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Librarians and Students Urge State Adoption of National School Library Standards
Summary
Students, school librarians and library associations testified that adopting AASL standards (H.4207/S.428) would improve information literacy and equity; committee members asked how standards intersect with funding and staffing shortfalls.
BOSTON — Dozens of students, school librarians and library advocates told the Joint Committee on Education that adopting national school‑library standards would help students learn information literacy, digital citizenship and research skills while narrowing equity gaps across districts.
Student testimony opened the library portion of the hearing. Misael Perez, a senior at Family High School, said access to a school library and diverse titles transformed his relationship with reading and urged passage of S.428/H.4207 (SEG 723‑753). School librarians described hands‑on lessons that pair library standards with classroom content, from primary‑source research trips to media‑literacy instruction.
Dr. Maria McCauley, director of libraries for Cambridge Public Library and president‑elect of the American Library Association, urged the committee to adopt the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards so school libraries can teach information navigation and digital citizenship (SEG 4830‑4860). Reba Tierney, president of the Massachusetts School Library Association, said adoption would provide a roadmap for school library curriculum and evaluation (SEG 5688‑5728).
Speakers emphasized equity: librarians and district leaders said many schools — particularly in underfunded districts — lack licensed school library teachers and resources. ‘‘About 60% of schools do not have a licensed school library teacher,’’ one librarian cited from DESE data in testimony (SEG 5622‑5627). Committee members pressed witnesses on implementation: the bills call for adopting the standards and a DESE study every three years, but do not include a dedicated funding stream or mandates for staffing. Witnesses asked the state and districts to consider creative staffing, grant‑seeking and phased implementation.
Next steps: the committee closed testimony on H.4207/S.428 after an extensive set of panels and requested written materials to understand the scale and cost of implementation.
