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All 41K Escambia School District Students To Get Public Library Cards
May 9, 2017
West Florida Public Libraries and the Escambia County School District are teaming up to ensure every student in Escambia County will receive a special edition library card this week.
The cards, which will be issued to all K-12 Escambia County School District students and homeschooled children registered with the district, have a limit of three books or audiobooks at a time with unlimited access to online resources like e-books and research databases.
The 41,623 student cards will not have late fees for overdue items and can be used at any West Florida Public Libraries location.
“We look forward to working with the schools more in the future to support student learning year-round,” Library Director Todd Humble said. “Every Escambia County student now has a fresh start with this new account, regardless of past mistakes. As the future leaders of Escambia County, we want you to make us proud by reading for enjoyment to explore new worlds and learn about the things you love.”
The cards will be handed out to students by their homeroom teachers.
“We greatly appreciate community support for our students such as the library card program, the summer reading contests, and ECAT’s free summer passes that make it even easier for students to get to the libraries,” Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said. “One of the best ways for students to stay up to date over the summer is to read. So, we are excited to partner with our local public libraries to make it even easier for our students to develop their love for reading and to explore their world through the books and resources available to them this summer in our libraries.”
The initiative is part of the Urban Library Leaders Challenge, which was accepted by the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, the Escambia County School District and West Florida Public Libraries.
To date, only 60 communities in the U.S. have accepted the challenge. Escambia County will follow Orange and Duval counties as the third Florida county to accept.
Comments
8 Responses to “All 41K Escambia School District Students To Get Public Library Cards”
Thank you soooooo much! My son came home so happy and excited.
I don’t want to be pessimistic but I can foresee a considerable thinning of the library shelves if 41,000-plus kids can check out with no return date and no late charge. ??? But I’m all for children loving to read; it definitely improves their learning skills.
Atleast cantonment gets a city bus. Grocery stores. Beulah gets nothing just nothing. We can’t even pick up on wifi hahaha. But look we got PIN air
The public library in the old Molino school is a bit closer to Cantonment than the main branch downtown. There’s also a branch in Century, one on the Westside, and the bookmobile schedules stops at regular times all over town. You can go online and make a list of the books/materials you want and they will be delivered to the branch you specify. I would wager most children in this county have never been to a library because the adults in their life don’t go.
This is nice but could they please build a library in Cantonment? I would rather have that instead of a free library card which is free anyway.
Good news here folks.The children can be no better than the ones teaching them.
Is anyone going to track how many of these cards are used in the course of the next 12 months for checkouts and on line access to determine actual results or is this just a “feel good get you name in the paper” program politicians are famous for?
Was there some reason students who wanted a card could not just request one at school instead of handing out 41,000 cards, most of which will either be lost or not used?
Just wondering!
This is wonderful news! Something near and dear to my heart ever since my days on the Blue Ribbon Task Force as an advocate for library services in the north end of Escambia County.