I was tickled this morning to find out that something that started almost a year ago has finally come together! There is a great story and video on the front page of the New York Times: I am so pleased to see this story!! <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/books/16libr.html?hp> The video is super, too. Here's the back story:
The reporter contacted me in March 2008 for the names of school librarians who encourage reading who were close to NY City...DUH, that would be all of us! LM_NET and the SLMS/NYLA listservs connected me with a lot of people who were willing to be interviewed. I knew that if she wanted a New York City school librarian, Stephanie Rosalia would be great--she is passionate and well-spoken--so made sure she was on the list.
She followed Stephanie Rosalia for a long time and kept in contact with AASL and ALA, talking to the ALA Public Information Office and AASL President Ann Martin as recently as 3:30pm last Friday.
She is now convinced of the importance of school libraries in students' lives and asks whether there is a school librarian in each school she considers for her youngest child according to Stephanie. I very much appreciate the story!
The story is well-timed and can be forwarded to everyone's governors and superintendents as budgets are being determined.
Whoo-hoo!