Current+Board+Statement

​Advocates for Amphi Libraries

Ist Paragraph-Opening about National Library Week.

Second Paragraph- Key message: Strong school libraries improve student achievement. Research shows that strong school libraries are staffed with certified libary media specialists, paraprofessionals, and technology specialists working as a team to increase student achievement.

3 key points:

1. Our libraries are educational and financial investments that cannot be allowed to deterioriate.

2. Certified media specialists and paraprofessionals provide direct instruction and guidance to students and facilitate the use and the evaluation of print and technology resources in the 21st Century.

3. School libraries are the center of the school community.

Later....thank you for the support this year, include profesional half days, invite Board to visit libraries during NLW, tell Board we would like to dedicate a book in each library

"It is more than ironic that school districts are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on reading programs and staff development which invest in school library programs that show direct correlations < http://www.lrs.org/impact.php> to student success." ~ Douglas Achterman, 2008 Study of California School Libraries
 * WORK AREA**
 * have had limited success* in boosting test scores, but are unwilling to

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is with great pleasure to present to you today A LIBRARY FOR EVERY SCHOO= L: Proclamation.

After the Open Letter to the UK Prime Minister was send some weeks ago, we = promised you to compose a document that could be used worldwide for advocac= y purposes. Well, here it is!

Attached you'll find the official proclamation in English, signed and distr= ibuted by Stichting ENSIL and co-signed by IASL, IASL Europe and IFLA Schoo= l Libraries and Resource Centres.

On the ENSIL website , you will also find a Word versi= on of the document for you to sign on the first page; add your (organisatio= n's) name in the footer, and (optional) the logo in the header. The proclamation can be used by individuals as well as organisations. We ki= ndly suggest to translate the document in your national or even regional la= nguage and send it to as many school leaders, administrators, politicians a= nd decision makers as possible. Mount it on your website, post in your blog= , use twitter, list serves and social networks to disseminate the document = and make it work!

From Lisa @ Walker: ** White House Conference on School Libraries **  **What Research Tells Us About the Importance of School Libraries** ** Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D. ** "When school libraries have higher levels of professional and total staffing, larger collections of print and electronic resources, and more funding, students tend to earn higher scores on state reading tests." " There is a clear consensus in the results now available for eight states: School libraries are a powerful force in the lives of America's children. The school library is one of the few factors whose contribution to academic achievement has been documented empirically, and it is a contribution that cannot be explained away by other powerful influences on student performance." http://www.imls.gov/news/events/whitehouse_2.shtm#kcl

Amphi's mission statement reads :"To empower all students to become....equipped with the skills, knowledge and values necessary to meet the challenges of a changing world". The information literacy skills students learn in libraries are increasingly vital to children's future success in a 21st century world. If we claim our mission is to prepare children for this changing world we must show support for the libraries that serve as the hub of information literacy learning.

In light of our diminished resources, we will need our parents to partner with us more than ever to help their children "thrive academically", as stated in Amphi's vision statement. Educators are consistently and emphatically stressing the importance of parents reading with their children and the importance of children reading every day. What kind of messsage do we send to both children and parents if we continue to drain resources and personnel from the one place children have access to free, age appropriate books every day? How do we tell those children who have no money for books and no means to get to the public library that we expect them to become readers but we don't support a properly staffed library? Maintaining a strong, vibrant library is a critical part of achieving the mission and vision of Amphi schools.

[|Sec. Duncan says school administrators should protect funding for libraries]
November 09th, 2009 | Category: [|OGR], [|School Libraries] The US Chamber of Commerce hosted the Institute of Competitive Workforce’s Education and Workforce Summit 2009 today. US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave the Opening Address and talked about the needs of our education system and why Race to the Top will be so important. Race to the Top Fund is a competitive one-time grant program funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that aims to encourage and reward states that are leading education innovation and reform. I asked him how he could use the information literacy specialists – the school librarians – to address perceived needs. His answer was sort of vague platitudes, so I followed up asking him again what he will specifically do. He said that he needs to make sure that school administrators don’t cut school librarians or funds for school libraries. We heartily agree. Emily Sheketoff Executive Director ALA Washington Office

__I used a "cut and paste" from a variety of sources and came up with this very ROUGH DRAFT. My concern now is how/who/when will all this be put is together in a presentable format for next week???__
__Margie Mora AHS Dr. Balentine, President Grant, and Governing Board Members: On behalf of the Amphitheater community, we are all painfully aware of the impending state budget cuts and how these cuts will affect the district’s commitment to provide exceptional education that will prepare our entire student population to excel in the 21st century**.** Difficult times require bold moves coming from clear vision. Hidden in every crisis there are many opportunities to make progress. The potential of this district as a model for other schools is tremendous. So many times, when opportunities present themselves we are unable to see them because we are captive to the way its always been. So we choose responses within that context – moving us backwards instead of forward. While circumstances threaten the district, the district has an opportunity – we can control what is cut, we can make strategically sound decisions, and we can discover the opportunities rather than cave to the crisis by slowly, but lethally, draining the most precious of resources – the resources and the people who make education happen here. April 11-17 is National Library Week and it is with this in mind that we implore you to look most carefully at the investment we have created in our collective libraries. This amounts to an astounding $25 million, (??? Verify this amount!!). NO one in any business can afford to let an investment of this magnitude wallow or worse, let the entire collection walk out the door! It is our fiscal responsibility to protect the collections of all Amphi libraries and ensure access to the materials for all students. Let me conclude by quoting what President Barack Obama stated: "And so the moment we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold into a library, we've changed their lives forever, and for the better. This is an enormous force for good." Please do what is good for Amphitheater libraries. Sincerely, Advocates for Amphi Libraries ___ From: Nancy Van Der Linden (Library Clerk/Media Tech AHS)

Margie encouraged me to post this, so I am. :-) I do think many good ideas and thoughts have been posted and that putting it all together in a way that meets the timing need is the hurdle to overcome. Perhaps we even need to consider simply acknowledging National Library Week with presentation of plan to put a book plate in a book for each library - but there is still issue of who and how to present. Anyhow, here were my thoughts.

On behalf of many concerned members of the Amphi community, I would like to thank you for your desire to ensure that our students have the best possible education even in these very difficult times. It is obvious that this board wants to uphold the core ideas of the district mission statement. We recognize and commend you for facing the challenges that are now before us.

National Library Week brings to mind the fact that libraries play a vital role in seeing desire become reality. On a daily basis certified teacher librarians and paraprofessional staff guide students in acquiring and using skills to navigate the vast array of information in its many formats. Not only do studies show that there is a correlation between strong libraries and improved test scores, but experience verifies that without these 21st century skills our graduates face failure in a future for which they are unprepared. Amphi has a very real investment in time and money in their school libraries, and that investment must not be allowed to deteriorate. Students from kindergarten to high school seniors need to be secure that they will have the resources and people to guide them into becoming educated and responsible adults with the knowledge and skills to face tough times.

We in turn want to assure this board that we recognize that you have a very, very difficult job to do. There are no easy answers, but we are grateful that each of us has been given opportunity to learn and use libraries in our educational past. It is the hope that we will work together as a community to give today’s students the same opportunity.