All Quaker Valley School District students now have library cards
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The Sewickley Public Library set a goal to get library cards into the hands of all students in the Quaker Valley School District. This January, that milestone was achieved thanks to some collaborative efforts.
The project is part of a wider student library card initiative from the Allegheny County Library Association, which enables public libraries to coordinate with their school districts to provide cards to enrolled students.
The library said the aim is to make sure that every student in the district has free access to the collections, resources and databases that the library offers.
“Students with a public library card are more likely to succeed in school and have future success into adulthood,” said library executive director Ruth M. Neely. “By proactively providing students with a library card, we are giving them the tools they need to succeed. We want to break down as many barriers as we can to ensure every student has equal access.”
Neely said the project has been in the works for the past year, noting that it takes a coordinated effort among the library, the school district and the county library association to make a project of this scale possible.
“We are grateful to the Quaker Valley School District and to the Allegheny County Library Association for their help to make this undertaking possible,” Neely said.
The Sewickley Public Library student card program created new cards for approximately 1,000 of the 1,800 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in the school district. The cards give students full access not only to the library’s physical books, movies, music and kits, but also to digital collections and online databases. The remaining 800 students who did not receive new cards were already library cardholders at the Sewickley Public Library or at other libraries in Allegheny County.
The Sewickley Public Library plans to continue to provide cards for all kindergarteners and newly enrolled students in the district on an annual basis.
For more information about registering for a free library card from the Sewickley Public Library, visit the library’s website at sewickleylibrary.org or call 412-741-6920.