Excerpt from Minutes of School Libraries SIG held on Thursday 6 March 2003

Log of Claims
Sally Edsall (Research Officer) and Richard Walsham (Industrial Officer) have been working on a draft log of claims.

Campaigning on school library issues
The Federation has given the following advice:

The job is to convince those responsible for educational policy (politicians) and those responsible for implementing that policy (the bureaucrats) that this is an issue of urgency.

It is the aim of the Teachers Federation to convince those who control the State's finances, to make changes.

You may find the following suggestions useful in lending support to that ongoing effort.

• Send your concerns, by way of letter, with as many signatures as you can to:

· the Premier
· the Minister for Education and Training
· your local member of NSW Parliament
· the Opposition Leader
· the Shadow Minister for Education and Training
· Leaders of other political parties represented in the Upper House, eg Greens, Democrats.

You can send letters to all of those people

c/- Parliament House,
Macquarie Street,
Sydney, 2000

You can also find email addresses for them on the Parliamentary website.

• When politicians are scheduled to visit schools, talk to them about the issues. If possible, demonstrate to them the practical implications of their failure to act.

• Also make your employer aware of the shortcomings of various policies. Write to the Director General of Education and Training, Jan McClelland, at Bridge Street, Sydney.

A successful campaign can only be mounted when there is similar concern expressed from many quarters. Write (or email) as individuals, groups, Teachers Federation Associations, school staffs. Encourage other members of the public education community to follow your lead....