I wanted to share this Detroit News Op-Ed from last week: "School Library Media Specialists Critical to Student Achievement" https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2018/08/02/school- library-media-specialists-critical-student-achievement/871174002/ As mentioned in the article, “The School Finance Research Collaborative is a diverse, bipartisan statewide group of business leaders and education experts.” They conducted research to come up with a model for funding schools. Their research also included working with educators and administrators. Their model includes having one library media specialist at each school and includes funding of $20.00 per student for library materials. You can find the full report here: https://www.fundmischools.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ School-Finance-Research-Collaborative-Report.pdf Let me know if you have any questions/comments. All my best, Kathy -- Kathy Lester, MLIS, MA *Advocacy Chair, Past-President 2014* Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) *Region 3 Director* American Association of School Librarians (AASL) *SIGLIB Communications Director* Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) *School Library Media Specialist / Technology Coach* *SL21 Model Library, 2017-2018* *SL21 Exemplary Ranking - Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century 2016-2019* East Middle School, Plymouth-Canton Schools *ISTE Making IT Happen Award Winner* *2017 MAME Michigan School Library Program of the Year* *2012 **State Librarian's Excellence Award Winner* kathyL@mimame.org twitter: @LibraryL <https://twitter.com/LibraryL> 810.333.5873