A 1538: Requires a school library media specialist in each elementary, intermediate, middle, junior high and senior high school with one such specialist being employed full-time in schools with more than five hundred students and two such specialists being employed full-time in schools with more than two thousand students.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1538 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, BUTTENSCHON, RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring a school library media specialist in each elementary, intermediate, middle, junior high and senior high school The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 286 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 286. School library media specialist. 1. Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of subdi- 5 vision two of this section, each school district shall employ a certi- 6 fied school library media specialist in each elementary, intermediate, 7 middle, junior high and senior high school within three years of the 8 effective date of this section. 9 2. Employment of certified school library media specialist shall be in 10 accordance with the following standards: 11 a. In each school with an enrollment of not more than one hundred 12 students, a certified school library media specialist shall be employed 13 as fifteen-hundredths of a full-time equivalent staff member; 14 b. In each school with an enrollment of more than one hundred but not 15 more than three hundred students, a certified school library media 16 specialist shall be employed as a three-tenths of a full-time equivalent 17 staff member; 18 c. In each elementary or secondary school with an enrollment of more 19 than three hundred but no more than five hundred students, a certified 20 school library media specialist shall be employed as a one-half of a 21 full-time equivalent staff member; 22 d. In each school with an enrollment of more than five hundred 23 students, a certified school library media specialist shall be employed 24 as a full-time equivalent staff member; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00657-01-5 
 A. 1538 2 1 e. In each school with an enrollment of more than one thousand 2 students but no more than two thousand students, a certified school 3 library media specialist and a support staff person shall be employed as 4 a full-time equivalent staff member; 5 f. (i) In each school with an enrollment of at least two thousand 6 students, two certified school library media specialists and two support 7 staff persons shall be employed as a full-time equivalent staff member; 8 (ii) An additional full-time equivalent staff member shall be employed 9 as a support staff person for each additional one thousand students 10 enrolled in a school. 11 3. The commissioner may, upon application by a school district, waive 12 the applicability of the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this 13 section for up to two years, if such application demonstrates the school 14 is within a designated shortage area for certified school library media 15 specialists, and such application demonstrates that such school has a 16 two-year plan to be in compliance with the provisions of this section; 17 however, no such waiver shall be granted for more than two consecutive 18 school years. 19 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 711 of the education law, as amended by 20 chapter 571 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 21 2. School library materials, for the purposes of this article shall 22 mean digital materials, audio/visual materials and printed materials 23 that may or may not require magnification which meet all of the follow- 24 ing criteria: (1) materials which are catalogued and processed as part 25 of the school library or media center for use by elementary and/or 26 secondary school children and teachers; (2) materials which with reason- 27 able care and use may be expected to last more than one year; and (3) 28 materials which would not be eligible for aid pursuant to sections seven 29 hundred one and seven hundred fifty-one of this title. School library 30 materials meeting these criteria may include (i) hard cover, paperback 31 books and e-books, periodicals, that is, print and digital publications 32 which are subscription-based and appear at regular intervals of less 33 than one year on a continuing basis for an indefinite period, documents 34 other than books, pamphlets, musical scores, other printed, digital and 35 published materials, (ii) for school year nineteen hundred eighty-six-- 36 eighty-seven and thereafter, audio/visual materials including films, 37 film strips, micro-film, sound recordings, processed slides, transparen- 38 cies, kinescopes, video tapes, maps, charts, globes, pictorial works, 39 including pictures and picture sets, reproductions, photographs, graphic 40 works, any audio/visual, online or electronic materials needed for media 41 literacy programs, and any other audio/visual materials of a similar 42 nature made. 43 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 44 the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the 45 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 46 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 47 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.