United Way of the Coastal Empire, in partnership with Live Oak Public Libraries (LOPL) and Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS), announced a new pilot program in Chatham County aimed at encouraging SCCPSS Pre-K through 2nd grade students and their families to utilize our local public libraries to improve literacy skills.

Through this partnership, they are teaming up to promote the use of Live Oak Public Library PLAY Cards. These cards give Savannah Chatham County Public School students fines-free access to millions of public library resources, including physical and digital resources.

“United Way of the Coastal Empire is proud to partner with Savannah Chatham County Public School System and Live Oak Public Library on this exciting pilot program, reinforcing our commitment to mobilizing the caring power of our community,” said Kimberly Waller, President & CEO, United Way of the Coastal Empire. “By leveraging existing resources and uniting key partners, we are ensuring that families and students have the tools they need to thrive—paving the way for greater literacy proficiency and lifelong success. This collaboration embodies our mission to create meaningful change, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on the students and families we serve."

As part of United Way’s Read United initiative, the three organizations partnered to provide students in SCCPSS Pre-K through 2nd grade with a special PLAY Card of their own in the hopes of making students and parents aware of this valuable resource.

“Now that students have physical PLAY cards, the objective of this pilot program is to encourage students to visit the library with their families and learn about all the resources that are available to them,” said Lola DeWitt, Executive Director of Live Oak Public Libraries. ”It is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind the community that all public school students have fines-free access to books and materials throughout our libraries. Live Oak Public Libraries’strategic plan prioritizes literacy as an essential skill that improves the quality of life for all, so we fully support the year-round programming United Way does to improve early language and childhood literacy,” said DeWitt.

With the PLAY Card, students can check out up to five books or other items with no fines. The PLAY Card also enables students and their families to check out free or discounted passes to state parks and museums. They can also log into digital materials to access ebooks, audiobooks, read-alongs, ABCmouse.com, and Tutor.com.

To encourage students to use their PLAY Cards, one winning Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade from a SCCPSS school will have a pizza party in the Spring, provided by United Way and Donatos Pizza! Live Oak Public Libraries will track the use of the cards from February 3 – February 28. The winning grade and school will be determined by which grade has the highest participation of students using the PLAY Cards.

According to Samantha King, Director of Instructional Technology and Media Services at Savannah Chatham County Public School System, “This partnership supports literacy as SCCPSS’s North Star and working closely with United Way and Live Oak Public Libraries on this initiative helps to foster a culture of reading in thousands of households by reaching Pre-K through 2nd-grade students across SCCPSS schools.”