School Libraries Top Agenda

For the first time in recent memory, school libraries will take center stage at a hearing of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). The hearing, slated for April 26 in Cincinnati, OH, will examine the role school libraries play in student achievement and how the federal government should fund them.

Commission Chairperson Martha Gould says she's outraged at the dilapidated state of many of the nation's school libraries, a condition she blames on school administrators and government officials not understanding "the vital role" libraries play in educating kids. "School libraries have become a stepchild in education," Gould says.

Gould, a retired children's librarian and public library director, hopes this month's hearing results in a strong policy statement that can push Congress to consider school library funding in the current debate over reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (see "Call Your Senator Now!" p. 22). The NCLIS school-library hearing will take place at the Cincinnati Public Library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anyone interested in testifying should contact Rosalie Vlach (rvlach@nclis.gov) by April 13.