Williamston schools gives students access to library resources

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The Capital Area District Library Williamston branch is located in the Williamston Community Schools middle school
The Williamston Library, located at Williamston Middle School, is one of 13 locations that belong to the Capital Area District Libraries system in Ingham County. Credit: Isabella Johnson

Williamston Community Schools recently became the 10th school district in the Ingham County area to partner with the Capital Area District Libraries to implement the Student Success Initiative, a program that automatically enrolls students within a school district with a Capital Area District Library card regardless of where the student lives.

The initiative


CADL marketing director, Trenton Smiley, said the initiative was started with the intent to get learning materials in the hands of as many students as possible.


“A number of districts don’t necessarily have libraries inside their buildings,” Smiley said. “We have a wealth of resources available for educational purposes, so we were really trying to create an easier way for students to access those resources.”


Instead of just giving students physical library cards, the initiative focuses on distributing virtual cards as well. Students will be able to use a district code from their school along with a username in place of a card number.


The library started using virtual cards to make it easier for students to remember their account information rather than having to remember a long library card number.


With these cards, students will be able to check out up to three books, audiobooks or magazines at a time as well as have access to the library’s public computers and research database.


Other districts with the program also have access to the library’s download and streaming services, but Williamston Community Schools has opted out of that program as a whole.


Nancy Deal, president of the Williamston Community School Board of Education, said the district’s goal in implementing the initiative is to give students access to an abundance of learning materials and to help the students excel inside and outside of the classroom.


“There was a study done that shows that access to public library increases reading test scores,” Deal said. “It’s kind of just giving kids the opportunity to be at the library, to be able to check out materials and to be able to use the materials.”

The concerns

At the Williamston Community School Board of Education’s Oct. 4 meeting, parents raised concerns over the materials students would have access to with a library card. 

Julie Chrisinske, the head librarian at CADL Williamston, said parents are still able to monitor what their children are checking out from the library, but she understands that the parents may still have concerns.

“We encourage parents to visit the library with their children and have discussions with them about what materials they find are appropriate for them,” Chrisinske said. “If they are still not comfortable with that or they decline to utilize that partnership, they can absolutely opt-out of the program.”

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