(5)

20

In applying for and accepting a grant under this section a school

district shall agree to all of the following:

(a) To provide physical space for the collection.

(b) To provide responsible parent is unteer, paraprofessional, or profes

sional supervision of the co

(c) To provide s

encourage high ut ́ ́ ́

(d) To araw

at on and book accounting procedures to

sus preservation.

student participation in the selection of the

collection. Boox se ectors Sta be made by individual school committees composed of stucents, werents, and faculty. Librarians and reading specialists De som ste be represented on the committees.

related to

the collection be open and available during school mestion of the high-interest paperback libraries durscheurs as feasible. The collection shall be

S'ASMINT OF HON. JOSEPH M. SNYDER, STATE SENATOR, MISSISAN STATE SENATE, ACCOMPANIED BY IVAN LUDINGTON, SR

Mr. SNYDER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I am honored to be able to present to this select committee the results of some of our work in the State of Michigan. I know you might be interested in my comments because you people have engineered and you people have designed these programs.

Now, I am coming to you as a mechanic, and letting you know how the vehicle you have designed is actually working in the field. You have done a good job, and we are very encouraged by your program

Our program in Michigan is a most exciting one. We pioneered the Adventure Paperback Reading Program, and we are in our third year of operation. It continues to grow every year, both in size and in interest.

Not only have we taken advantage of some of the Federal money, but we have tried to say that we have a responsibility as a State government, and we have been putting our own resources in.

The State appropriation and one-third matching formula is generally oversubscribed in Michigan. In Michigan, here is a summary of what we have done as a State and local operation in three years of operation.

In 1975 and 1976 we came up in a period of great austerity and great depression with $458,800. The second year we increased this to $533,000, and this year the Michigan Legislature passed a bill which provides for $550,000 in State money, and it is implemented by $183,300 local money. That means we are putting in three quarters of a million dollars this year.

It is an excellent program, and it certainly meets with the outstanding needs that Mr. Schiffman points out. We are excited by his testimony because we feel that the Michigan program can be the vehicle to implement many of the areas that this committee will be recommending.

I know the ethnic program-Congressman Kildee, when he was a member of the legislature was a very great proponent of the Latino educational program, and certainly we can use paperbacks to encourge them.

We have a great population of Poles, Germans, in Michigan, and in fact in our Aging Committee hearings we found that the language barrier was a great barrier, and many of the old people did not know the services that were available for them because of the language barriers. Certainly the reading program that you enunciate here will be most helpful.

This is a program also that fits the private sector into the governmental effort.

Mr. Chairman, I am derelict in my duties because I took too much for granted. I assumed that Mr. Ludington would have a little spot on the panel. If in your wisdom you can give him a few minutes, he will explain to you how the private sector does fit in.

He has a large installation in Detroit. He has recently opened up a shop in Dayton, Ohio.

Chairman PERKINS. We will call him up at the conclusion of your testimony.

Mr. SNYDER. Thank you very much.

I understand he is now in Louisville, Kentucky, opening up a distribution point out there. So here we have the private sector working hand in hand with both local, State and Federal government. I think it is the most exciting program that we have.

We have 581 school districts in Michigan. Last year 498 participated fully with the one-third matching grant. Two participated partially and 81 did not participate, but I understand they had some severe financial problems that they solved, and they will be getting into the program this year.

Of great consequence are the Detroit metropolitan area, and Highland Park schools, where there are very high concentrations of low income families and underprivileged children participating heavily in the program.

The program, because of its informality and accessibility, has a high degree of appeal to children, parents and educators alike. It is wonderful to have this program going through the school, and having the parents work hand in hand with the children and educators, and come up with an adventure reading room program. This fascinating reading room program literally traps the students in the situations in which they experience reading as being fun and interesting. There are no check-out requirements, no book reports, no tests. Kids read because they like to, and because it is fun.

I don't know about you fellows, but I learned to read by the Nick Carter pulps I used to smuggle in the house. I could not stand the Shakespearean stories and Oliver Twist, but I loved Nick Carter, and that is how I learned to read. I suppose that is one of the

paperback reading room program also be expanded at the federal level. Federal assistance to states interested in encouraging the establishment of adventure paperback reading rooms would be invaluable.

The Michigan reading room program model could be made available to other states in the union with federal assistance and support.

We would be honored to have Michigan considered a demonstration state for possible future expansion of this program.

Attached is a copy of the language explaining the program as it appears in the Michigan Department of Education budget bill for 1977-78.

Thank you for the courtesy you have extended me and for your interest.

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL No. 209

(As Passed the House June 21, 1977)

SENATOR

SNYDER

Sec. 25. (1) The appropriation of $550,000 contained in section 1 for grants for paperback libraries shall be used for grants to school districts for the acquisition of high-interest paperback libraries housed in reading rooms or reading centers in schools to stimulate and sustain student interest in reading and to encourage students to use and expand reading skills. Paperback libraries shall be considered an auxiliary service under section 1296 of Act No. 451 of the Public Acts of 1976, being section 380.1296 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

(2) To receive funds, a school district shall provide from its school district funds 25% of the total funding for the reading program funded under

this section.

(3) Not more than 15% of each grant shall be used for display racks and devices. None of these funds shall be used for ordering, receiving, and processing costs.

(4) Funds shall be used to establish a reading room in a single school building within each district, except where this will result in the establishment of a reading room which contains more than a maximum number of 3 books per student in that building. When funding will result in a reading room with more than 3 books per student, a district may establish reading rooms in additional school buildings.

A

(5)

In applying for and accepting a grant under this section a school

district shall agree to all of the following:

(a) To provide physical space for the collection.

(b) To provide responsible parent volunteer, paraprofessional, or profes

sional supervision of the collection.

· (c) To provide simplified circulation and book accounting procedures to encourage high utilization versus preservation.

(d) To provide direct student participation in the selection of the

collection.

Book selections shall be made by individual school committees composed of students, parents, and faculty. Librarians and reading specialists related to the school shall be represented on the committees.

(e) To provide that the collection be open and available during school hours, and to permit operation of the high-interest paperback libraries during preschool and postschool hours as feasible. The collection shall be available as an open library.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. SNYDER, STATE SENATOR, MICHIGAN STATE SENATE,

LUDINGTON, SR.

ACCOMPANIED BY

Mr. SNYDER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

IVAN

I am honored to be able to present to this select committee the results of some of our work in the State of Michigan. I know you might be interested in my comments because you people have engineered and you people have designed these programs.

Now, I am coming to you as a mechanic, and letting you know how the vehicle you have designed is actually working in the field. You have done a good job, and we are very encouraged by your

program.

Our program in Michigan is a most exciting one. We pioneered the Adventure Paperback Reading Program, and we are in our third year of operation. It continues to grow every year, both in size and in interest.

Not only have we taken advantage of some of the Federal money, but we have tried to say that we have a responsibility as a State government, and we have been putting our own resources in.

The State appropriation and one-third matching formula is generally oversubscribed in Michigan. In Michigan, here is a summary of what we have done as a State and local operation in three years of operation.

In 1975 and 1976 we came up in a period of great austerity and great depression with $458,800. The second year we increased this to $533,000, and this year the Michigan Legislature passed a bill which provides for $550,000 in State money, and it is implemented by $183,300 local money. That means we are putting in three quarters of a million dollars this year.