Through the Cards for Kids Act Expansion, South students are eligible for a free public library card, Christi Shaner, South Head Librarian, said.

Parents are now able to request a library card on the South enrollment form, Shaner said, and the card will then be mailed to students’ homes. Depending on where a student lives, they will be able to get a card from the Glenview, Northbrook, or Niles Maine Public Library.

Students with a library card will also have reciprocal borrowing rights from the three libraries, meaning they can check out material unavailable in their home library from a different location, Shaner explained.

“If Niles Maine doesn’t have the book you want, you can then go to the Glenview [or Northbrook] library to get [your book],” Shaner said.

For a student living in unincorporated Glenview, getting a library card may mean paying hundreds of dollars per year, Linda Sawyer, Glenview Public Library Librarian, said. Now, students do not need to worry about cost, she explained.

“[Students whose parents] don’t pay taxes to the library would be charged a fee equivalent to what their property taxes would be,” Sawyer said. “[The expansion], the library ensures that those children can get cards at no charge.”

Because the South library does not have all resources, Shaner hopes the expansion will give the students the opportunity to access additional information.

“We don’t have the funds to buy [books] for every single kid, so [I am thankful that this change] extends our collection,” Shaner said. “There’s college, citizenship, and job [help] that I [want] all kids [to have a chance to] access.”