Part of the job is advocating for school libraries and School Library Systems at the legislative level. These critical decision makers need to know how important strong library programs are for kids. They need to understand that future citizens and voters are sitting in classrooms and school libraries today – learning how to make good decisions, how to analyze and synthesize information, how to be citizens of a participatory democracy.
If you take a look at the Capital Region BOCES Information Fluency Curriculum, you can’t help but be aware of how critical it is to have a strong and dynamic school library program with a qualified SLMS as part of a child’s whole education.
Too often legislators, like school administrators, see the school library program in the narrow focus of the school from which they graduated. Advocacy helps to turn this image around. It is a process of education for them.
Here I am at the Capitol Building, outside the office of Senator Neil Breslin on February 22, 2007. While our schools were closed for winter break, I took the opportunity to visit the Senator at a time when the Capitol was fairly quiet. We had a very positive meeting with the senator, who is a supporter of libraries.
If we are successful in our efforts, students all across the state become the unknowing beneficiaries of our work. It’s really powerful!
