September is Library Card Sign-Up Month and The Newark Public Library and Newark Public Schools are partnering to give every student and teacher in the district a library card. Students and teachers can simply visit the Library and provide their name and address to receive their card. As part of the program, all third graders in Newark’s public schools will take field trips to one of The Newark Public Library’s eight community branches.
“We are proud to partner with Newark Public Schools to undertake this simple, yet monumental initiative, which will undoubtedly shape the future for all Newark students,” said Jeffrey Trzeciak, Director of The Newark Public Library. “One of our goals is to inspire life-long learning, and once these students walk through our doors, they’ll find unlimited ways to do just that. They’ll question, they’ll explore and they’ll grow, all while achieving greater academic success.”
Since 1889, The Newark Public Library has been an anchor institution in Newark. It is New Jersey’s most comprehensive public library, serving nearly 10,000 patrons per week and providing equal access for all to vast educational, cultural, literary, historical, and digital resources. Through its Main Library and seven branches, The Newark Public Library provides residents of Newark with reference help for job searches and accessing social services, ESL and computer classes, and family literacy programs. It also contains the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center, the Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center, and the James Brown African American Room. To learn how to become involved with The Newark Public Library, please visit our website www.npl.org, or contact our Development Office at 973.733.7731
The Library Card Sign-Up campaign was created to foster continuous learning and academic achievement, while providing other opportunities to Newark’s youth and families. In addition to its inspiring collection of books, the Library offers a robust calendar of community events and classes, innovative services and extensive online resources. All of these enrich patrons’ lives, inspire their imagination and strengthen the community.
“Our partnership with The Newark Public Library is in clear alignment with NPS Clarity 2020, a comprehensive plan designed to unify and align all of the district’s systems and create opportunities for continuous learning for our students, staff, and community,” said Superintendent Roger León. “We all know the incredible importance of reading and writing as the foundation for educational success, and this joint endeavor will afford amazing opportunities for our students at the Library.”
The American Library Association declared the first National Library Card Sign-Up Month in September of 1988 to spread awareness of the vast amount of opportunities the libraries of the nation have to offer.
