Lake Bluff Public Library, Lake Bluff District 65 Renew Card Program

From the Lake Bluff Public Library and Lake Bluff School District 65: The Lake Bluff Public Library and Lake Bluff School District 65 have approved the renewal of the District 65 Student Card program for the 2017-2018 school year.

What is the District 65 Student Card program?

Most unincorporated Lake Bluff and Knollwood properties are not taxed for library service and must purchase a non-resident card from the Lake Bluff Public Library in order to use many library services. For many years, this presented a significant barrier to collaborative educational efforts between the District and the Library.

The District 65 Student Card program was launched in September 2015 with the approval of an intergovernmental agreement between the Library and the School District. This agreement was based on a framework approved by the State of Illinois. Under the terms of this agreement, the Library is able to offer Library Cards to unincorporated Lake Bluff and Knollwood District 65 students at no additional charge to their families. Families still have the option of purchasing a non-resident card if they wish. The School provides the Library with a fee to offset costs of the program.

Program Results

The goals of the program were to remove a barrier to collaboration between the Library and School District, increase collaborative efforts between the two organizations, and increase library access for District 65 students residing in unincorporated Lake Bluff and Knollwood. The program has been tremendously successful in meeting these goals:

• As all D65 students can get a card, library access is no longer a barrier to collaboration between the Library and School District, which benefits all students in the District.
• Library access has increased dramatically for students residing in unincorporated Lake Bluff and Knollwood.
  • Prior to the D65 Student Card program, only 19 percent of eligible students had Library cards.
  • As of July 2017, 84 percent of eligible students have Library cards, which is a higher rate of participation than both the local (68 percent) and national (58 percent) rates.
• Usage of D65 Student Cards is strong.
  • As of July 2017, 70 percent of D65 Cards have been used at least once, which is comparable to Lake Bluff cardholders (74 percent).
  • As of July 2017, 56 percent of eligible students have used their card within the last year, which is comparable to Lake Bluff cardholders (53 percent).
  • In school year 2016-2017, the average D65 Student Cardholder checked out 21 items per year, which is higher than Lake Bluff cardholders (18.84 average).
• The Library and School District have partnered on a number of educational efforts and programs. Most recently, District 65 students were able to visit the Library this summer to choose books for READO, the School’s Summer Reading Program. Students were able to choose their READO materials from a special display of books created by librarians from the Library and the School District. Efforts to bolster READO had a positive impact on promoting the Library’s own Summer Reading Club.

In the coming year, the District and the Library hope to expand on their success and identify more opportunities for collaboration to further enrich educational opportunities within the Lake Bluff community.

Lake Bluff Public Library

• 123 E Scranton Avenue
• Lake Bluff, IL 60044

Lake Bluff District 65

• 121 E Sheridan Pl
• Lake Bluff, IL 60044

Image via Lake Bluff Public Library and Lake Bluff School District 65