Will Michigan End Certification To Be A School Librarian?

A debate is going on now about a bill in the Michigan Legislature that some say would eliminate licensing and certification requirements for school librarians in the state.

What is this all about?

There are some parent groups and librarians up in arms about the bill. The Support FHPS group, for example, a 100% FHPS parent volunteer group that supports Forest Hills Public Schools, has begun a campaign for people to write the Michigan Legislature in opposition of bill HB 4922. They say "if this bill passes, Michigan would become the only state in the nation without certification requirements for school librarians. Currently, all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. require certification."

According to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, it is difficult to become a school librarian in Michigan since "you need a bachelor’s degree, a teaching certificate and a master’s degree."

Research is finding that many hopeful librarians are choosing to simply become community librarians, or become teachers, get the same pay, and not have to have the masters degree to become a school librarian.

However, examining bill HB 4922, it appears it would only eliminate the need of the Masters Degree in order to become a school librarian. And, it doesn't mean that schools can't hire a librarian with a Masters Degree, it's just that they don't need it to be hired. The Mackinac Center says "the legislation simply says it isn’t illegal to hire a school librarian without an advanced degree."

Michigan already ranks very low in certified librarians per student, 44 out of 50 states, and 44th in fourth grade reading levels.

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An article on Bridge MI.com says "studies have shown that having access to a certified school librarian improves test scores, but the number of librarians has continued to decline over the past two decades." It certainly has declined in Michigan.

What do you think? Would making the certification a bit easier to obtain possibly solve some of those issues here in Michigan?