Mesa City Council has approved a Library Card initiative with Mesa Public Schools that streamlines the library card sign-up process and makes it easier for students to get library cards. The pilot project to start during the online school registration period will allow parents or guardians of kindergarteners to check an opt-in box to register their child for a public library card during school enrollment or re-enrollment. The student's info is sent securely to Mesa Public Library for library card registration and the card is mailed to the student's address.
"We're proud of Mesa's great relationship with our school districts and eager to get students connected with additional resources for success," said Mayor John Giles. "Literacy is an issue our Education and Workforce Roundtable is eager to address, and the library card initiative in partnership with the school system is an important step in the right direction."
With this agreement, the City hopes to encourage students to use the public library. Research shows that kindergartners who attend school during the year and have access to public libraries achieve higher scores in science and reading during their third-grade year, a critical benchmark in lifelong academic achievement.
"The main goal of the project is to create an approach for library card registration that will reach more students and expand their access to resources and opportunity," said Polly Bonnett, Mesa Public Library Director. "We're excited to strengthen our partnership with Mesa Public Schools and to provide more support to schools across Mesa."
Mesa Public Library is also making resources more available to the community by launching a new eCard option, which gives users instant access to ebooks, audiobooks, online courses and more. eCards are the easiest and fastest way to obtain a card and can be upgraded to a full-access card at any time. Anyone who lives in Maricopa County for at least 30 consecutive days a year, works, owns property, or attends school within the County is eligible for a free Mesa Public Library card. To learn more about Mesa Public Library card options and sign up for an eCard, visit mesalibrary.org/getacard.