I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1570

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide

up-to-date school library media resources and well-trained, professionally

certified school library media specialists for elementary schools and secondary schools, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 24, 2001

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to provide up-to-date school library media resources and well-trained, professionally certified school

library media specialists for elementary schools and secondary schools, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Literacy

5 Through School Libraries Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCES.

2 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education

3 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating part E as part F; and

5 (2) by inserting after part D the following:

6 ‘‘PART E—ASSISTANCE TO SCHOOL LIBRARIES

7 TO IMPROVE LITERACY

8 ‘‘Subpart 1—Library Media Resources

9 ‘‘SEC. 2350. PURPOSE.

10 ‘‘The purposes of this subpart are—

11 ‘‘(1) to improve literacy skills and academic

12 achievement of students by providing students with

13 increased access to up-to-date school library mate14 rials, a well-equipped, technologically advanced

15 school library media center, and well-trained, profes16 sionally certified school library media specialists;

17 ‘‘(2) to support the acquisition of up-to-date

18 school library media resources for the use of stu19 dents, school library media specialists, and teachers

20 in elementary schools and secondary schools;

21 ‘‘(3) to provide school library media specialists

22 with the tools and training opportunities necessary

23 for the specialists to facilitate the development and

24 enhancement of the information literacy, information

25 retrieval, and critical thinking skills of students; and
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1 ‘‘(4)(A) to ensure the effective coordination of

2 resources for library, technology, and professional

3 development activities for elementary schools and

4 secondary schools; and

5 ‘‘(B) to ensure collaboration between school li6 brary media specialists, and elementary school and

7 secondary school teachers and administrators, in de8 veloping curriculum-based instructional activities for

9 students so that school library media specialists are

10 partners in the learning process of students.

11 ‘‘SEC. 2351. STATE ALLOTMENTS.

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall allot to each eligible State edu13 cational agency for a fiscal year an amount that bears the

14 same relation to the amount appropriated under section

15 2360 and not reserved under section 2359 for the fiscal

16 year as the amount the State educational agency received

17 under part A of title I for the preceding fiscal year bears

18 to the amount all eligible State educational agencies re19 ceived under part A of title I for the preceding fiscal year.

20 ‘‘SEC. 2352. STATE APPLICATIONS.

21 ‘‘To be eligible to receive an allotment under section

22 2351 for a State for a fiscal year, the State educational

23 agency shall submit to the Secretary an application at

24 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
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1 tion as the Secretary shall require. The application shall

2 contain a description of—

3 ‘‘(1) the manner in which the State educational

4 agency will use the needs assessment described in

5 section 2355(1) and poverty data to allocate funds

6 made available through the allotment to the local

7 educational agencies in the State with the greatest

8 need for school library media improvement;

9 ‘‘(2) the manner in which the State educational

10 agency will effectively coordinate all Federal and

11 State funds available for literacy, library, technology,

12 and professional development activities to assist local

13 educational agencies, elementary schools, and sec14 ondary schools in—

15 ‘‘(A) acquiring up-to-date school library

16 media resources in all formats, including books

17 and advanced technology such as Internet con18 nections; and

19 ‘‘(B) providing training for school library

20 media specialists;

21 ‘‘(3) the manner in which the State educational

22 agency will develop standards for the incorporation

23 of new technologies into the curricula of elementary

24 schools and secondary schools through school library

25 media programs to develop and enhance the infor-
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1 mation literacy, information retrieval, and critical

2 thinking skills of students; and

3 ‘‘(4) the manner in which the State educational

4 agency will evaluate the quality and impact of activi5 ties carried out under this subpart by local edu6 cational agencies to make determinations regarding

7 the need of the agencies for technical assistance and

8 whether to continue funding the agencies under this

9 subpart.

10 ‘‘SEC. 2353. STATE RESERVATION.

11 ‘‘A State educational agency that receives an allot12 ment under section 2351 may reserve not more than 3

13 percent of the funds made available through the allotment

14 to provide technical assistance, disseminate information

15 about effective school library media programs, and pay ad16 ministrative costs, relating to this subpart.

17 ‘‘SEC. 2354. LOCAL ALLOCATIONS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency that

19 receives an allotment under section 2351 for a fiscal year

20 shall use the funds made available through the allotment

21 and not reserved under section 2353 to make allocations

22 to local educational agencies.

23 ‘‘(b) AGENCIES.—The State educational agency shall

24 allocate the funds to the local educational agencies in the

25 State that have—
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1 ‘‘(1) the greatest need for school library media

2 improvement according to the needs assessment de3 scribed in section 2355(1); and

4 ‘‘(2) the highest percentages of poverty, as

5 measured in accordance with section 1113(a)(5).

6 ‘‘SEC. 2355. LOCAL APPLICATION.

7 ‘‘To be eligible to receive an allocation under section

8 2354 for a fiscal year, a local educational agency shall sub9 mit to the State educational agency an application at such

10 time, in such manner, and containing such information as

11 the State educational agency shall require. The application

12 shall contain—

13 ‘‘(1) a needs assessment relating to need for

14 school library media improvement, based on the age

15 and condition of school library media resources (in16 cluding book collections), access of school library

17 media centers to advanced technology, including

18 Internet connections, and the availability of well19 trained, professionally certified school library media

20 specialists, in schools served by the local educational

21 agency;

22 ‘‘(2) a description of the manner in which the

23 local educational agency will use the needs assess24 ment to assist schools with the greatest need for

25 school library media improvement;
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1 ‘‘(3) a description of the manner in which the

2 local educational agency will use the funds provided

3 through the allocation to carry out the activities de4 scribed in section 2356;

5 ‘‘(4) a description of the manner in which the

6 local educational agency will develop and carry out

7 the activities described in section 2356 with the ex8 tensive participation of school library media special9 ists, elementary school and secondary school teach10 ers and administrators, and parents;

11 ‘‘(5) a description of the manner in which the

12 local educational agency will effectively coordinate—

13 ‘‘(A) funds provided under this subpart

14 with the Federal, State, and local funds re15 ceived by the agency for literacy, library, tech16 nology, and professional development activities;

17 and

18 ‘‘(B) activities carried out under this sub19 part with the Federal, State, and local library,

20 technology, and professional development activi21 ties carried out by the local educational agency;

22 and

23 ‘‘(6) a description of the manner in which the

24 local educational agency will collect and analyze data

25 on the quality and impact of activities carried out
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1 under this subpart by schools served by the local

2 educational agency.

3 ‘‘SEC. 2356. LOCAL ACTIVITIES.

4 ‘‘A local educational agency that receives a local allo5 cation under section 2354 may use the funds made avail6 able through the allocation—

7 ‘‘(1) to acquire up-to-date school library media

8 resources, including books;

9 ‘‘(2) to acquire and utilize advanced technology,

10 incorporated into the curricula of the schools, to de11 velop and enhance the information literacy, informa12 tion retrieval, and critical thinking skills of students;

13 ‘‘(3) to acquire and utilize advanced technology,

14 including Internet links, to facilitate resource-shar15 ing among schools and school library media centers,

16 and public and academic libraries, where possible;

17 ‘‘(4) to provide professional development oppor18 tunities for school library media specialists; and

19 ‘‘(5) to foster increased collaboration between

20 school library media specialists and elementary

21 school and secondary school teachers and adminis22 trators.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2357. ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTINUATION OF

2 FUNDS.

3 ‘‘Each local educational agency that receives funding

4 under this subpart for a fiscal year shall be eligible to con5 tinue to receive the funding—

6 ‘‘(1) for each of the 2 following fiscal years; and

7 ‘‘(2) for each fiscal year subsequent to the 2

8 following fiscal years, if the local educational agency

9 demonstrates that the agency has increased—

10 ‘‘(A) the availability of, and the access of

11 students, school library media specialists, and

12 elementary school and secondary school teach13 ers to, up-to-date school library media re14 sources, including books and advanced tech15 nology, in elementary schools and secondary

16 schools served by the local educational agency;

17 ‘‘(B) the number of well-trained, profes18 sionally certified school library media specialists

19 in those schools; and

20 ‘‘(C) collaboration between school library

21 media specialists and elementary school and

22 secondary school teachers and administrators

23 for those schools.

24 ‘‘SEC. 2358. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.

25 ‘‘Funds made available under this subpart shall be

26 used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State,
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1 and local funds expended to carry out activities relating

2 to library, technology, or professional development activi3 ties.

4 ‘‘SEC. 2359. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

5 ‘‘The Secretary shall reserve not more than 3 percent

6 of the amount appropriated under section 2360 for a fiscal

7 year—

8 ‘‘(1) for an annual, independent, national eval9 uation of the activities assisted under this subpart,

10 to be conducted not later than 3 years after the date

11 of enactment of this subpart; and

12 ‘‘(2) to broadly disseminate information to help

13 States, local educational agencies, school library

14 media specialists, and elementary school and sec15 ondary school teachers and administrators learn

16 about effective school library media programs.

17 ‘‘SEC. 2360. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

19 this subpart $475,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such

20 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2003

21 through 2006.

22 ‘‘Subpart 2—School Library Access Program

23 ‘‘SEC. 2361. PROGRAM.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants

25 to local educational agencies to provide students with ac-
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1 cess to libraries in elementary schools and secondary

2 schools during non-school hours, including the hours be3 fore and after school, weekends, and summer vacation pe4 riods.

5 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a

6 grant under subsection (a), a local educational agency

7 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

8 in such manner, and containing such information as the

9 Secretary may require.

10 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under subsection

11 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to local educational

12 agencies that demonstrate, in applications submitted

13 under subsection (b), that the agencies—

14 ‘‘(1) seek to provide activities that will increase

15 literacy skills and student achievement;

16 ‘‘(2) have effectively coordinated services and

17 funding with entities involved in other Federal,

18 State, and local efforts, to provide programs and ac19 tivities for students during the non-school hours de20 scribed in subsection (a); and

21 ‘‘(3) have a high level of community support.

22 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subpart
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1 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may

2 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2006.’’.

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