City of Philadelphia - File #: 110008

• File #: 110008
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 1/27/2011
• In control: Committee on Education
• Title: Calling on the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education to Hold Hearings in Partnership with the State Board of Education and the Department of Education on the Lack of Library Facilities and Certified Librarians in Public Schools and to Hold a Public Roundtable Discussion of the State Study Investigating the Number and Quality of Public School Libraries.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Sanchez, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Rizzo, Councilmember Clarke, Councilmember DiCicco, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Kenney, Councilmember Miller, Councilmember O'Neill, Council President Verna, Councilmember Green

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
2/3/2011	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED & REFERRED
1/27/2011	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed On Next Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass

Title
Calling on the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education to Hold Hearings in Partnership with the State Board of Education and the Department of Education on the Lack of Library Facilities and Certified Librarians in Public Schools and to Hold a Public Roundtable Discussion of the State Study Investigating the Number and Quality of Public School Libraries.
Body
WHEREAS, The education of our children is of the utmost importance to the residents of Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia is the eighth largest in the nation with 258 schools and 160,000 students; and

WHEREAS, Of the 258 schools in the School District, only 120 have a library within the school; and

WHEREAS, Of the schools that have library facilities, only half of the City's sixty high schools, six of the twenty-six middle schools and a mere twenty-five of the one hundred and seventy elementary schools, have certified librarians; and

WHEREAS, Past initiatives to cut public library hours have stifled opportunities for students to utilize resources that are offered at public libraries in neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, Studies, including one by the Commonwealth in 1999, have shown that students who have access to a school library, demonstrate significant improvement on standardized test in reading, spelling, math, and problem solving skills; and

WHEREAS, Adequately stocked and staffed school libraries are invaluable educational tools for both students and teachers; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed House Resolution No. 987, calling for the State Board of Education and the Department of Education to conduct a study and hold public round-table discussions, on public school library resources in the state of Pennsylvania and to measure and compare library resources and facilities among the various school districts; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Philadelphia City Council Calls on the Committee on Education t...