Ask Arne Duncan to support school libraries
Take five minutes today to contact Arne Duncan and encourage him to continue the 19.1 million dollar funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries. This program is critical in helping school librarians have access to books and technological resources, and is not currently funded in the FY11 budget. It is up to the Department of Education to decide whether to allocate the funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries. The deadline for this budget is May 15, 2011. We encourage you to use the sample message below to contact Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, and urge him to continue the funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries in this year’s Department of Education budget.
Sample message:
Dear Secretary of Education:
I am contacting you today to urge you to continue the 19.1 million dollar funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries in this year’s Department of Education budget. As a librarian, I know firsthand the critical importance libraries play in the development of young adults and I urge you to support their literacy development by funding this program.
Sincerely,
Contact information:
Phone: (202) 401-3000
Arne.duncan@ed.gov
Dear Secretary of Education:
I am contacting you today to urge you to continue the 19.1 million dollar funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries in this year’s Department of Education budget. According to a multi state study, the single most important factor in student achievement is having a certified School Librarian and a well stocked library. As a librarian, I know firsthand the critical importance libraries play in the development of young adults and I urge you to support their literacy development by funding this program.
Sincerely,
Melissa Heckler
School Library Media Specialist
Croton-Harmon School District
Croton, New York
Please continue funding. School libraries provide significant benefit for the investment. Literacy is the basic foundation upon which any successful life is built.
Dear Secretary of Education:
I am a public youth services librarian contacting you today to urge you to continue the 19.1 million dollar funding for Improving Literacy through School Libraries in this year’s Department of Education budget.
Schools without viable libraries FAIL (as do communities!). According to a multi state study, the single most important factor in student achievement is having a certified School Librarian and a well stocked library. As a librarian, I know firsthand the critical importance libraries play in the development of young adults and I urge you to support their literacy development by funding this program. We can’t have too many places for for our kids to read, study, research and “hang out.”
We like to say that we are a child-oriented society in the United State, but the support that we provide to public schools, libraries and other programs that support kids and their families pales in significance to what other “modernized” countries spend and is peanuts compared to what corporations spend to turn them into “markets.”