Build Your Toolkit

My name is [your name], and I'm a parent in [district] with a child at [school]. Tonight I'm asking the Board to fund a School Library Program before this budget is finalized.

Right now, [describe your district's situation — for example, "our elementary schools share one certified School Librarian across four buildings" or "our last certified School Librarian was cut two years ago"]. That means our students are missing [what's missing — curated books matched to their reading level, research and information literacy instruction, a protected space to read].

New Jersey already prices a certified School Librarian into what it calculates a thorough and efficient education costs. This isn't a new expense — it's a service our district already budgets for and isn't fully providing.

I'm asking the Board to commit to [your specific ask — a five-year School Library Strategic Plan, restoring a cut position, or funding a shared position across schools] in this year's budget. Thank you for your time.

Speak before the budget vote, not after — once a position is cut it is far harder to restore.

Subject: Requesting a School Library Strategic Plan for [district]

Dear Superintendent [name],

I'm writing as a parent in [district] to ask that the district commit to a five-year School Library Strategic Plan, approved by the Board and filed with the State, covering curriculum, staffing, facilities and budget for our School Library Program.

[Add a sentence or two about your own child's experience — what the library does or doesn't offer them today.]

As a first phase, I'd ask that next year's budget fund one certified School Librarian serving as District Library Program Director, along with support staff, materials, technology and subscriptions.

New Jersey already includes a certified School Librarian in the base per-pupil cost of a thorough and efficient education. This is a service our students are already paying for.

I'd welcome the chance to discuss this further, and I'm happy to bring other parents who share this concern.

Sincerely,
[your name], parent at [school]

Dear Board of Education Members,

I'm writing ahead of the [date] budget vote to ask that the Board fund a School Library Program in [district]. [Describe the current gap — no certified School Librarian, a position shared across too many buildings, no dedicated budget line.]

New Jersey already prices a certified School Librarian into the base cost of a thorough and efficient education. Funding this now closes a gap the State already expects our district to cover.

I'm asking the Board to include [your specific ask] as a line item in this year's budget, and I plan to speak on this at public comment. Thank you for considering it.

Sincerely,
[your name]

Subject: Support a School Library Program in New Jersey's school funding formula

Dear [Senator/Assemblymember name],

I'm a constituent and a parent in [town], writing to ask you to support four changes as New Jersey revises its school funding formula: an Office of School Library Programs; School Library Teaching & Learning Program Standards; an earmarked School Library Program appropriation of 1.0–1.5% of the general fund; and shared services with a State Aid category for districts that can't fund a program alone.

[Add a sentence or two about your own child's school and what a School Librarian has or hasn't meant for them.]

New Jersey already prices a certified School Librarian into what a thorough and efficient education costs — it just isn't enforced. I hope you'll support making that requirement real.

Thank you for your time and your service.
Sincerely,
[your name], [town]

Dear [Governor / Commissioner Name],

As New Jersey revises its school funding formula, I'm asking that a School Library Program — staffed by a certified School Librarian, guided by statewide program standards and funded through a protected appropriation — be part of what a thorough and efficient education is defined to include.

[Add a sentence or two about your own child's school.]

New Jersey has required library-media services under a certified school library media specialist since before the current administrative code, and priced a librarian into the base per-pupil cost since 2008. What's missing is an office to own it, standards to define it and funding that reaches it. I hope the formula revision addresses all three.

Thank you for your attention to this.
Sincerely,
[your name], [town]

Dear State Board of Education Members,

N.J.A.C. 6A:13-2.1(h) already requires every district to provide library-media services under a certified school library media specialist. What's missing is a standard defining what that service actually has to include, so there's no way to hold a district accountable when the position disappears.

I'm asking the Board to adopt statewide School Library Teaching & Learning Program Standards, developed with NJASL, so this requirement has a definition districts can be measured against.

[Add a sentence or two about your own district's situation.]

Thank you for considering this.
Sincerely,
[your name], [town]