The Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME), the association for School Library Media Specialists in Michigan, awarded State Board of Education member, Michelle Fecteau, with its Outstanding Government Official Award. MAME past-presidents Gwenn Marchesano and Kathy Lester presented this award to Ms. Fecteau at the State Board of Education meeting this past week on January 12, 2016.
The MAME Outstanding Government Official award recognizes an individual at the local, state or national level who has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of school library services, as shown by the advocacy, support, or introduction of legislation or initiatives that promote school library programs.
Ms. Fecteau was nominated for the award by MAME Past-President, Kathy Lester, for her role in the unanimous passage of a resolution in support of school libraries by the State Board of Education in October 2014. Over the past 10 years, the number of school library media specialists has dropped over 60% giving Michigan the current ranking of 46th in the nation in supporting its school library programs. During this same time period, Michigan was one of only six states to have negative improvement of 4th grade reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment.
Ms. Fecteau’s efforts shed light on the importance of equitable access to certified school library media specialists for all students. The State Board of Education resolution recognized the important role of school libraries and certified school library media specialists in increasing student achievement in our schools. It called for school administrators to use the “SL21 Measurement Benchmarks for Michigan School Libraries for 21st Century” developed by the Library of Michigan’s School Library Workgroup to assess the quality of school library programs in individual buildings.
The text of this resolution can be found at the following link:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/SBE_Statement_on_School_Libraries_471838_7.pdf