NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5835B
SPONSOR: Carroll R 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 PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would establish the title of the act as the "Libraries Litera-
cy 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 for children in grades pre-kindergarten to three
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.
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 reading
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 (Section 818 of the
Education Law). This legislation is intended to complement this policy
by promoting the awareness and use of evidence-based literacy practices
and programming for children in grades pre-kindergarten through three.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5835--B
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 21, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. R. CARROLL, LEVENBERG, WALKER, McDONALD, TORRES,
LUNSFORD, TAYLOR, SCHIAVONI, BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Libraries and Education Technology -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways
and Means -- recommitted to the Committee on Ways and Means in accord-
ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the
libraries literacy education guidance act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "libraries
2 literacy education guidance act".
3 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 286 to read
4 as follows:
5 § 286. Libraries literacy education guidance. 1. One year after the
6 effective date of this section, the state librarian, in consultation
7 with the commissioner and any other group deemed necessary, shall
8 provide guidance on evidence-based practices for literacy education,
9 focusing on reading competency in the areas of phonemic awareness, phon-
10 ics, vocabulary development, reading fluency, comprehension, including
11 background knowledge, oral language and writing, and oral skill develop-
12 ment, for students in pre-kindergarten through grade three based on the
13 instructional best practices established by the commissioner, pursuant
14 to section eight hundred eighteen of this chapter. Such guidance shall
15 be distributed to every public library and association library in New
16 York state.
17 2. Such guidance may include but not be limited to texts, education
18 technology, professional education, and public informational materials.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08094-06-6
A. 5835--B 2
1 3. The state librarian shall update such guidance every two years and
2 shall consider feedback from the public libraries and association
3 libraries to which the guidance is distributed.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
