Funding is sought for school library books

According to the Seattle Post- Intelligencer, young teens are actually reading for pleasure! In fact, "Kids are buying books in quantities we've never seen before," says Michael Cart, a leading authority on young adult literature. Post-Intelligencer reporter, Cecilia Goodnow, declares a "golden age of young adult literature" is here.

In spite of this encouraging news, we are still bombarded with news about plummeting test scores and young people who do not read unless they have to and then do so only reluctantly. Many have pointed the finger at television for the decline in reading, but perhaps the real culprit is the inaccessibility to current and relevant books, magazines, and newspapers. Although students may have access to a school library media center, many of the centers do not have sufficient funds to provide reading material of high quality and current interest. In 1995, prior to the funding of the School Library Printed Materials Grant, the average school library book was printed in the 1960s. We simply cannot expect to promote reading with out-of-date materials.

Recently, Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Suellen Reed, swung into action, shining a spotlight on the need to provide current, appealing, highinterest, and useful books and other reading materials to Indiana's young adolescents. She provided each member of the Indiana General Assembly with a copy of "Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books." Growing up in Indiana, Lincoln had limited access to books, but he did indeed love them and went on to become a reading role model for students in Indiana and the rest of the nation. Perhaps Dr. Reed's gift to the General Assembly members will encourage them to take a page from Abe Lincoln's book and join her in becoming reading role models themselves.

Under current law, school corporations must spend $8 per student per year on their library programs (511 IAC 6.1-5-6). This can include not only materials, but also salaries of library-related staff. By providing adequate staffing, school districts can quickly reach the spending per student without providing funding for any new materials. To keep a library collection current, at least two new books per student should be purchased each year.

State funding for school libraries from the School Library Printed Materials Grant resulted in substantial increases in the number of books purchased and, more importantly, in the number of books checked out of those libraries by students. With the demise of the grant program, both book purchases and book circulation numbers declined dramatically.

Current books and newspapers are needed for schools to succeed in meeting Indiana academic standards for English/language arts. Newer titles encourage reading for both students interested in current events and those who are reluctant readers. Access to updated, reliable, and relevant materials will improve proficiency in the following English/language arts categories: writing, literary response and analysis, reading comprehension, word recognition, fluency, and vocabulary development. School libraries also need the funding to provide Indiana students access to resources on a variety of topics impacting instruction in social studies, science, art, music, mathematics and other curricular areas, and materials of interest to students.

While funding for new books, magazines and newspapers has declined, more than 25 percent of Indiana schools list reading as one of their goals in their Public Law 221 plans to improve educational quality.

If we hope to meet the goals of empowering young people through reading, then we absolutely must provide them with essential materials. If we are to believe the statistics that tell us young people across the country are reading willingly when they have current, interesting, and relevant materials, then, as contemporary slang so strongly points out, "This is a no-brainer."

If you want to contact your legislators on this or any other issue, you can call them toll-free in Indianapolis. Call your House representative at (800) 382-9842 or your senator at (800) 382-9467. You can find their e-mail addresses online at www.in.gov/legislature/contact/i ndex.html.
      Jack W. Humphrey,
            Middle Grades
        Reading Network,
University of Evansville