Get Carded at your local library

August 31, 2015

Huron and Perth County, ON – The Avon Maitland District School Board, along with Huron County Library, Perth East Public Library, North Perth Public Library, St. Marys Public Library, Stratford Public Library and West Perth Public Library aim to put a library card in the hands of every AMDSB student starting in the fall of 2015.

With the increased amount of knowledge, information and technology (K.I.T.) playing a role in students’ education today, the idea for the K.I.T. card was born.

AMDSB Technology Coach, Leigh Cassell, brought forward the idea in early April of 2015. Through coordination of the public libraries serving students of the AMSDB, September 2015 will see all students from K-12 receive a library card registration form. Once completed, students will receive their own public library card that can be used during class instruction, as well as on students’ own time, to access all of the resources the library has to offer.

“Leigh is a phenomenal educator who is always looking for ways to enrich students’ learning opportunities. When she approached us about partnering to give every single AMDSB student a library card, we were eager to begin the coordination between the Huron County Library as well as the five Perth Libraries to make this project happen.

Through regular outreach activities and community involvement we are able to reach a segment of the school-aged population. This program provides an all-encompassing scope that really speaks to our values of equitable access, literacy and lifelong learning, and community focus. We are enthusiastic about the potential benefits our community will see as a result of this initiative.” (Beth Rumble, Branch Services Librarian, Huron County Library)

With the roll out of the Next Generation Learning Program, an increasing number of AMDSB students have their own personal iPad. Additionally, most schools have multiple sets of iPads or Netbooks for classroom use. Having a public library card will give students access to the thousands of eBooks and Audiobooks that the libraries offer, free of charge. In addition, a library card provides access to other eResources for online research, information, or fun. Libraries are also hoping to see an increase in patron traffic at their branches as students explore the physical collection that is available.

To kick off the program, students with existing cards who may have accumulated fines will be given a one-time forgiveness of all overdue fines. Students who have a card but have lost it will be given a new card free of charge.

Moving forward, all new students and those entering Junior Kindergarten will receive a registration form at the beginning of the school year.

“I am very proud to be a part of this initiative that will provide all AMDSB students access to the wealth of resources available from our public libraries. Working with the Huron and Perth Public Libraries has been such a rewarding experience since we all share a common passion – to engage students in literacy, promote of love or reading, and build positive relationships with our community partners. The K.I.T Card program will create even more opportunities for our students to achieve success.” (Leigh Cassell, AMDSB Technology Coach & Founder of the Digital Human Library)

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Steve Howe
Director of Communications
Avon Maitland District School Board
Steve.Howe@ed.amdsb.ca

Beth Rumble
Branch Services Librarian
519-482-5457 ext 2292
brumble@huroncounty.ca

 

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For more information contact:

Susan Cronin, County Clerk
519.524.8394 (ext 3257)
scronin@huroncounty.ca