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TL11.1_v5 14 Ontario School Library Association schools it means a 1.5- to two-day teacher- librarian a week. In 61 schools, 2.5 to three days per week. And with further concern, the committee noted that prep time is coming out of that allotment of staffing. So you might have a half- time teacher-librarian (2.5 days a week) who is really spending more like only .35 or 1.5 days of her actual timetable in the library. We are concerned! The Ontario Principal's Council presenta- tion to the Education Equality Task Force stat- ed that when principals from all 31 public district school boards were asked to identify the areas in their schools that were most affected by the lack of funding, No.4 on their list was "Librarians who promote literacy and teach students how to conduct research." (p.3 OPC submission). We need staffing ratios built on more than just student numbers. As we have stated in prior presentations to you, equity is not equality. Small schools, and especially our elementary schools, are being adversely affected by the lack of staffed libraries. And in the secondary market, we have large schools with student populations the size of small towns, trying to hold together a library teaching program while lacking clerical assis- tance, sufficient teaching staff, and a lack of budgets to maintain the resources. We recommend that you invest your money in Equity Investments: Teacher-Librarian Staffing. PRIME LENDING RATES: RESOURCES FOR THE LIBRARIES You are smart investors, and I'm sure you know what kinds of cash we're talking about here! I have a couple of examples of some investments that you have covered in the past. What you might not know is how your investments have paid off. Here are some examples from my library: 1971 Ernest Hemingway's Islands in the Stream - hardcover - $9.50 My name is Linda White and I am pre-senting here tonight on behalf of theThames Valley Teacher-Librarians' Association. Welcome to our investment sem- inar, Banking on the Future: Investing in School Libraries. It's obvious to me that this is a rich crowd tonight and that you have lots of money that you want to invest, and quite frankly, we have the vehicles to put your money to good work....we all want good investments and good returns! Tonight, we will be talking about Guaranteed Equity Investments, Prime Lending Rates, Protecting Your Investments and Capital Gains, And while we're at it, we want you to know that while we are attempt- ing to infuse our presentation with humour, this is serious business that's worthy of your attention and your money. EQUITY INVESTMENTS: TEACHER- LIBRARIAN STAFFING IN ALL SCHOOLS We have two markets for your equity investments: elementary and secondary. In the elementary market, we are currently very concerned with the low level of investment. A study done by the TVDSB Teacher-Librarian Subcommittee, noted that in our 156 elemen- tary schools, four out of five of our schools have library staffing of .1 to .6 of a teacher- librarian. What does that mean in the real market? In 21 schools, it means one half-day or less teacher-librarian per week. In 37TH E P RE SE NT AT ION TO TH E B UD GE T C OM MI TT EE