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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Marissa Migdal, Public School Parent and CUNY Queens Library Science Student, on School Libraries and Intro 1125
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Marissa Migdal, a public school parent and library science student, passionately advocates for passing Intro 1125 to ensure every child has access to a school library and certified librarian. She emphasizes the importance of libraries for literacy, academic success, and creating a safe community space in schools.
- Migdal uses a vivid storytelling approach, asking listeners to recall their own positive experiences with school libraries
- She highlights the critical need for media literacy in today's digital world and the role of libraries in fostering reading engagement
- Migdal argues that access to school libraries and librarians should be a citywide policy, not left to individual principals' decisions
Marissa Migdal
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My name is Marissa Migdell and I'm a proud public school parent
Megan Muttreja
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of Yaya.
3:49:42
Thank you Yaya.
Marissa Migdal
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And Genevieve.
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And a student of the library science program at CUNY Queens.
3:49:51
And I urge you to pass intro eleven twenty five.
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I want you all to take a moment and close your eyes.
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Now I want you to picture yourself as a kid in your school library.
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Can you remember that feeling?
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Can some of you even remember your librarian's name or face?
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Or the book they handed you?
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The book you needed at just the right moment, the book that made you feel seen.
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When I talk to parents, grandparents and even mayoral candidates, they all get the same sparkle in their eyes when thinking about that space and what it meant to them.
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And yet we continue to deprive our kids of this same feeling.
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Our kids are growing up in a mediated world much different than the ones we grew up in and yet we are depriving them of media literacy they desperately need.
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We want our kids to read more and we write articles about how they don't have reading stamina to finish books.
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And yet we deprive them of book clubs, the joy of reading for pleasure and a place that not only encourages that practice but has an entire location dedicated to it.
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We go on about poor literacy scores and yet we deprive our kids of something proven by decades of research to increase not just reading scores and comprehension but all academic standings.
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We want our kids to feel safe at school and yet we deprive them of community and a third space where everyone feels welcome.
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Every single kid deserves a library and a certified school librarian.
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Our kids deserve better.
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These feelings should not be a privilege.
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And I just wanted to add that this shouldn't be down to the principals to have to make these choices but it should be a citywide policy.
3:51:32
Thank you for your time.