Bill Text: CA SB321 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 321

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Literacy: libraries: Local Public Library Partnership Program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 598, Statutes of 2023. [SB321 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB321-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate April 10, 2023

Amended IN Senate March 09, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 321

Introduced by Senator Ashby
(Coauthor: Senator Atkins)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Bonta)

February 06, 2023

An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 19340) to Chapter ~~3.5 (commencing with Section 18575) to~~ 7 of Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to literacy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 321, as amended, Ashby. Literacy: libraries: ~~third grade pupils: access and participation.~~ Local Public Library Partnership Program.

Existing law declares that it is in the interest of the people and of the state that there be a general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence through the establishment and operation of public libraries. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a community college district to contract for the provision of school library services by the county library, as provided. Existing law finds and declares that strong leadership is needed at the local level to improve reading instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, of the public schools. the State Librarian to give advisory, consultive, and technical assistance with respect to public libraries to librarians and library authorities, and assist all other authorities, state and local, in assuming their full responsibility for library services.

This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, a local educational agency, as defined, and a local public library, as defined, to enter into a memorandum of understanding or a memorandum of agreement with the purpose of increasing participation and access to the local public library for pupils in the 3rd grade, as provided. The bill would require the memorandum to contain specified provisions, including that the local public library, in working with a school administrator, give a presentation to all pupils in the 3rd grade that provides specified information, including, among other things, how to obtain a physical library card, as provided.
The bill would require, within 3 years of the establishment of the memorandum of understanding or agreement, a local public library, in consultation with the local educational agency, to provide a report to the California State Library that contains specified information relating to the presentations described above.
~~By creating new duties for a local educational agency and a public library, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.~~
This bill would establish the Local Public Library Partnership Program, under the administration of the State Librarian, for purposes of ensuring that all pupils have access to a local public library by 3rd grade.

The bill would require the ~~California~~ State ~~Library~~ Librarian to ~~provide technical assistance to the local public libraries on the above-described provisions.~~ offer resources to assist each local public library, as defined, to find student success card dispensing strategies that work best for their communities, coordinate with each local public library to determine the most effective means to ensure each pupil in each local educational agency is issued a student success card by 3rd grade, and, ensure, on or before January 1, 2026, that partnerships between local public libraries and local educational agencies have been established to enable each pupil enrolled at a schoolsite of each local educational agency to be issued a student success card by 3rd grade, as provided. To the extent these provisions impose additional duties on public libraries and local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2029, and each year thereafter, the State Librarian to report to the Legislature on the Local Public Library Partnership Program, as provided.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The National Research Council asserts that “academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing a student’s reading skill at the end of third grade. A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader by that time is unlikely to graduate from high school.”

(b) California has the lowest literacy rate of any state in the nation.

(c) According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the fourth grade will end up in jail or in need of public assistance.

(d) According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally low literate.

(e) According to United States Department of Justice, 68 percent of state prison inmates did not receive a high school diploma.

(f) According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, formerly incarcerated people are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public.

(g) Children who cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate, which can lead to a lifetime of social and economic disadvantages.

(h) Pupils with relatively low literacy achievement tend to have more behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades and higher rates of retention, furthering their educational achievement gap and increasing their risk of dropout.

(i) Seventy-five percent of pupils who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school, according to research at Yale University.

(j) According to a national study by New York University, children from low-income families are less likely to have books in their homes.

(k) In 2017, California was the first state in the nation to be sued on the grounds that it had denied children’s civil rights to literacy under the state constitution. After initially fighting the lawsuit, the state settled the case in February 2020.

(l) The mission of public libraries in California is to provide free and easy access to information, ideas, books, and technology that can help to enrich, educate, and empower the lives of all individuals.

(m) Former President Barack Obama’s 2013 ConnectED initiative strives to enrich the education and opportunities of every pupil in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, through partnerships and cooperation.

(n) According to the Pew Research Center, 84 percent of the parents who say that libraries are important say a major reason they want their children to have access to libraries is that libraries help inculcate their children’s love of reading and books. Eighty-one percent say that a major reason libraries are important is because libraries provide their children with information and resources not available at home, such as a book club or program, an education class hosted by the library, the use of free and reliable internet, or the ability to do school work more easily.

(o) Issuing library cards to pupils through the ConnectED initiative has fostered stronger family bonds, equipped parents to support their children’s reading progress, encouraged family engagement in school activities, and helped build an at-home culture of reading.

(p) The Oakland Public Library has a partnership with the Oakland Unified School District to provide the Oakland Promise Card.

(q) The Napa County Library has a partnership with the Napa Valley Unified School District to provide the Student OneCard.

(r) The San Francisco Public Library has a partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District to provide the Scholar Card.

(s) The Sacramento Public Library provides Student Success Cards to provide internet-only library access to over 121,000 pupils in six school districts.

(t) In 2016, the Los Angeles Unified School District entered into a memorandum of agreement with the City of Los Angeles’ Board of Library Commissioners to provide every pupil with a Student Success Card.

(u) The Los Angeles Unified School District is composed of more than 800,000 pupils, is the second largest school district in the nation, and has distributed over 50,000 library cards to pupils of all ages in the school district.

(v) Through the above-mentioned collaborations, many successful models for various types of library cards have been created and pupils have been provided library access using variations of all of the following:

(1) Full-access library cards.

(2) Limited-use library cards.

(3) Internet-only library cards.

(4) Online or in-person library access using a school-issued student identification card.

(w) Communities and school districts vary widely in terms of resources and capacity. In order to be successful, libraries and school partnerships must have options suitable for both small rural districts and larger cooperatives.

(x) Every California public school pupil should have a library card.

SEC. 2.Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 18575) is added to Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
3.5.Public Library Partnerships with Local Educational Agencies
18575.
~~For purposes of this chapter, the following terms apply:~~
~~(a)“Local educational agency” means a school district, county board of education, or a charter school.~~
(b)“Local public library” means a public library formed pursuant to this part that is located within the elementary school attendance area in which a schoolsite of a local educational agency is located.
18576.
On or before January 1, 2026, a local educational agency shall enter into a memorandum of understanding or a memorandum of agreement with a local public library for each elementary schoolsite, with the purpose of increasing participation and access to the local public library for pupils in the third grade. The memorandum of understanding or the memorandum of agreement shall include, but not be limited to, provisions that satisfy both of the following requirements:
~~(a)(1)The local public library, in working with a school administrator, shall give a presentation to all pupils in the third grade in the first semester, trimester, or quarter, as applicable.~~
(2)The presentation may be in person, either in the classroom or at the local public library, via telecommunication, or via any other communication method agreed upon by the parties as appropriate to meet the requirements of this section.
~~(b)The local public library shall provide all of the following information at the presentation described in subdivision (a):~~
~~(1)How to obtain a physical library card.~~
~~(2)Where the closest local public library is located.~~
(3)How to access the local public library’s internet website. If the local public library does not have an internet website, the local public library shall provide information on accessing the internet website of the California State Library.
(4)Information on the variety of resources provided by or available through the local public library. If the local public library does not provide a variety of resources, the local public library shall provide information on resources available through the California State Library.
18577.
Within three years of the establishment of the memorandum of understanding or memorandum of agreement pursuant to Section 18576, a local public library, in consultation with the local educational agency, shall provide a report to the California State Library. The report shall contain one years’ worth of data regarding all of the following information:
~~(a)The number of presentations that were conducted by the local public library.~~
~~(b)The number of third-grade pupils who took part in the presentations.~~
~~(c)The number of third-grade pupils who received local public library access as a result of the presentations.~~
~~(d)The number of new summer readers the local public library received during the summer months following the presentations.~~
~~(e)Any increase in the number of library cards, or versions of library cards, issued from the time following the presentation.~~
~~(f)Any increase in the borrowing of library books or eBooks following the presentations.~~
~~(g)Any measurable increases to the use of other library resources following the presentations.~~
18578.
The California State Library shall provide technical assistance to local public libraries on the provisions of this chapter, including creating the memorandum of understanding or memorandum of agreement and the implementation and reporting requirements.

SEC. 2.

Article 5 (commencing with Section 19340) is added to Chapter 7 of Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:

Article 5. Local Public Library Partnership Program
19340.
The Local Public Library Partnership Program is hereby established under the administration of the State Librarian for purposes of ensuring that, by third grade, all pupils have access to a local public library.
19341.
(a) For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(2) (A) “Local public library” means a public library formed pursuant to this part that is located within the elementary school attendance area in which a schoolsite of a local educational agency is located.
(B) If no public library is located within the elementary school attendance area in which a schoolsite of a local educational agency is located, the closest public library formed pursuant to this part that is within the elementary or unified school district in which a schoolsite is located shall be considered the local public library.
(C) If no public library is located within the elementary or unified school district in which a schoolsite of a local educational agency is located, the closest public library formed pursuant to this part that is within the county in which a schoolsite is located shall be considered the local public library.
(3) “Student success card” means a card issued by a local public library that provides access to library services, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Age-appropriate online research and learning resources maintained by local public libraries and the California State Library.
(B) Online tutoring.
(C) Age-appropriate digital content from the California State Library’s K–12 Online Resources Project.
19342.
(a) The State Librarian shall offer resources to assist each local public library to find student success card dispensing strategies that work best for their communities.
(b) The State Librarian shall coordinate with each local public library to determine the most effective means to ensure each pupil in each local educational agency is issued a student success card by third grade, including, but not limited to, by working with a school administrator or school librarian.
(c) On or before January 1, 2026, the State Librarian shall ensure that partnerships between local public libraries and local educational agencies have been established to enable each pupil enrolled at a schoolsite of each local educational agency to be issued a student success card by third grade.
19343.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the State Librarian shall, on or before January 1, 2029, and by each January 1 thereafter, report to the Legislature all of the following information:
(1) The number of third grade pupils who have been issued a student success card.
(2) The number of third grade pupils who received local public library access as a result of the partnerships developed pursuant to this article.
(3) The number of new summer readers each local public library received during the summer months each year.
(4) Any measurable increases to the use of other library resources as a result of the partnerships developed pursuant to this article.
(b) A report required to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
19344.
Consistent with Section 99.37 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, a local educational agency may disclose directory information, as defined in Section 49061, to the State Librarian for the purpose of administering this article. The information shall not be used for any other purpose or given or transferred to any other person or agency.
19345.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a local public library from partnering with a local educational agency to issue student success cards to pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

SEC. 3.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.