September is Library Card Sign-up Month and Fort Bend County Libraries wants to make sure all area children are among the two-thirds of Americans that carry a library card.
Studies show that children who are read to in the home – and who use the library – perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning.
A recent study by the American Library Association also showed that families use libraries to spend time together; 44 percent of survey respondents report taking their children to the library for that reason.
A library card provides free access to videos, DVDs, CDs, software and books. Libraries also offer a wide range of other items to lend to children and their families, including toys, games and puzzles. Most importantly, librarians are on hand to help recommend materials suitable for various ages and interests.
A library card becomes even more valuable when someone wants to access many of the library’s online databases from home. The cost of subscribing to the databases as an individual would make them unaffordable to most people, but a library card levels the playing field by making them available to everyone free, as long as you have a library card.
For more information on how to sign up for a library card, visit any of the branches in the Fort Bend County library system, call the library’s public information office at 281-341-2677 or see the library’s website at www.fortbend.lib.tx.us and click on the “Online Library Card Application” link.
