The Michigan State Board of Education passed a resolution at its October 14 board meeting in support of school libraries staffed by certified school librarians as a way to achieve 21st-century learning and teaching goals. The resolution, noted in full below, was supported in public comments by Kathy Lester, president of the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) and a school librarian at East Middle School in Plymouth, Michigan; Kafi Kumasi of Wayne State University; and Jeanna Walker, MAME Secretary and a school librarian at Portage (Mich.) Northern High School, an AASL Vision Tour School. MAME also put together the public comments and some of their advocacy tools online.
Lester noted: "Although there is no money tied to this statement; we are hoping that this is a good step forward in our efforts to advocate for equitable access to strong school libraries for the students in our state." She said that Michigan school libraries had been particularly hard hit in the last few years.
RESOLUTION
The Michigan State Board of Education recognizes that school library media centers provide Michigan's students and staff equitable access to print and digital resources critical to supporting 21st century teaching and learning.
The Board further recognizes that certified library media specialists serve a critical role in increasing student achievement by supporting, collaborating, and co-teaching with classroom teachers in reading development, in integrating information and technology literacy skills into the content curriculum, and in meeting the expectations for student research set forth in the Common Core State Standards.
The Library of Michigan, an office of the Michigan Department of Education, has developed the "SL21 Measurement Benchmarks for Michigan School Libraries for 21st Century Schools" and calls for school administrators and school librarians to use the SL21 measures to assess the quality of school library programs in individual buildings.
The Board supports these efforts and supports a call for all elementary and secondary students to have ready access to a library in their school with appropriate resources, programming and certified staff.
