ORANGE COUNTY, NC (August 3, 2018) –- The Orange County Public Library has expanded its Student Easy Access (SEA) account program to include all students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools System. SEA accounts give students in the district free access to the library’s online services – tutoring and test prep, research databases and downloadable books, movies and music.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to serve the students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district,” said Lucinda Munger, director of the Orange County Public Library. “Libraries working with schools to expand access to learning; it just makes sense.”
Munger went on to say that the library calls the program ‘easy’ because the student’s library account number is one they already know; it’s their school ID number.
"We want our students - every student - to have access to as many resources as possible," said Superintendent Pam Baldwin. "We are grateful for our friends at Orange County Library for working with us to meet that goal."
The school district will provide information to parents and guardians about the SEA Account program at the beginning of each school year. Parents may opt out of the program.
In addition to using the library’s digital services, SEA account holders may borrow up to 10 items at a time from the library. There are no fines for late materials with the account. “We anticipate most kids in the district will visit one of our two locations in Carrboro if they want to check out materials,” said Munger. “We offer weekday courier service between our Hillsborough and Carrboro locations so people throughout the county have access to our entire collection.”
The library has had the student-oriented account in place for three years. The project began on a small scale with The Expedition School in Hillsborough and is entering its second year with the Orange County Schools District. By expanding the program to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, the library will double the number of K-12 students it serves. More information about the library’s Student Easy Access program can be found here.