legislation that mandates certified school librarians, could you please send me the language and legal code? We would like to pursue similar legislation in Alaska and I am looking to see what laws are on the books in other states.
Thank you for your help!
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Deborah Rinio , MLS, PhD
Assistant Professor & Advisor, Library Media Certificate Program, Montana State UniversityF
President, 2020-2021, Alaska Library Association
northernlightslibrarian@gmail.com
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