Chicago School IDs Double as Library Cards
An exciting educational initiative, “The 81 Club”, has now been expanded by Chicago public schools and the Chicago Public Library together with Mayor Brandon Johnson. It is already making waves on social media, with multiple outlets and organizations lauding its removal of barriers to education.
As Block Club Chicago details, this is a program that automatically turns every Chicago Public School student’s ID into a fully-functioning library card. It gives students instant library access with zero bureaucratic red tape.
Introducing The 81 Club!
It all started with The 81 Club. Building on a pilot launched in 2022 to give students access to the library system’s vast collection and databases, the program has been expanded by Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Public Library, granting automatic access to the six million items in this city’s library collection.
Today, this is a program in which Chicago Public School students ranging from those in pre-K through grade 12 can use their school IDS to access books, digital resources, and free academic support teaching across 82 Chicago locations without any separate paperwork.
The Chicago Sun Times quotes Damarious Jefferson, a senior at a local college, who says he used the program to advance his interest in finance, which he plans to study at Northern Illinois University: “It helped me with projects, studying, even just reading a book sometimes,” he shares. He explains that he enjoyed it so much that he encouraged his friends to use it too: “I told them it’s free to anyone and you should use this for studying, research or even your own work.”
In addition, Chicago Public Libraries Commissioner, Chris Brown, highlights the flexible study possibilities of libraries supporting pupils and their families. A media release quotes Brown saying that “At Chicago Public Library, the library is the city’s most accessible out-of-school learning space.”
Toppling Educational Barriers in a Light-Touch Way
Importantly, this program bends over backwards to help kids and young people access books and other Chicago Public Library resources seamlessly. This is a move that Vice calls a shockingly simple route to improving the lives of 315,000 kids!
How can they do this? Firstly, a student ID acts as a library card, no need for a separate physical card, which entitles users to borrow up to five physical items. This is based on an agreement between Chicago Public Schools and local public libraries to share student data. In addition, if kids aren’t sure of their ID number, obliging staff can happily check it for them. Furthermore, their PIN is simply their home ZIP code. Audiobook and e-book collections are accessible via the Sora app, which is a school edition of the Libby app, a free, award-winning app for borrowing e-books, digital audiobooks and magazines from a public library that can be streamed with Wi-Fi or mobile data, or downloaded to use offline anytime with a library card.
The Chicago Public Library staff told Block Club Chicago that the initiative aims to promote resources for youth facing the greatest barriers to education. These include children in foster care, unhoused students, and those who lack legal immigration status in the US, as the Chicago Sun Times reports. For them, this program enables library access without the need to supply additional documentation. In fact, the 2022 pilot revealed a 63 percent increase in library access among economically disadvantaged students, and a rise of 81 percent among English language learners, according to policy research institute, Chapin Hall, focusing on child welfare and family well-being.
Kenya Merritt, the acting commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, celebrates the expanded program as another step towards equity for local kids: “This partnership is what it looks like in action when young people have access, not just to books, but to stories, art and creative expression. It opens doors for them. It helps them to imagine what’s possible for themselves… it helps students envision their future that’s full of opportunity.” For her, the universal pupil access is what makes the collaboration powerful, and demonstrates making equity real.
Pupils studying outside the Chicago Public School system, can still come into any library branch to join with their student library card number, and access eBook and audiobook collections via the Libby app.
