BILL NUMBER: S8044
SPONSOR: BYNOE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the
libraries literacy education guidance act
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To promote literacy through the development of guidance to be developed
by the State Librarian and distributed to public libraries and associ-
ation libraries.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would establish the title of the act as the "Libraries
Literacy Education Guidance Act."
Section 2 would direct the State Librarian, in consultation with the
Commissioner of the State Education Department and any other group
deemed necessary, to provide guidance regarding evidence-based practices
for teaching literacy and distribute such guidance to public libraries
and association libraries throughout the State. The State Librarian
would be required to update the guidance based on feedback from
libraries that have received such guidance.
Section 3 would set the effective date.
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGNAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The A-print amendments would remove the establishment of certain defi-
nitions for relevant terms that were previously established by the
Commissioner; require the State Librarian to consult with the Commis-
sioner and any other relevant group deemed necessary for the purpose of
developing the guidance; include provisions that would base the guidance
on instructional best practices established by the Commissioner; limit
the distribution of the guidance to public and association libraries;
provide the State Librarian with the discretion to determine the types
of materials provided; remove certain reporting requirements and incor-
porate the consideration of feedback from public and association
libraries into the biennial update of the guidance.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
There is broad consensus among cognitive scientists and reading experts
about how to best effectively teach literacy. That process emphasizes
the key areas of reading - phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary
development, reading fluency, including oral skills, and reading compre-
hension - and employs practices based on the science of reading.
Less than half of New York State third graders met the State's own read-
ing proficiency standards based on 2024 exams and the figures for some
cities with high concentrations of poverty are significantly lower.
According to the results of the federal National Assessment of Educa-
tional Progress for 2024, almost seventy percent of New York State's
fourth graders were not reading at grade level. Reading is intrinsic to
both personal growth and economic opportunity and illiteracy correlates
with higher rates of poverty, depression, and incarceration. The FY
24-25 Enacted Budget included Article VII language requiring the State
Education Department (SED) to establish statewide standards for
evidence-based and scientifically based instructional practices for the
teaching of childhood literacy. This legislation is intended to comple-
ment this initiative by promoting the awareness and use of evidence-
based literacy practices and programming for both children and adults in
libraries throughout the State.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.