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EveryLibrary and PSLA rally for School Librarians on Vimeo

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/librarians-rally-for-more-help-in-philadelphia-public-schools/2279511/

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) and EveryLibrary, a non-profit, national political action committee for libraries, organized a Rally to Restore Philadelphia School Librarians held Friday, January 24, in front of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) Administration Building. APPS, the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools also supported the rally.

Message: Every student deserves a certified school librarian and a quality school library. Although there are over 200,000 students in SDP, there are only six school librarians in the district, making it the worst librarian to student ratio in the nation.

Lauren Comito, founder of Urban Librarians Unite and recent recipient of Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award mceed the demonstration. The Rally was a huge success with approx 150 people attending.  Pa legislators Rep Tom Murt (a  primary co-sponsor of HB 1355), Rep Malcolm Kenyatta, Sen Vincent Hughes and Sen Larry Farnese (co-sponsor of SB 752) spoke. City Councilwoman and parent of SDP students Kendra Brooks also made a compelling speech along with Jerry Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and Jessica Way, teacher representative of WE the Caucus of Working Educators. Debbie Grill, former SDP school librarian and leader in APPS, the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, relayed the history of cuts in SDP library programs and losses to students. PSLA’s President Cathi Fuhrman presented the loss of librarians statewide and Masterman High School senior Kayla Johnson told her story of “privilege” as she attended K through 12 SDP schools that still have librarians and what that has meant to her. Four Philadelphia TV stations covered the event. Watch the livestream video of the speakers at https://vimeo.com/387046910.