Bill Text: NY A06339 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires elementary and secondary school libraries provide equitable access to physical and digital media.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 6-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to education [A06339 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06339-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6339

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 16, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Education

        AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing require-
          ments for elementary and secondary school libraries

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section  274  of  the education law is amended to read as
     2  follows:
     3    § 274. Use and care of school library. 1. The school library shall  be
     4  a  part of the school equipment and shall be kept in the school building
     5  at all times. Such library shall be devoted to the exclusive use of  the
     6  school, except as otherwise provided by the rules of the commissioner of
     7  education  and  except  in a district where there is no free library, in
     8  which case such school library shall be a circulating  library  for  the
     9  use of the residents of the district.
    10    2. Each school library shall:
    11    a. provide physical access to resources including, but not limited to,
    12  books, technological equipment, media, and other tangible documents;
    13    b.  provide digital access to resources including, but not limited to,
    14  e-books, databases, software and media;
    15    c. provide equitable, flexible access to library space and  its  staff
    16  by school students, staff and faculty; and
    17    d.  receive  a  budget  allocation  on  a  per student basis to ensure
    18  resources and services remain relevant.
    19    3. Each school district shall annually evaluate their  school  library
    20  using a school library program rubric created by the department.
    21    4. The commissioner of education shall prescribe rules regulating
    22    [1.]  a.  The purchase, recording, safekeeping and loaning of books in
    23  school libraries, and the use of such books by pupils  and  teachers  in
    24  the public schools.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10405-02-1
        A. 6339                             2

     1    [2.]  b.  The  conditions under which books in a school library may be
     2  used by the public in a district in which a free library is situated.
     3    [3.]  c. The management of school libraries and their use as circulat-
     4  ing libraries by the residents of the district in which they  are  situ-
     5  ated.
     6    [4.]  d.  The contents and submission of reports of school librarians,
     7  teachers and other school authorities as to school libraries.
     8    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
     9  the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the
    10  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
    11  for the implementation of this act on its effective date are  authorized
    12  to be made and completed on or before such effective date.