<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #000000'><div><div>FYI, from ALA, out of Washington.</div><span name="x"></span><br></div><hr id="zwchr"><div style="color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><b>From: </b>"Emily Sheketoff" <esheketoff@alawash.org><br><b>Sent: </b>Wednesday, July 8, 2015 1:17:25 PM<br><b>Subject:</b>School Libraries Win!<br><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Landmark victory for school libraries and students today!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Does your voice matter? Yes, it does!!
<span style="color:#1F497D"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">It’s official and, incredibly, it’s virtually UNANIMOUS. Thanks in large part to the enthusiastic response to our
</span><a href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2015/07/amendment-to-help-save-school-libraries-moving-now/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">call to action yesterday</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt">, and a boost from mega-author James Patterson, the
US Senate today voted 98 – 0 in favor of the bi-partisan Reed-Cochran Amendment to
</span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s1177/BILLS-114s1177pcs.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#0563C1">S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt">! This amendment will explicitly make effective
school library programs part of the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Prior to the vote, both Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) spoke eloquently in support of this amendment and the importance of school libraries. Their work has been invaluable in garnering attention
for the important role that an effective school library program plays in a student’s education.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">BUT . . . while this is an important “win”, our work is not quite finished. Stay tuned as the bill moves forward! Next steps for this bill will be: continued discussion on the Senate floor, a Senate vote,
and then -- once the House has finished work on its own H.R. 5 -- the House and Senate will appoint a conference committee to resolve any disagreements and arrive at a bill that both can agree on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">GO school libraries!!!</span></p>
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