Overdue Library Fines? Heights Libraries Tells Kids "Forget About It"

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library is taking part in a nine-library initiative aimed at putting a library card in the hands of every child under 18 in Cuyahoga County. The "A Card for Every Kid Library Challenge" will take place in September, starting Sept. 1 and ending Sept. 30.

The initiative is a cooperative effort to bring awareness to the importance of library card ownership. Every library in Cuyahoga County will be working to get students signed-up for free library cards. As part of the initiative, students who already own library cards, but owe fines, will be able to take advantage of fine forgiveness in September.

“There’s a reason Library Card Sign Up Month happens in September,” said Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin in a statement. “A library card is the most important, and most effective, school supply a child can have. Through this initiative, we want to reduce the roadblocks that keep so many kids in our communities from owning and using library cards. Whether it's fines or lack of awareness or some other factor, we want to raise awareness and clear a path for every child to check out materials and access learning resources.”

Last year, more than 9,100 library cardholders took part in the A Card for Every Kid Library Challenge fine forgiveness program and more than 4,000 new library cards were issued. Four months after the new cards were issued, 80 percent of the children who received them visited a local library.

This year, the nine libraries participating in the A Card for Every Kid Library Challenge include: Cleveland Public Library, Cuyahoga County Public Library, East Cleveland Public Library, Euclid Public Library, Heights Libraries, Lakewood Public Library, Rocky River Public Library, Shaker Heights Public Library, and Westlake Porter Public Library.

For more information about the A Card for Every Kid Library Challenge, stop in at any Heights Libraries branch, or visit http://heightslibrary.org/signup_month.

Photo from Heights Libraries