Australian Teacher Librarians and school libraries, received some good (awesome!) news today from Australian House of Representatives Liaison & Projects Office.
The media alert outlines the preliminary details:
School libraries review relaunched
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment has been asked by the Federal Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, the Hon. Peter Garrett AM MP, to complete an inquiry into the role, adequacy and resourcing of school libraries and teacher librarians in Australia’s public and private schools, that was begun in the previous Parliament.
The Terms of Reference require that the Committee specifically focus on:
- the impact of recent policies and investments on school libraries and their activities;
- the future potential of school libraries and librarians to contribute to improved educational and community outcomes, especially literacy;
- the factors influencing recruitment and development of school librarians;
- the role of different levels of government and local communities and other institutions in partnering with and supporting school librarians; and
- the impact and potential of digital technologies to enhance and support the roles of school libraries and librarians
Announcing the inquiry, Committee Chair Ms Amanda Rishworth, MP, said, “The Committee is very pleased that this matter will be revisited by the new Education Committee. Teacher librarians make a significant contribution in our schools and we look forward to sharing our findings on how to enhance this valuable community resource. ”
The Committee will have reference to all the written submissions and evidence gathered at public hearings conducted by the former Education Committee in the previous Parliament.
judyoconnell.com 
Yay for Pete!
Thank you, on behalf of the majority of Australian children’s writers and illustrators who support school libraries, to all those who got involved in this issue by writing to politicians, by appearing at the Inquiries and sending in submissions to the Commission.
Also many thanks to all those concerned people (parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians, who logged on to our SAVING AUSSIE BOOKS Revisited blog site and voiced their opinions. http://savingaussiebooks.wordpress.com/a-saving-aussie-school-libraries/
We also must congratulate those members of the Inquiry Committee like MPs, Sharon Bird, Rob Oakeshott and the others, and PM Julia Gillard for first bringing the matter forward.
Judy this is a WOW! I only wish that the American Govt. would do something similar. Maybe the results of this study can be used to inform other countries of the importance of school libraries.