The Goal

Create social media posts sharing the professional qualifications of school librarians and also how school librarians choose books for school libraries to show your support. You can use the text below and or share specific stories about your librarian or school library.

Copy and paste any or all of this text:

In Texas, certified school librarians have a bachelor's degree, a Master's degree, and at least 2 years of teaching experience. School librarians take up to four state certification tests. School librarians also receive graduate-level training in library collection development which is the purchasing of resources like books and online resources.

Certified school librarians follow their local Board of Trustee policies approved specifically for the selection of instructional materials known as Policy EF. Anyone can go to their school district website and look up the selection policies for Instructional materials for their schools. These policies address that books and other library resources take into consideration students' varied interests, abilities and maturity levels, in some cases used as supports for the curriculum, provide a variety of perspectives in both leisure reading and informational texts, and help students examine their own perspectives, and reflect the diverse backgrounds of the students and families that they serve as well as representing those In the world at large in a pluralistic society.

Selecting books to purchase for school libraries is a lengthy process. School librarians spend hours reading professional book reviews, surveying teachers and students for their input, and monitoring publishers' new releases to find the absolute best literature to add to the library shelves. It can honestly take months to curate a list of high-quality books that represent a wide range of authors, genres, topics, views, & experiences.

There are multiple organizations at the state and national level that select school librarians to read through hundreds of books every year to create award lists and recommended book lists for every age level. School librarians attend webinars and network with other school librarians to learn about new books and what students are reading and loving. In addition to all that, school librarians also read selections of books that are appropriate for the level of students they work with in order to be able to recommend books and talk to teachers and students about the books selected for the school library. School librarians know that not every book is for every student, but they have to provide choices for all students in the school.

School librarians understand the immense responsibility they have for choosing books and library resources for all students, teachers, and stakeholders they serve. School librarians are highly qualified for this work and deeply invested in curating quality collections that reflect the many varied perspectives, experiences, and information that compose the complexity of the human experience. School library resources connect all students to the world around them. Our students deserve the #FReadom of access and choice and it is their first amendment right. "In the Supreme Court case Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), the Court held that the First Amendment limits the power of junior high and high school officials to remove books from school libraries because of their content."

School librarians do not deserve to be denigrated and undermined by state leaders for political gain. If you know a school librarian, please check on them and show your support!