Washington Moms Gather 10,000 Signatures

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By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 9/15/2008 2:05:00 PM

The Washington moms have reached another milestone—they’ve hit their goal of 10,000 signatures for their petition in support of school libraries and information technology. In fact, to date, they’ve even surpassed that number by more than 500.

Denette Hill, Susan McBurney, and Lisa Layera Brunkan—three mothers from Spokane, WA, who lobbied for a year and convinced their state legislature to provide $4 million for media centers across the state—have been feverishly gathering handwritten and online petitions since November 15, 2007.

Mrs. Tina Jacobs from Puyallup, WA, was the 10,000th person to sign their petition on September 12, according to the Fund Our Future Washington

From left, Brunkan, McBurney, Hill

The magic number of 10,000 was arbitrary, says Brunkan, who says it seemed like a sufficient number of signatures to get legislators and key decision makers to realize that the public believes school libraries really matter when it comes to getting a 21st-century education.  

“It was a private threshold, which we felt would give us the courage to finish the job,” she says.

The mothers plan to hand in their petition, along with other documentation about the impact of school librarians on student achievement, to a joint task force that’s currently helping to redefine and fund basic education in Washington.

Their goal? To persuade the task force to include library services under the new, expanded definition of basic education—a move that, if adopted by the state legislature, would all but ensure permanent funding for media centers. The task force is expected to finish its work in December.

Convincing the task force that librarians are essential to learning is no cake walk, especially since a committee member recently told Brunkan that “A lot of people are wondering why you need a certified person to shelve books,” she says.

“Until the [library] profession is successful in articulating that they are an integral part of the curriculum, they’re not going to be safe,” Brunkan adds.