A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-23.7, relating to Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists.
HB263 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ at least one certified school library specialist in the Department of Education. The specialist must hold a preK-12 library media endorsement and have at least five years of recent public school librarian experience in Virginia. The bill also places the position under the Virginia Personnel Act.
The specialist’s duties are broad and statewide. They include providing leadership and technical assistance on information literacy, directing implementation of school library standards, supporting literacy-related grants and initiatives, helping schools integrate digital literacy, STEM, and technology into instruction, advising on library licensure requirements, and coordinating with the Library of Virginia on digital resources. The bill also calls for a crosswalk between national school library standards and the Standards of Learning, common evaluation practices for librarians, and professional development for school librarians.
The bill would add a new section, § 22.1-23.7, to the Code of Virginia and create a permanent Department of Education role focused on school library policy and support. It would not directly change local school division staffing requirements, but it would require the Superintendent to maintain in-house expertise on school library standards, licensure, digital resources, and information literacy. The measure would affect the Department of Education, school divisions, school librarians, and related state education stakeholders by formalizing statewide support and coordination for library media services.
The available legislative history suggests generally favorable support for the bill, as reflected by its 14-1 committee vote to continue it to the next session. The bill’s structure and purpose indicate a policy interest in strengthening school library services, literacy, and digital learning support across the Commonwealth. No committee transcript is available, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the vote suggests broad agreement with the concept and limited opposition.
The main potential points of contention are likely administrative and fiscal rather than ideological: whether the Department of Education should be required to hire a dedicated specialist, whether the position is necessary given existing staff, and how much authority or influence the role should have over local school divisions. The requirement that the specialist be a certified librarian with five years of recent Virginia public school experience may also narrow the candidate pool. Because no transcript is available, the specific objection from the lone dissenting vote is not known.