Virginia 2027 Regular Session Status: Passed House Of Delegates

HB 263 — Certified school library specialists; Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in DOE.

Last action — Continued from last session

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the House of Delegates. Introduced January 09, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Senate.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Stalled 30% · moderate confidence

  • Passed House of Delegates

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    1 primary, 2 co-sponsors signed on.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

The bill requires the employment of certified school library specialists in the Department of Education.

This legislation mandates that the Superintendent of Public Instruction hire at least one certified school library specialist. These specialists will assist school divisions in implementing information literacy and library standards to support student learning and achievement.

What this means for you
  • Workers: This means there may be new job opportunities for certified school library specialists in the education sector.
  • Families: This could improve access to information and literacy resources for students, benefiting family educational engagement.
  • Consumers: This may enhance the quality of educational resources available through school libraries, impacting student learning outcomes.

Summary

Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who shall have several duties enumerated in the bill, including (i) providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders to support student achievement; (ii) directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards; (iii) collaborating on various grants and other initiatives that promote student literacy through school library programs throughout the Commonwealth; (iv) supporting student learning through instructional programs in which students are required to demonstrate information literacy, digital literacy and fluency, and effective use of technology and instructional programs that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math learning; and (v) providing the Department, the Board of Education, the General Assembly, and school boards with support relating to student learning through the use of school library standards and library resources.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Continued from last session

  2. Continued to next session in Education and Health (14-Y 1-N)

  3. Referred to Committee on Education and Health

  4. Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)

  5. Read third time and passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A)

  6. Read second time and engrossed

  7. Read first time

  8. Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)

  9. Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N)

  10. Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB263)

  11. Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education

  12. Reported from Education and referred to Appropriations (17-Y 4-N)

  13. Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 1-N)

  14. Assigned HED sub: K-12 Subcommittee

  15. Referred to Committee on Education

  16. Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101218D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 2 co-sponsors · 145 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (2)

Not signed on (145)

145 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 145 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

education technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 263 do?
Superintendent of Public Instruction; employment of certified school library specialists. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to employ in the Department of Education at least one certified school library specialist who shall have several duties enumerated in the bill, including (i) providing leadership and technical assistance with the implementation and use of information literacy skills to school divisions, Department staff, and other stakeholders to support student achievement; (ii) directing the implementation of state and national school library standards and consulting with and providing technical assistance to local school divisions relating to such standards; (iii) collaborating on various grants and other initiatives that promote student literacy through school library programs throughout the Commonwealth; (iv) supporting student learning through instructional programs in which students are required to demonstrate information literacy, digital literacy and fluency, and effective use of technology and instructional programs that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math learning; and (v) providing the Department, the Board of Education, the General Assembly, and school boards with support relating to student learning through the use of school library standards and library resources.
Who sponsors HB 263?
HB 263 is sponsored by Nicole Cole, Shelly A. Simonds, and Gretchen M. Bulova.
What is the current status of HB 263?
This bill has passed the House of Delegates. Introduced January 09, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track HB 263?
Track HB 263 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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