Senate BillFailedEducation
SB 478: School accountability: Statewide School Library Lead.
What SB 478 does, verified February 3, 2026
This bill establishes a statewide school library lead to work collaboratively with the state board of education and other entities to enhance the state's investment in literacy. The selected county office of education will employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian and will be responsible for building capacity to develop excellent school library services. The statewide school library lead will align literacy efforts with the state's comprehensive literacy plan and work with school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to accelerate literacy and learning. The lead will provide direct technical assistance, deliver professional learning, and coordinate support to achieve these goals.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
2In CommitteeCurrent
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. (2026-02-02)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions11 total · showing 5
| Feb. 02, 2026 | Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| May. 23, 2025 | May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. |
| May. 16, 2025 | Set for hearing May 23. |
| Apr. 21, 2025 | April 21 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Apr. 10, 2025 | Set for hearing April 21. |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, February 19, 2025 · 750 words
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 478
| Introduced by Senator Ashby |
February 19, 2025 |
An act to add Section 52073.4 to the Education Code, relating to school accountability.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 478, as introduced, Ashby. School accountability: Statewide School Library Lead.
Existing law establishes a single system for providing support to local educational agencies and schools and for specified federal educational programs. Existing law provides that the purpose of the statewide system of support is to build the capacity of local educational agencies, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to establish a process, administered by the department, to select, subject to approval by the executive director of the State Board of Education, an expert lead agency based on specific expertise in an area of need to conduct activities and build statewide capacity to address that area of need within the statewide system of support, as well as geographic lead agencies for other specified purposes, as provided.
This bill, contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes, would require the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before July 1, 2026, to select an applicant county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead to work collaboratively with the State Board of Education, the department, and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, among others, to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. The bill would require the selected county office of education to employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian. The bill would specify that the Statewide School Library Lead’s duties include, among other things, enhancing the state’s investment in literacy and aligning those efforts with the California Comprehensive State Literacy Plan and working directly with school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to build capacity to develop excellent school library services and accelerate literacy and learning, including coordinating support, providing direct technical assistance, and delivering professional learning.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 52073.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:52073.4.
(a) On or before July 1, 2026, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the Superintendent shall select an applicant county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead to work collaboratively with the state board, the department, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, other lead agencies in the statewide system of support, and state and regional education stakeholders to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. The selected county office of education shall employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian. The statewide school library lead’s duties shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:(1) Enhancing the state’s investment in literacy and aligning those efforts with the California Comprehensive State Literacy Plan.
(2) Working collaboratively with Local Literacy Lead Agencies, the California Dyslexia Initiative, Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant recipients, Learning Acceleration System Grant recipients, the California SUMS (Scaling Up Multi-Tiered System of Support Statewide) Initiative, and Reading Instruction and Intervention Grant recipients.
(3) Working directly with local educational agencies to build capacity to develop excellent school library services and accelerate literacy and learning, including coordinating support, providing direct technical assistance, and delivering professional learning.
(4) Working with local and regional entities to facilitate the integration of media and information literacy into the curriculum, scale up collaboration and coteaching with teacher librarians, and promote the role of the Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools in preparing a globally competent workforce.
(5) Working with local and regional entities to promote school libraries as safe spaces that create a positive school climate, champion intellectual freedom, and support social and emotional learning, mindfulness, and well-being.
(6) Working with local and regional entities to engage with families and communities to better synthesize, integrate, and extend literacy programs in a coherent and comprehensive manner.
(7) Providing support for local educational agencies, subject matter projects across the state, the 21st Century California Leadership Academy, the California Community Schools Partnership Program: Regional Technical Assistance Center, and the Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning.
(b) For purposes of this section, “local educational agencies” means school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools.
(c) The implementation of this section shall be contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Text of SB 478 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions