September is Library Card Sign-up Month. If you think that signing up for a library card is not relevant in your life, consider some of the many benefits libraries offer to you, your family and your community.

Libraries offer access to information and resources that may not be readily available or too expensive. It represents a retreat for you to study, learn and socialize. Many libraries have unique collections, such as rare books, documents and artifacts. You can also discover new hobbies and interests from your visit to a library.

Libraries also benefit your larger community through in-person classes, promoting literacy and serving as safe zones for children. They preserve local history and provide access to technology that may not be available to community members.

The ticket to all these benefits? A free public library card.

Focus on the Children

A library card may be most important to the nation’s most important citizens—our children.

The inspiration for a national day encouraging everyone, especially children, to sign up for a library card came from then-Secretary of Education William Bennett, who stated that the nation should have a campaign to get every child to obtain a card and use it. In 1987, the American Library Association took up that challenge and declared September a perfect month to reach out to children and their parents to sign up for a library card.

Of course, the greatest benefit of a library card is to promote a lifelong love of reading and eliminate the handicap of illiteracy.

Illiteracy in America is unfortunate. Consider these statistics:¹

• 21% of U.S. adults are illiterate.
• 54% of adults have literacy below a 6^th grade level.
• Low literacy costs the U.S. economy an estimated $2.2 trillion per year.

Get Involved

What can you do to encourage  sign-ups this September? First, get your own card. It’s hard to ask people to do what we haven’t done for ourselves. Next, consider ways to work with your school to promote in-school library card sign-ups. Alternatively, schedule time with your children (or grandchildren) to visit the library to sign up for a card. Welcome them to invite their friends. A reward of ice cream afterwards may be just the right incentive.

Source:

1. https://www.thinkimpact.com/literacy-statistics/

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