Existing law establishes a single system for providing support to local educational agencies and schools and for specified federal educational programs. Existing law provides that the purpose of the statewide system of support is to build the capacity of local educational agencies, as specified.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to establish a process, administered by the department, to select, subject to approval by the executive director of the State Board of Education, an expert lead agency based on specific expertise in an area of need to conduct activities and build statewide capacity to address that area of need within the statewide system of support, as well as geographic lead agencies for other specified purposes, as provided.

This bill, contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes, would require the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before July 1, 2026, to select an applicant county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead to work collaboratively with the State Board of Education, the department, and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, among others, to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. The bill would require the selected county office of education to employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian. The bill would specify that the Statewide School Library Leads duties include, among other things, enhancing the states investment in literacy and aligning those efforts with the California Comprehensive State Literacy Plan and working directly with school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to build capacity to develop excellent school library services and accelerate literacy and learning, including coordinating support, providing direct technical assistance, and delivering professional learning.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular Session

SB 478 (Ashby) - School accountability: Statewide School Library Lead

Bill Summary:

This bill requires, on or before July 1, 2026, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to select an applicant county office of education (COE) to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead (SSLL). The COE would be required to work collaboratively with the CCEE, the State Board of Education (SBE), and the California Department of Education (CDE) to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support.

Fiscal Impact:

• While the bill’s provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation, it could result in Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressure in the low to mid hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for the selected COE to serve as the SSLL. This estimate includes the cost for an agency director, a part-time administrative assistant, grant work, and expenses for travel and conferences.

• While the bill does not specify whether CDE or the CCEE would manage the project, it could result in additional General Fund administrative costs for the managing entity to develop and administer an application process and oversee the contract. These costs could be in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

Background:

Existing Law requires the governing board of each school district to provide school library services for the students and teachers of the district by establishing and maintaining school libraries or by contractual arrangements with another public agency.

Existing law authorizes the county superintendent of schools to, with the approval of the board of supervisors and the county board of education, agree with the county librarian to take over all existing contracts for supplementary books and other material adopted for the course of study between the school districts or community college districts and the county librarian. Requires, thereafter the county superintendent of schools to generally perform such library services for the school districts or community college districts as were theretofore performed by the county library.

Existing law establishes the CCEE to advise and assist school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving the goals set forth in a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) by facilitating continuous improvement for local educational agencies (LEAs) within California’s system of public school support.

Proposed Law:

This bill requires, on or before July 1, 2026, the CCEE and the SPI to select an applicant COE to serve as a SSLL to work collaboratively with the SBE, the CDE, and the CCEE, among others, to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. The bill requires the selected COE to employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian.

This bill provides that the SSLL’s duties shall include the following:

1. Enhancing the state’s investments in literacy and aligning those efforts with the California Comprehensive Literacy Plan.
2. Working collaboratively with Local Literacy Lead Agencies, the California Dyslexia Initiative, Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant recipients, the California Scaling Up Multi-Tiered System of Support Statewide (SUMS) Initiative, and Reading Instruction and Intervention Grant recipients.
3. Working directly with LEAs to build capacity to develop excellent school library services and accelerate literacy and learning, including coordinating support, providing direct technical assistance, and delivering professional learning.
4. Working with local and regional entities to promote school libraries as safe spaces that create a positive school climate, champion intellectual freedom, and support social and emotional learning, mindfulness, and well-being.
5. Working with local and regional entities to engage with families and communities to better synthesize, integrate, and extend literacy programs in a coherent and comprehensive manner.
6. Providing support for LEAs, subject matter projects across the state, the 21^st Century California Leadership Academy, the California Community Schools Partnership Program: Regional Technical Assistance Center, and the Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning.

The bill’s implementation would be contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Related Legislation:

AB 535 (Irwin, 2023), as introduced, was nearly identical to SB 478 and would have required the SPI select an applicant county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead to work collaboratively with the CCEE to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. The bill was subsequently gutted and amended to deal with veterans housing.

Staff Comments:

To help improve student outcomes, LEAs have access to the state’s “System of Support” which is a central component of the state’s accountability and continuous improvement system. The goal of the system is to help LEAs meet the needs of each student they serve, with a focus on building local capacity to sustain improvement and to effectively address disparities in opportunities and outcomes. The System of Support connects LEAs to lead agencies, often housed within COEs that specialize in certain education and education-related areas. The lead agencies offer expertise, programming, and resources to LEAs in their designated issue area. Currently, the state has 12 lead agencies, specializing in areas such as special education, community engagement, and early math. In addition, the state has a lead agency specializing in literacy and a lead agency specializing in dyslexia.

This bill creates a lead agency within the System of Support and is intended to bring together existing state resources to support literacy services through school libraries.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: April 9, 2025

Subject: .

SUMMARY

This bill requires, on or before July 1, 2026, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to select an applicant county office of education (COE) to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead (SSLL) to work collaboratively with the CCEE, the State Board of Education (SBE), the State Department of Education (CDE), and others to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support.

BACKGROUND

Existing Law:

1. Requires the governing board of each school district to provide school library services for the students and teachers of the district by establishing and maintaining school libraries or by contractual arrangements with another public agency. (Education Code (EC) § 18100)
2. Authorizes the county superintendent of schools to, with the approval of the board of supervisors and the county board of education, agree with the county librarian to take over all existing contracts for supplementary books and other material adopted for the course of study between the school districts or community college districts and the county librarian. Requires, thereafter the county superintendent of schools to generally perform such library services for the school districts or community college districts as were theretofore performed by the county library. (EC § 1770)
3. Authorizes the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to issue a services credential authorizing service as a library media teacher upon completion of specialized preparation. States that the standards for these credentials are a baccalaureate degree or higher degree from an institution approved by the CTC, a valid teaching credential, and specialized and professional preparation. (EC § 44269)
4. Establishes the CCEE to advise and assist school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving the goals set forth in a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) by facilitating continuous improvement for local educational agencies (LEAs) within California’s system of public school support. (EC § 52074)
5. Requires the CCEE, in consultation with the CDE, to select California Geographic Lead Agencies (Geo Leads), to assist in building the capacity of COEs within the Geo Lead’s defined geographic area to provide effective assistance and support to school districts under the state priorities for purposes of a LCAP. (EC § 52073)
6. Establishes an Expert Lead in Literacy (ELL) within the statewide system of support. Requires the ELL to be a COE, selected by the CDE in partnership with the CCEE, to support grantees to build statewide professional learning networks and provide technical assistance to increase statewide capacity in implementing effective literacy instruction. (Uncodified; Section 114 of SB 98 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review Chapter 24, Statutes of 2020)
7. Establishes the California State Library, under the direction of the State Librarian, and lists among the responsibilities of the office to purchase and maintain materials and equipment as necessary to carry out California State Library programs and services consistent with well-established library standards. (EC § 19320 et seq.)
8. Establishes the 21^st Century California School Leadership Academy to organize and offer professional learning opportunities, and to select providers of high-quality professional learning for administrators and other school leaders. (EC § 44690)
9. Establishes the California Community Schools Partnership Program to support schools’ efforts to partner with community agencies and local government to align community resources to improve student outcomes. These partnerships provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement. (EC § 8900 et seq.)
10. Establishes the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program to provide funding for afterschool and summer school enrichment programs for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. (EC § 46120)

ANALYSIS

This bill:

1. Requires, on or before July 1, 2026, the CCEE and the SPI to select an applicant COE to serve as a SSLL to work collaboratively with the SBE, the CDE, and the CCEE, among others, to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support.
2. Requires the selected COE to employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian.
3. Specifies that the SSLL’s duties shall include the following:
   • • 1. Enhancing the state’s investments in literacy and aligning those efforts with the California Comprehensive Literacy Plan.
       2. Working collaboratively with Local Literacy Lead Agencies, the California Dyslexia Initiative, Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant recipients, the California Scaling Up Multi-Tiered System of Support Statewide (SUMS) Initiative, and Reading Instruction and Intervention Grant recipients.
       3. Working directly with LEAs to build capacity to develop excellent school library services and accelerate literacy and learning, including coordinating support, providing direct technical assistance, and delivering professional learning.
       4. Working with local and regional entities to promote school libraries as safe spaces that create a positive school climate, champion intellectual freedom, and support social and emotional learning, mindfulness, and well-being.
       5. Working with local and regional entities to engage with families and communities to better synthesize, integrate, and extend literacy programs in a coherent and comprehensive manner.
       6. Providing support for LEAs, subject matter projects across the state, the 21^st Century California Leadership Academy, the California Community Schools Partnership Program: Regional Technical Assistance Center, and the Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning.
4. Provides that the implementation of this bill is contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “California ranks next to last in literacy rates across the United States. SB 478 seeks to address our growing literacy crisis by establishing a statewide School Library Lead, who will work directly with K-12 schools to improve their library resources, implement literacy initiatives, and help our students meet their literacy benchmarks. There are few things more impactful in the educational journey of a young person than their confidence and capacity to learn through reading. It’s critical that the state invests in resources that support early literacy development, and SB 478 will serve as a tool designed to bring together existing state resources to support literacy through our school libraries.”
2. The CCEE and the statewide system of support. The CCEE was established in 2013 by the Legislature and then-Governor Jerry Brown to advise and assist school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in achieving the goals and objectives in their LCAPs. It was created as part of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) legislation that redesigned California‘s school funding formulas to ensure that there would be sufficient support for students who required additional resources to ensure their success.

California’s System of Support is a central component of the state’s accountability and continuous improvement system. It’s overarching goal is to help LEAs and their schools meet the needs of each student they serve, with a focus on building local capacity to sustain improvement and to effectively address disparities in opportunities and outcomes.

1. Expert Lead in Literacy. SB 98 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2020) appropriated $50 million to establish the Early Literacy Support Block Grant Program and requires the CDE to award funds to LEAs with the 75 schools that have the highest percentage of students in grade three scoring at the lowest achievement standard level on the State Summative English Language Arts assessment. SB 98 also appropriated $3 million to establish an Expert Lead in Literacy within the California Statewide System of Support. The Expert Lead in Literacy must be a COE, selected by the CDE in partnership with the CCEE, to support grantees to build statewide professional learning networks and provide technical assistance to increase statewide capacity in implementing effective literacy instruction. The Sacramento County Office of Education was selected as the Expert Lead.

This bill calls for the selection of a SSLL to work with existing California Collaborative for Education Excellence, the statewide literacy lead, and other lead agencies and stakeholders to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support.

1. Model School Library Standards. In 2010, the SBE adopted the Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, which sought to set a clear vision for strong school library programs across the state that would improve student achievement, foster literacy, produce a technology-competent workforce, and nurture lifelong learning. The Library Standards include two types of standards:
   1. “School Library Standards for Students” that delineate what students should know and be able to do at each grade level or grade span to enable students to succeed in school, higher education, and the workforce.
   2. “School Library Program Standards” that describe base-level staffing, resources and infrastructure, including technology, required for school library programs to be effective and help students to meet the school library standards.

The Library Standards recognize that school libraries have evolved from simply providing print materials to offering rich selections of print, media, and digital resources; from teaching students how to search a card catalog to teaching students strategies for searching a variety of print, media and digital resources; from teaching basic reading literacy to teaching information literacy (the ability to access, evaluate, use, and integrate information and ideas effectively). The student standards also include the legal, ethical and safe use of information both in print and online, other aspects of cyber safety, and use of technology.

1. Credentialed Teacher Librarians. The CTC’s Teacher Librarian Services Credential authorizes the holder to perform various duties including (1) instructing students in accessing, evaluating, using and integrating information and resources in the library program; (2) planning and coordinating school library programs with the instructional programs of a school district through collaboration with teachers; (3) developing programs for and deliver staff development for school library services; and (4) supervising classified personnel assigned school library duties. To be fully credentialed, teacher librarians must satisfy the following requirements:
   1. Hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university;
   2. Hold a valid California teaching credential;
   3. Complete one of the following:
      1. A Commission-approved Teacher Librarian Services Credential program, securing the formal recommendation of the California college or university where the program was completed.
      2. A professional preparation program in teacher librarian services including successful completion of a supervised field work, or the equivalent, in a program taken outside California of at least 30 graduate semester units, that is comparable to a program accredited by the CTC Committee on Accreditation.
   4. Possess an English learner authorization issued by the CTC.

School libraries may also employ non-credentialed classified staff as well as those with Administrative Services Credentials to support library services. While the requirements and qualifications necessary to become a classified school library worker vary by district, the scope of their duties are defined in the CTC’s Authorizations for Librarian Services.

In the 2022-23 school year, 4,004 of California’s total 9,951 schools provided survey data for CDE’s California School Libraries Evaluation Viewer GeoHub. 91% (3,631 schools) had reported having school libraries and of those, only 21% (773 school libraries) had credentialed staff.

This bill requires the COE that is selected to serve as the SSLL to employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian.

1. Recent budget developments. The Governor’s 2025-2026 Proposed Budget includes the following allocations to support Literacy Instruction:
   1. $500 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund for TK-12 Literacy and Mathematics Coaches, expanding upon the existing Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program. Of the total allocation, $235 million is proposed for a third cycle of Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program for schools with 94 percent unduplicated pupils.
   2. $40 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund in 2025-26 to support necessary costs, including purchasing screening materials and training for educators, to administer literacy screenings.
   3. $25 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund ($5 million annually) through the 2029-30 fiscal year to launch a Literacy Network within the Statewide System of Support to serve as a clearinghouse for state-developed literacy resources, elevate high performing districts and best practices, and provide support to select LEAs facing persistent performance challenges.
   4. $1.8 billion for the Student Support and Discretionary Block Grant which can fund professional development for teachers on the ELA/ELD Framework and the Literacy Roadmap.
2. Related legislation.

AB 535 (Irwin, 2023) would have required the SPI select an applicant county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead to work collaboratively with the CCEE to establish library and literacy services that support the statewide system of support. SB 478 is nearly identical to AB 535, as introduced. AB 535 was gutted, amended, and reassigned a new author after it was heard in Senate Education Committee.

AB 181 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 52, Statutes of 2022) established the Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Discretionary Block Grant, funding for various literacy coach initiatives, and established the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant.

AB 2465 (Mia Bonta, 2022) would have established the Family and Community Literacy: Supporting Literacy and Biliteracy in Schools, Families, and Communities Grant Program and the California Family Literacy Innovation Project to support early literacy. AB 2465 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 488 (Rubio, Chapter 678, Statutes of 2021) requires the CTC to ensure, by July 1, 2025, that an approved teaching performance assessment (TPA) for a preliminary multiple subject credential and a preliminary education specialist credential assesses all candidates for competence in instruction in literacy, revises the definition of literacy instruction for purposes of teacher preparation and requires the CTC to ensure that its standards for program quality and effectiveness align to this definition, and provides an alternate means of meeting the current reading instruction competence assessment (RICA) for some credential candidates affected by COVID-19 test center closures.

SB 98 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2020) establishes the Early Literacy Support Block Grant, which requires the CDE to award funds to LEAs with the 75 schools that have the highest percentage of students in grade three scoring at the lowest achievement standard level on the state ELA assessment. Appropriates $50 million for this purpose and authorizes $3 million of this amount to be used to establish an Expert Lead in Literacy at a COE, to serve within the Statewide System of Support. Appropriates $50 million for the purpose of funding California SUMS. Authorizes $9.8 million for the RII Grant Program to generate and disseminate professional learning opportunities for kindergarten through grade twelve educators in the areas of evidence-based literacy, intensive literacy interventions, and support of pupils’ executive functioning skills.

AB 1684 (Maienschein, 2019) would have required the CDE to develop and implement a professional development program to support educators in teaching literacy and reading, including providing dedicated funds to schools identified by the state’s accountability system as needing special ELA support, consistent with the Statewide System of Support. AB 1684 was held in the Senate Education Committee.

AB 1808 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 32, Statutes of 2018) appropriated $4 million to establish the California Geographic Lead Agencies to build the capacity of COEs to ensure that counties are equipped to build the capacity of their LEAs to support the continuous improvement of student performance within the state priorities for purposes of a LCAP.

SB 494 (Hueso, 2017) would have established the Golden State Reading grant program for the purpose of assisting LEAs in ensuring that all students meet reading standards and language progressive skills by the end of grade 3. This bill was vetoed by Governor Brown with the following message:

“Local educational agencies already have the flexibility under the Local Control Funding Formula to provide students the support they need to ensure that appropriate reading and language skills are achieved.”

SUPPORT

California School Library Association (co-sponsor)

California Teachers Association (co-sponsor)

Los Angeles County Office of Education (co-sponsor)

American Association of School Librarians

California Charter Schools Association

Ventura County Office of Education

OPPOSITION

None received

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