NPL - Flipbook - Page 25
S P OT LIGHT
Limitless Libraries
92,000+
Nashville public
school students
have access
to over
2 million
physical and
digital items.
Ask a Metro Nashville Public School librarian, and they’ll tell you: our students love
to read. Some devotedly follow their favorite series of fantasy fiction; others start
book clubs with their friends, and some
even download graphic novels to read on
their phones. Unfortunately, transportation
barriers can make it difficult for many of
these young readers to visit a library regularly. For many students, the school library
is their only easily-accessible resource for
the books and tools they need. That’s why
Nashville Public Library collaborates with
Metro Nashville Public Schools to invest in
Limitless Libraries. Limitless Libraries is a
nationally-recognized initiative that shares
Nashville Public Library’s collections with
all 125 of our city’s traditional public
schools, removing all barriers to access for
students and teachers by delivering physical and digital materials directly to school
libraries.
Through this program, Metro students'
school ID becomes their library card. Students can request any book or resource
from our collection and have it delivered
right to their school within a week. That
means that each of Nashville’s 92,000-plus
public school students and educators
has access to over two million physical
and digital items – everything from classic
novels to ebooks, databases, and audiovisual materials for English Language
Learners. This year, patrons of Limitless
Libraries checked out 176,828 items,
96,993 of which were sent through our
school delivery system.
Limitless Libraries is a truly innovative
collaboration, and it’s yielding exciting
results in our schools. This school year,
83% of responding Metro students reported checking out books for fun, a
15% increase from last year, and 61%
checked out books to support their studies. Plus, 20 school libraries stayed open
this summer because of our advocacy,
and independent reading time is now
being encouraged in Metro schools.
At the library, we believe in limitless
learning. Limitless Libraries is helping to
make that a reality in our schools.
I've seen Limitless Libraries impact students a lot over the past few years.
There are some kids who, like me, found out about the program through a librarian
and now order their favorite books just as frequently as me. Sometimes, I've gotten
a smile on my face over the years when I see kids zooming over to the counter
to check for their books just as eagerly as I did and still do to this day.
Kathleen, Limitless Libraries student participant
2017— 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
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