To celebrate National Library Week, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) plans to introduce legislation that will amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide Perkins student loan forgiveness in order to encourage people to accept and remain in library positions in low-income school and public libraries. If successful, the Librarians Act of 2007 would allow for loan cancellation for full-time librarians (who hold an MLS) who work in a public library in a neighborhood that has one or more schools eligible for assistance under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965, or who work in an elementary or secondary school that is eligible for assistance under this same Title I.

The 1965 Elementary and Secondary School Act, is part of the “War on Poverty” campaign launched by President Lyndon B. Jonson. This act was established to redress the needs of poor children, realizing that children from low-income homes require extra educational services.