POWER Library Gets a Boost from PSEA!

It may not seem like much but over the past weekend the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA- i.e. the State Teacher's Association) passed a motion to help their students who use the library. PSEA’s House of Delegates passed a motion to support the ACCESS PA /POWER Library program and its funding. I know, big deal. But it is a big deal! Every year for the past 9 years that I have been a school librarian funding has been cut for POWER Library and every year librarians across the state sounded the alarm. Trouble is, the number of school librarians across the state has been greatly diminished. In the past few years Pennsylvania has been bleeding school librarians! Even in my own school district we lost a librarian this year and our elementary school libraries are dark one day a week. School librarians in force are just not a big enough force any more to combat these kind of assaults on the resources our students need. The motion put forth at PSEA was made by Ila Verdirame, a program administrator in the Mechanicsburg School District. It was seconded by Stephanie Andrejack, a librarian in the East Pennsboro Area School District.  Mike Crossey is president of PSEA and PSLA President, Eileen Kern sent him a big thank you. In fact, thank you from all of us school librarians. I for one am excited that PSEA is recognizing the importance of school libraries and library resources. It is especially nice to know that the next time funding for POWER Library and ACCESSPA is on the line that it will not only be librarians spitting into the wind, but teachers across the state sounding the alarm!