S 7522: Requires librarians for schools in every elementary, middle and high school in New York city.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7522 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Libraries AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring librarians for schools in New York city The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 275 of the education law is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 § 275. Librarians of school libraries. In a school district maintain- 4 ing an academic department or high school the board of education may 5 employ, and fix the compensation of, a person to act as school librarian 6 who may be engaged for all or a part of the time in performance of the 7 duties of the position as may be directed by the said board. The person 8 so employed, who may be the librarian of the free library, shall be 9 possessed of the qualifications prescribed by the commissioner [of 10 education]. In all other districts the trustees or board of education 11 may appoint a competent person to act as librarian. In case of a fail- 12 ure of a city or union free school district maintaining an academic 13 department or high school to employ a librarian as above provided, the 14 teacher of English in such school shall be the librarian. In case of a 15 failure to appoint a librarian in any other district, the teacher, or if 16 there be more than one teacher the principal teacher, shall act as 17 librarian. The trustees or board of education shall report to the 18 commissioner [of education] the name and address of the person employed 19 or appointed as librarian. In the city of New York, every elementary 20 school, middle school and high school shall have a school librarian. 21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 22 the date on which it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11712-01-5