Library Card Drive Offers Gifts, Learning

A library card can go a long way these days.

That’s the message county libraries would like to promote to parents and kids in kindergarten through ninth grade each time they flash their plastic to check out books.

Through the month of September, or as long as supplies last, children who apply for or show library cards will receive passes to museums and free school-supply kits filled with markers, pens, rulers and note pads.

Called the Library Kids Educational Success Kit and Arts Passport, the program was created to “introduce parents and children to the resources of the library and to show how the library can be a participant in providing educational success to kids,” said Penny Markey, coordinator of youth services for the Los Angeles County Public Library.

Markey said the first step is for parents to come in with their children and help them apply for cards to receive the kits and museum passes. The goal of the program is to make parents aware that the library not only can enrich the relationship between them and their children but also enrich a child’s education by providing access to other educational sources, such as museums, Markey said.

County libraries are expected to issue more than 10,000 cards to new, young members as well as hand out 50,000 school-supply kits to kids and parents by month’s end, Markey added.

Sponsored by the County Library Foundation, the program was also funded by the Los Angeles County Music and Performing Arts Commission. Twenty-seven local museums have also participated by providing free or discount passes.

Participating Valley libraries include the Calabasas Library, 23645 Calabasas Road, (818) 878-9585; Las Virgenes Library, 29130 W. Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills, (818) 889-2278; San Fernando Library, 1050 Library St., (818) 365-6928; and Westlake Village Library, 4373 Park Terrace Drive, (818) 865-9230.