It’s nice to know people in high places—and for librarians, Jack Reed is at the top of the list. Just when things were looking hopeless for our nation’s media centers, the Democratic Senator from Rhode Island delivered an unexpected holiday gift to the profession: passage of an appropriations bill in December that included a whopping $28.6 million in federal funds for school libraries and literacy programs in FY2012.

The news was a welcome surprise to library supporters still stunned by the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) decision last May to wipe out Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grants for FY2011. That cut didn't sit well with Reed, who immediately realized the serious implications of zeroing out the only federal program solely devoted to school libraries. Using his clout and connections, Reed spent months working behind the scenes to secure bipartisan support for school library funding.

It's not the first time Reed has come to the rescue of librarians. This latest coup is one in a series of victories for the Senator, who's garnered a reputation for championing library causes ever since joining the House in 1991 and the Senate in 1996. He was the driving force behind the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grants in 2001, which marked the first time since 1965 that lawmakers approved a line item exclusively designed to help school libraries boost academic achievement by supplying students with up-to-date library materials, expanding Internet connections, extending library hours, and providing professional development to media specialists. In 2002, Library Journal, our sister publication, named Reed politician of the year. In all, the Senator has been the lead author of every school library bill since taking office, and he can take credit for spearheading the passage of the last two reauthorizations of the Museum and Library Services Act.

Reed's next mission is to ensure that school libraries are included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was known as No Child Left Behind under President George W. Bush and is our nation's most important K-12 education law. What's Reed specifically asking for? He wants to include the language that’s being proposed in the updated Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act. It calls for a dedicated funding stream for K-12 library programs that are staffed by a state certified or licensed librarian; have up-to-date books, materials, equipment and technology; includes regular collaboration between classroom teachers and school librarians; and supports the development of digital literacy skills. Failure to include this amendment in ESEA would result in school libraries missing out on crucial federal dollars for the next decade.

Reed spoke to SLJ in early January from his office in Washington, DC, about what went on during his delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations on Capitol Hill, what library supporters can continue to do to secure more money, and where his lifelong passion for libraries comes from.

I'm sure you were as disappointed as the rest of us when the DOE got rid of Improving Literacy Through School Libraries last May. That must explain why you fought so hard to restore federal money for school libraries in December's appropriations bill.

Yes. When you look at local school budgets, one of the first things to suffer is school libraries, and it's so tough on local communities. If there's no federal support, then it's even harder for the localities to support their libraries. One of the discouraging aspects of the previous year was the notion that school libraries are no longer a federal priority, and I think that sends the wrong signal to the localities.

The Obama administration also played a crucial role in passing the recent appropriations bill. Have you found them to be huge library supporters?

This year, they were. I was disappointed, frankly, when they zeroed out Improving Literacy Through School Libraries the previous year. But we made ourselves very clear to them, and they responded in a very favorable, positive way. We made the case very strenuously and, to be honest, without their support, I don't know if we could have carried this off. We hope that that support will strengthen over the next year.

Do you expect this renewed government support to send a clear message to those at the state and local levels that school libraries matter and need more money?

Frankly, this does not become the silver bullet that cures all the problems at the local level about funding. But it does give library advocates the opportunity to say, "You know, there's still a federal commitment to these programs in addition to the money." And I think that's important. It sends the signal that the federal government is still in the game, even though it's not as vigorous as it was in 1965, when they passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and there was a lot more robust federal funding.

I don't think many people knew you were working to secure $28.6 million for school libraries and literacy programs for next year. Why was it kept on the down low?

We kept it quiet because it was uncertain until the very last moment whether or not we would be successful. It was a very difficult year for appropriations, and we had been working closely with Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) trying to make the point of how critical funding is for school libraries. And we succeeded. But it was one of those years where nothing was done until it was all done. It was hard to get ahead and signal that we were making progress.

You're also working on a separate track to get school librarians included in the reauthorization of ESEA. Why's that so important?

Right now, we're working with Senators Harkin and Mike Enzi (R-WY) trying to develop language that will reflect the importance of libraries for elementary and secondary education. As we authorize education programs, we have to make sure that there is authority for supporting school libraries and supporting library professionals. If we do those two things, we add a lot of value to education. There's an incorrect notion that the librarian's role is simply to check books in and out. They're really educational leaders. If you have a good school librarian, then you've got somebody who can engage children in teaching them lifelong skills about research, about use of the Internet. If you've got a creative librarian, you can pull together all sorts of different topics into the fun exercises that kids enjoy. And this is done with professional development. The skills of library professionals are critical to the success of any school library. You go to the successful schools, particularly some of the private schools that are pointed to as models of success, and I would bet a lot of money that they have a very good library staff tha's well trained, and kids spend a lot of time in the library.

You're also asking for a dedicated funding stream for school libraries in ESEA?

Yes, we are. In the [2009] Recovery Act, we provided significant resources to allow states to retain educational personnel:both teachers and librarians—which has been attacked by the Republicans and criticized. They're not prepared to do that again, but we have to make that case, and librarians have to make that case. Everybody has to make that case.

What do you tell people who say kids don't need a school library or school librarian anymore now that there's the Internet or they can just go to the public library?

Good school libraries are essential to learning. Now it's even more critical to learn how to make judgments about the quality of sources and resources. You can pretty much guarantee anything in a school library is vetted carefully. When you go on the Internet, that's not the case—kids need to learn how to do research. It's a new challenge, because it's a new age—with new technology—and it underscores the need for good librarians. Children have to understand how to use these research tools, and the Internet is a research tool. They have to be even more discerning now because there's not the kind of editing and selection that you found previously when I was a kid, when the shelves were stocked by professional librarians with authoritative books. It's a lot different now. There's this continued need—even more so today—to teach skills about where to find something and to evaluate what you've found. So this is truly lifelong learning. As much as any course in mathematics or in anything else, this is what’s going to make the difference in people's lives.

Do you think most of your colleagues on the Hill feel the same way?

I think they do. I think people understand it. One problem is that there are so many different issues here. There are so many pressures, cost-cutting pressures. It’s a difficult economic situation.

You make an important point about libraries playing a crucial role in education reform. How are you using that argument to garner more support for school libraries?

If libraries are not an important part of what the President and Secretary of Education [Arne Duncan] are trying to do with revitalizing and reforming education, then that sends the wrong signals down to the localities and the states. So what we're trying to say is, “Listen, everyone is committed to educational reform, and a part of that has to be a continued commitment to libraries.” When you look at the commitment by the administration to reshape education, everyone says that our major challenge over the next several years, which is going to make or break our competitive nature in the economy, is school reform. If we're not talking about libraries as part of school reform, then I think we're missing the boat. We've at least got that discussion back on the table here in Washington, because we’re putting some money where our mouth is. When you get to the local level, you start talking about how do we revitalize education? What do we do? They can make the point by saying that at every level libraries have to be part of that school reform.

The House and Senate seem to be at odds over including school librarians in ESEA. What are the major sticking points?

Some of my colleagues feel the goal is to have fewer programs. There are folks around here who tend to evaluate what we do in terms of just eliminating programs, not evaluating programs and making sure that they work. The mind-set is just “the fewer the better.” But I think the mantra should be “What are good programs that work? Let's support them.”

How do you hope to accomplish that?

We continue to work closely, as we did through the appropriations process, with our colleagues, to enlist colleagues that share our viewpoint, to talk to the ranking chairmen and the ranking members of the committee, to be prepared if it comes to the floor to offer an amendment, but also to build up support internally so we can be successful.

We've also worked with the library community. The best sales people for school libraries are local librarians talking to their elected officials because my colleagues would be much more willing to be helpful and cooperative on library legislation if they were doing it because they had a thoughtful chat with the local librarian, whom they met at the grocery store, rather than meeting me and having a few minutes of my time.

What else can librarians do? Write letters and send emails? Call their representatives?

Do all of that. One of the strengths of our country is that, I'll bump into people in airports who will come up and introduce themselves and say, “Gee, I'm a school librarian. Thank you so much for what you’re doing.” It’s similar for my colleagues who are traveling around, walking around, when they bump into someone and they say, "Oh, by the way, I'm a school librarian, and we really need your help on some legislation that's important." Invite members of Congress, Senators, to your school libraries. If you get enough of those, guess what? Lawmakers who hadn't thought twice about libraries are going to say, “You know what? My constituents really think libraries are important.”

I think librarians fear that legislators are too busy and would never say yes.

Well, they'll never come if they're never invited—I can tell you that. All you have to say is, “Please come and visit our library. Let me show you all the interesting things we can do. And let me show what I can do with a little more assistance.”

School librarians are losing their jobs at alarming rates. What advice do you have for them to stay hopeful?

There are no easy responses because local school committees faced with difficult choices are looking around and saying, "What do we do?"; And then, too often, it comes down to, "Well, we don't need to buy library books this year." And then you wake up and 10 years later your library doesn't have the materials it needs, and it’s out-of-date. So the pressures are real, and I’m not trying to minimize those pressures. It’s a constant effort that has to be made through school administrators, the principals, the superintendents; through the school committees, and through the state assemblies, where the bulk of these resources come from.

Where does your love of libraries come from?

I was lucky. I had access to libraries when I was a youngster, both the local public library and the school library, and then all through my education. Libraries have been central parts of my education both as a graduate student and a law student. Even at West Point, we used the libraries in the few minutes we had available to use them. If you give someone a fish, they might feed themselves for a day but if you teach them how to fish, they’ll be ready for a lifetime. Well, if you give somebody a book, that’s nice. But if you teach them how to use a library, if they know there’s a place they can go, then that’s going to prepare them for a lifetime of learning.

Debra Lau Whelan is SLJ’s senior news and features editor.

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