Pupils get keys to digital world

Cards for LR students grant access to library’s resources

A few link clicks, a bar code and PIN number will now take Little Rock School District students to a world of grade-appropriate digital library resources every day, day and night.

The state's largest district is partnering with the Central Arkansas Library System to provide all 24,000 students with Tech Cards that will enable students to tap into an encyclopedia entry, study a new language or take a practice test for a driver's license at no cost to them from school or home, and from a computer or a cellphone.

"You have access to this public library, your library, all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Central Arkansas Library System Executive Director Nate Coulter said Friday while speaking to student representatives from the first six Little Rock schools to receive the Tech Cards.

"We want you to feel comfortable in our spaces, in the branches, but we also want you to feel comfortable in the virtual world of the library," he continued. "That's why we are handing out these cards, so you will be able to use your Tech Card and have access to the library's digital resources. Any of the materials that are electronically available on the library web site -- and there are lots and lots of them ... you can get to those."

The idea of the Tech Cards comes from libraries in Northwest Arkansas where Little Rock Superintendent Mike Poore previously headed the Bentonville School District.

Poore said Friday the access to the digital resources will enrich and support students, their parents and the district's teaching staff, all of whom will be able to use the high-quality, in-depth information in an electronic format to "take off" with learning.

The program has started with about 3,000 cards distributed at Mabelvale and Bale elementaries, Horace Mann and Dunbar middle schools and Parkview Magnet and Hall high schools. The technology cards will be distributed to all Little Rock district schools, in groups of 10 schools at a time, by the end of the school year.

Over time, the program will likely be extended to other school districts and private schools in the area, said Lisa Donovan, a deputy executive director of the library system.

Imani Carpenter, an eighth-grader and student body president at Horace Mann Middle School, said Friday that the Tech Card "changed my life for the positive," starting with research on her science fair topic of the Spix's macaw bird.

"I typed in one word and so many various websites popped up, giving me new and innovative ideas, " she said. "Let me be clear, this card has no limits at all."

Students with Tech Cards are able to go to the Central Arkansas Library System website, click on the "CALS Tech Card Student Portal" link, and then click on the icon for their grade span.

That will take students to a list of dozens of age-appropriate resources. World Book Online, Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Accelerated Reader book lists and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other state, regional and national news sources are among those resources. Pronunciator, which offers instruction in some 80 languages; Learning Express Library, which provides practice questions in core academic subjects, are other features along with book/author lists, maps, reference materials and even practice tests for driver's licenses and college entrance exams.

After clicking on a specific resource, a student will be asked for the bar code and personal identification numbers on the Tech Card.

The technology cards do not allow students to physically check out books from the Central Arkansas Library System, but traditional library cards to allow those checkouts are available at no cost.

Darian Smith, principal at Mabelvale Elementary School, said the Tech Cards will enable students at his school to use the library system even if they lack transportation to a branch location.

"This gives them access, using their Chromebooks in the classroom," Smith said, adding that the library resource has the added benefit of expanding the use of the students' Chromebooks, which are Google-produced laptop computers that run on Chrome browsers and are widely used in schools.

The Tech Cards are provided at no cost to the school district and at little new cost to the library system that already had subscriptions and licenses with the resource providers.

Coulter said the public needs to know that the library system is facilitating the education of children and adults in ever-expanding ways.

"This is a great opportunity for us to remind people that their libraries -- the libraries that they have invested in -- are here," Coulter said. "We have great bricks and mortar libraries, and we have these great digital resources that oftentimes people don't know about."

He cited e-books and downloadable music as examples of how the system has expanded its offerings.

"Libraries are not what they used to be," he said.

Metro on 01/20/2018

Upcoming Events