The Antelope Valley Times

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L.A. County moves to issue fine-free library card for students

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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to introduce a fine-free library card for students 17 years old and younger.

Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis co-authored the motion.

“By getting rid of late fees and penalties, our student library cards are finally a risk-free way for young people to access the tools they need to boost their education,” Hahn said, pointing out that libraries countywide offer access to computers, printers, research databases and after-school help with homework, in addition to books.

Students will be able to check out three printed items at a time for as long as they like, with no fees or fines.

Third-graders will be the first to get the new cards. This is a critical age for reading development and only 41 percent of third-graders in L.A. County are currently reading at grade level, according to a statewide scorecard published by nonprofit advocacy group Children Now.

“This initiative is really about a challenge put to us by President Barack Obama,” Solis said of a 2015 Library Card Challenge aimed at ensuring that all students have access to library resources. “It is important that every student in the county, regardless of economic status, be able to tap into these services.”

County Librarian Skye Patrick said the library has reached out to superintendents in more than 40 school districts in the library service area in planning for the new card.

“We are absolutely thrilled by the idea of offering students a fine-free card and reinforcing the county library as the center of learning,” Patrick said.

She told the board that student fines amount to less than 1 percent of the overall library budget, so the new cards wouldn’t have much impact on revenues.

A new animated video developed for the library tells kids that “with your L.A. County library card, you’ll never be bored,” calling the card a “magic key” to “cool stuff.”

Library workers offer help researching papers and other projects and students can also enjoy free online tutoring, language classes, music, e-books, movies and television shows if their parents give permission to access library computers.

The card also offers discounts at museums across the county.

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Filed Under: Education

13 comments for "L.A. County moves to issue fine-free library card for students"

  1. Dearest Ivanka (AKA Bill): Tim Scott is the one that is always bullying other people, by his incessant name-calling, and his incessant use of the word (racist), in an attempt to bring other people down. She answered you, by saying she is too flawed to be more righteous, or more moral. You will never hear that coming from Tim Scott. Why? because he thinks he is too righteous and too moral to admit his part in anything. His motto is “It’s everyone else, not me.”

    • You wrote a lot of words, backitup but even so, being too flawed doesn’t stop the ‘she’ in your post from acting as if she is more moral or righteous than others including Tim Scott.

      Like I wrote, she gives herself a free pass.

  2. I recommend they give the kids an opportunity to work off fines. I see no reason why even the smallest child can’t learn to be responsible by paying attention to a simple due date. Absorbing children of responsibility does not do them any favors. Stop coddling the children; we are creating whiney, spoiled young adults.

    • Ok since you dredged up a topic thats over 2 weeks old, I will reply… I agree.. kids need to learn the consequences of laziness and dishonesty, but it will be pointless for many kids here in the AV. In my apartment complex we have like 6 permanent residents, the rest are those who got a temporary windfall from some phony lawsuit and got a nice car and 6 months of free rent and furniture from Rent-A-Center – Then they move out, and take the furniture with them.. what do their kids learn? How to game the system? I wont name the race of people who do this on a regular basis.. but we all know.

        • If it happens consistently, it’s no longer “racism”, it’s just a matter of fact. The era of calling simple observations “racist” is over.

    • Going back 6+ decades to when I was a child we paid 3 cents to rent a library book for a month. We were fined for late returns & damage to the book which taught us responsibility and to take care of things. Another quick story about visiting my grade school friend who now lived in San Francisco. He was complaining about how he , I, and a few others were told to take a nap while others who had 6 cents could drink milk at a morning break at school. I then reminded him how if we had picked up some of the thrown away glass soda bottles; and redeemed then for the 2 cent deposit; we could have been drinking the 7 cent chocolate milk. Even the old lib he had become had to laugh and agree.

      • 6+ decades ago, I remember simpler times at Edwards AFB. I was isolated from the world, and happy with my tinker toys, pogo stick, bag of beautiful marbles, and being a champion at playing jacks. Oh, yes, and hop scotch. I remember my dad telling me to take care of my toys and make them last.