CA SB478

Requires the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to select a county office of education to serve as a Statewide School Library Lead by July 1, 2026

The selected county office must employ at least one fully credentialed teacher librarian to lead the initiative

Duties include enhancing state literacy investments, aligning efforts with the California Comprehensive State Literacy Plan, and collaborating with existing literacy programs including the California Dyslexia Initiative and Learning Acceleration System Grant recipients

The Lead will provide direct technical assistance and professional learning to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to improve school library services and accelerate literacy

Promotes school libraries as safe spaces supporting social-emotional learning and intellectual freedom, while integrating media and information literacy into curriculum

Implementation is contingent upon an appropriation in the Budget Act or other statute