Bill No. 117 - Education Act (amended) - First Reading
Bill No. 117 - Entitled an Act to Amend Schedule A of Chapter 1 of the Acts of 2018. The Education Act. (Ms. Claudia Chender)
Education Act
(amended)
Claudia Chender, Dartmouth South
Explanatory Notes
Clause 1 requires every public school to have a school library staffed in accordance with the reg-ulations. Clause 1 also provides for the appointment of a Director of School Libraries for each education entity, sets out the duties of the Director and requires education entities to make certain information respecting school libraries public.
Clause 2 requires an amount to be allocated for school libraries when funding is provided to a public school or education entity.
Clause 3 allows the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development to make regulations respecting the staffing of public school libraries and the qualifications of those staff.
An Act to Amend Schedule A
of Chapter 1 of the Acts of 2018,
the Education Act
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 Schedule A of Chapter 1 of the Acts of 2018, the Education Act, is amended by adding immediately after Section 66 the following heading and Sections:
SCHOOL LIBRARIES
66A (1) Subject to subsection (3), every public school must have a library.
(2) The library of a public school must be staffed in accordance with the regulations by persons with the qualifications prescribed by the regulations.
(3) The money required for the purpose of this Section must be paid out of money appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.
66B (1) An education entity shall appoint a Director of School Libraries for the education entity.
(2) The Director of School Libraries for an education entity is an employee of the education entity.
66C The Director of School Libraries for an education entity shall co-ordinate among the libraries in the education entity and, to the extent possible, with the libraries of other education entities, public libraries, libraries at post-secondary education institutions, the Provincial Library and the Legislative Library in respect of
(a) cataloguing;
(b) reciprocal borrowing of materials;
(c) electronic connectivity;
(d) data collection; and
(e) any other matter relating to libraries.
66D An education entity shall make available to the public information respecting the resources of and services provided by the libraries in the schools of the education entity.
2 Schedule A is further amended by adding immediately after Section 71 the following Section:
71A (1) Subject to subsection (2), where funding is provided to a public school or to an education entity, that funding must include an amount allocated for the library of the public school or the libraries of the education entity.
(2) The money required for the purpose of this Section must be paid out of money appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.
3 Schedule A is further amended by adding immediately after clause 97(1)(o) the following clauses:
(oa) respecting the staffing of libraries of public schools;
(ob) prescribing qualifications required for staff of libraries of public schools;