Twin Lakes Library System Director Stephen Houser speaks to members of the Baldwin County Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Noris Price about the free digital library card at the board's June meeting. The pilot program will provide access to thousands of online resources to public school students beginning this upcoming school year.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — If knowledge is power then students in the Baldwin County School System are about to have an increased ability to train their mental muscles.

A pilot program in the form of a partnership between the Twin Lakes Library System and local public schools, beginning in the upcoming school year, will give students and their families access to tens of thousands of online resources through a free digital library card. Stephen Houser, director of the local library system, addressed the members of the Baldwin County Board of Education about the program at their monthly meeting June 13. Students in need of information to complete assignments and unable to make the trip to the library will have access right at their fingertips through the use of a computer or other digital device. 

“We want to serve as many Baldwin County residents as we can,” Houser told The Union-Recorder Wednesday morning. “We recognize there are some folks who can’t make it to the library, so we wanted to partner with the schools to provide access to our digital resources at home or at school. … There’s a lot of resources that we’re making available to the citizens of our community.”

It’s not just for novels and encyclopedic knowledge either, Houser added students and their families will have access to language, tutoring and test prep software among other useful tools. Twin Lakes is one of three participating systems in the pilot program along with Henry County and the West Georgia Regional Library System.

“All the parents would need to do is allow the school share the necessary information about their kids we need in order to make a [digital] card with the library, and that’s it,” the local library director said.

Houser added the digital cards will eventually be made available to students at all levels, but registration will be open to the high school first. Students can pull from online databases such as OverDrive, the library system’s e-book provider, and Tumble Books for younger students. Registration forms will be sent home with students instructing families on how to proceed, according to Houser. He also said digital cards would need to be renewed at the beginning of each school year should families wish to continue, and there is no timeline for how long the program will be in effect.

“We want to continue it indefinitely,” Houser said. “The cards will be good for one year and then we’ll renew them each school term for students that are still in school. As students turn 18, if their parents want to come down and get them a library card they can.”

One important note is that cards are good for one full year, not just during the school term, so students may also take advantage while they are home during the summer. Houser said there is no formal barometer set that would label the program a success, but he did have a couple of goals in mind.

“Anybody that we get is actually a success for us,” he said. “I think we’d like to get at least 10 percent of the eligible population signed up. We’d be really happy with that, and we’ll see if we can grow that number year to year.”