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Legislation Past Committee Events & Alerts

Thursday, 04 March 2010 12:59

SKILLS "Strengthening Kids Interest in Learning and Libraries Act" Fails in the HELP Committee


On Friday, Oct. 21, 2011, it was announced that the SKILLS language in S. 1328 was withdrawn from the Senate Education (HELP) Committee's version of the reauthorization of ESEA.  Read the ALA Dispatch here. It will now need to be introduced in the full Senate with, hopefully, better results. On October 17, AASL held an informational congressional briefing, “Education Reform and the SKILLs Act: An Analysis of Twenty-First Century School Librarians and Their Impact on Career and College Readiness.” 

The SKILLs Act was introduced on July 6 by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and will amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by:

  •  Ensuring that funds will serve school libraries in elementary, middle, and high schools;
  • Improving literacy and college and career readiness through effective school library programs;
  • Encouraging coordination and shared planning time among school librarians and classroom teachers;
  •  Expanding professional development to include digital literacy instruction that is appropriate for all grade levels, an assessment of student literacy needs, the coordination of reading and writing instruction across content areas, and training in literacy strategies in all content areas;
  • Requiring books and materials to be appropriate for students in all grade levels and students with special learning needs, including English language learners;
  • Providing grants on a competitive basis for a period of three years;
  • Targeting funding to school districts with 20% or greater levels of students in poverty;
  • Ensuring an equitable distribution of funds among the different geographic regions of the country and among urban and rural areas; and
  • Requiring greater coordination among other literacy, technology, and professional development funds and activities.
 

The 2010-2011 State Budget 

The initial budget passed in early June included a one percent increase for the "Library Access" line item, the line item that funds the POWER Library databases and the ACCESS PA project. This line was the only library-related line to see an increase. This was surely the result of PSLA's postcard campaign and all the lobbying done by librarians and library advocates. Unfortunately, other library line items were cut yet again in August, when anticipated federal funds known as "FMAP" were reduced. However, "Libary Access" remained with no further cuts at $3M--a true victory for school librarians in Pennslvania! The final state budget stands as follows. The complete budget, including other library-related line items, can be found HERE.

 

State Budgets Comparisons 2008-09 to 2010-2011

PROGRAM FY 08-09 FY 09-10 % CUT IN
LIBRARY
SERVICES,
 
(2008-09 vs. 2009-10)		   
FY 2010-11 BUDGET		  % CUT IN
LIBRARY
SERVICES,
 
(2009-10 vs. 2010-11) 
Office of Commonwealth Libraries (includes State Library operations)

$4,846,000   

    $2,372,000   - 51.1%

 

$2,189,592

 - 7.7 %
Library Access (POWER Library, statewide card, interlibrary delivery) $ 7,290,000 $ 2,970,000 -73.2% $3,000,000 + 1 %
Electronic Library Catalog (Ask Here PA, Access PA database) $ 3,792,000 (Merged withLibrary Access line above) (Merged with
Library Access line above)
 		 (Merged with
Library Access line above)		      __


The Accountability Block Grants (ABG) and the PA PACT (Accountability to Commonwealth Taxpayers) Grants that included an option to spend funds on school library services, including staffing, resources, and/or extended hours has been reduced but still is being funded. In 2008-09, five districts took advantage of these funds to improve their library programs; in 2009-10, nine districts. Be sure to make your district fiscal managers aware that funds from ABG may be spent on school library services for students.


The Impact of the 2009-2010 Budget

The 2009-10 state budget caused a severe reduction in the electronic databases provided by the state.  It was quite a blow to school libraries as 412 of the 500 school districts relied on these resources as the only vetted, electronic databases that the schools had access to. Other than the Wilson databases, most databases will expire in December 2010. To review what databases remain and when their contracts end, read this announcement from HSLC on 2/12/10.


Available POWER Library Databases HSLC Announcement 2/12/10


Other impacts include:

  • Increased annual fee for ACCESS PA database technical support/membership-from $180 to $230 (for libraries with under 10,000 item collections or $295 (over 10,000 items)
  • No automatic updating of the ACCESS PA database from vendors will not be done (you can still manually update);  no new library records accepted
  • Interlibrary loan delivery fees increased (dependent on local arrangements; many school libraries paying over $300 per year)
  • Millenium Library Project no longer supported

[NOTE: Since this email, automatic adds and full file replacements are being reviewed with the intent to process some during Fall 2010.]

 

Bottom Line – Students have less access to resources to learn! Teachers have less access to resources to teach!

The 2009-2010 Budget Proves Devastating to Libraries

 
When the dust finally settled on the state budget that was almost three months late, libraries in Pennsylvania had little to show. While the Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign of which PSLA is a member helped Gov. Rendell and the Democrats to get a budget passed with a 5% increase in Basic Education Funding, the two lines items of greatest concern to school libraries took huge hits.   The “Electronic Library Catalog” (Ask Here PA, Access PA database) line item was basically zeroed out.  Projects included in the line item were merged with the “Library Access” line item. Together the cuts represented a 73.2% decrease!


Even though school districts received the additional 5% in the basic Education Funding, few school districts increased school library budgets. Since there are no regulations or requirements about school library funding from the state, this decision is made locally, school district by school district.For more articles about the 2009-2010 Budget Crisis, go to Past Committee Events & Alerts  page.  You can also  visit the Pennsylvania Library Association’s page at the PALA website.


Articles about the Impact of Cuts on School Libraries

2009-2010 State Budget Crisis

PaPTA and PSLA Summit on School Libraries
May 22, 2010, Scranton, PA

  • Registration Brochure with Agenda
  • Powerpoint- "PaPTA and PSLA Summit on School Libraries" - Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for a copy.
  • Summary Report to the PSLA Board

PSLA Legislator's Breakfast
April 30, 2008, Harrisburg, PA

"It's About Equity" Opening Video created by Joyce Valenza and other podcasts from the event, go to the PSLA Wiki.

Links to distributed booklets and Materials: