This bill amends RCW 28A.320.240 and adds new statutory sections to require and describe school library information and technology programs. By September 1, 2026, each school district board must adopt or amend a policy acknowledging that the board must provide every student access to a school library information and technology program and must adopt procedures explaining how students may access library instruction, resources, and materials. The bill defines a "school library information and technology program" as a school-based program, staffed except as noted below by a certificated teacher-librarian, that provides services, resources, and instruction to support state learning standards and the district’s school improvement plan. It defines "teacher-librarian" as a certificated teacher with a library media endorsement under Professional Educator Standards Board rules. The bill requires boards to provide resources and materials for operation of these programs and sets out duties and functions for teacher-librarians and library programs, including collaboration with staff, curriculum integration, instruction in information management and digital citizenship, promoting reading, and directing classified library staff. It authorizes a statutory exception for school districts of the second class to use a noncertificated staff member to oversee the program only after making all reasonable efforts to employ a certificated teacher-librarian; such programs must remain school-based and districts are authorized and encouraged to partner with nonprofits or government entities, including libraries and institutions of higher education. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is directed to oversee implementation, establish a single point of contact, gather and analyze implementation and student assessment data, provide technical assistance beginning with Title I, part A schools, assist with evaluation, identify and share assessments, produce guidance in consultation with the Washington State School Directors' Association, and facilitate adoption of statewide library standards based on AASL and ISTE standards. This is a programmatic and procedural change: it creates new statutory requirements and oversight, amends existing law, and establishes duties and definitions rather than creating a new crime or changing penalties. The extracted text shows a discrepancy about where a new section is added (the header references chapter 28A.30 RCW while the bill text references chapter 28A.300 RCW), and the chunk does not provide the full text or definitions from the other RCWs cited (for example, the precise definition of "school district of the second class" and the content of the referenced learning standards and assessments), so those details are not available here.

If enacted, every school district will have to adopt by September 1, 2026 a policy and procedures ensuring students can access school library information and technology programs, and boards must provide the resources and materials needed to operate those programs. That will push districts and boards to allocate money and staff time to make library programs available to all students, and to define roles for certificated teacher-librarians and classified library staff; small “second class” districts get a limited option to use noncertificated staff only after documented reasonable efforts to hire a certificated teacher-librarian. Districts may reduce costs by partnering with nonprofits, public libraries, or higher education, but many districts will likely face new ongoing staffing and material costs and new administrative duties to document access and implementation. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction must oversee implementation, set up a single point of contact, collect and analyze implementation and student assessment data, and provide technical assistance starting with Title I, part A schools while helping adopt statewide library standards based on AASL and ISTE. That creates new workload and likely staffing needs at OSPI and requires districts to work with OSPI and the Washington State School Directors’ Association on guidance; the bill text leaves unclear how the efforts will be funded, the exact service levels OSPI will provide, and there is a citation discrepancy that could affect where some duties are placed.