Good evening and welcome to the new members of the Board. My name is Deborah Grill and I am a retired district school teacher and school librarian. I understand that joy is one of the core values of the district’s Strategic Plan.
I want to point out that
- School libraries are joyful places. Students love to visit their libraries.
- Many studies over many years have found a positive correlation between the presence of a quality school library program staffed by a school librarian and improved reading scores.
- Restoring school libraries and school librarians is the perfect way to execute your strategic plan to bring joy to learning and improve reading skills.
Right now only a spattering of district schools school libraries, most of which are volunteer run, and the district only has the equivalent of 2 full time librarians for its 218 schools. Our students need and deserve more.
School libraries, staffed by school librarians help to create a joyful culture of reading and learning within a school building. Students reading skills improve faster when they actually enjoy what they are reading and have ready access to a variety of reading materials. School libraries and librarians provide them with with the wide selection of literary genres, authors and print and electronic materials needed to satisfy their interests and support their learning.
School librarians introduce students to safe and reliable print and online reference materials and teach them how to research topics that interest them. They collaborate with teachers on units of study and the library functions not only as a research site but a maker-space and display venue for the visual products that resulted from those units.
The library also provides a safe place for students to come to at lunch and after school to study, read, relax, play games or just talk.
School libraries and librarians provide a safe, joyful and productive space for student learning and growth—a space that most district students do without.
I hope that you will correct that. I hope that you will make school libraries and librarians a strong point of your strategic plan.
Superintendent Tony Watlington has said joy is one of the core values of his Accelerate Philly strategic plan, but so far the plan doesn't designate anyone to oversee joy. https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/parenting/parents-say-school-district-of-philadelphia-should-have-a-chief-of-joy/ar-BB1nuIz4
