Charleston County School District (CCSD) is proud to announce its partnership with the Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) remains strong, and will once again offer L Squared (L2) for all its students. The L2 program follows another successful Summer Reading partnership.
L2 allows CCSD students to fully access CCPL's physical and digital collections, simply by using their CCSD username. This removes barriers and increases the number of resources available to them.
CCPL has a significant amount of digital resources, which will greatly expand student access. According to Christy James, the district’s Library Media Services Coordinator, the two agencies keep finding ways to connect resources for students and families.
“The joint Summer Reading program we began six years ago has opened opportunities for other smaller partnerships, volunteer opportunities, and ways to work together throughout year,” said James. “This is an invaluable collaboration that gives all our students access to the public library.”
Through the Summer Reading program, officials from both agencies learned kids might have transportation issues and are unable to get to the physical branches throughout the school year and even more so in the Summer.
"Ensuring that our students have the tools they need to succeed in school and beyond is more important than ever," said Angela Craig, Executive Director of Charleston County Public Library. "We are thrilled to continue our partnership with CCSD for the L2 program, providing Charleston County students with free and easy access to the public library and all of its resources and services."
With L2, students are automatically registered for a CCPL library card and there is no need to keep track of a physical library card. Students use their CCSD username as a login in place of a traditional library card or account number. In addition, CCSD’s online platform for ebooks and other digital content, Sora (Overdrive for Education), connects the district to the library system. When students are logged into Sora, they can simply toggle between the school district’s digital library and CCPL’s to unlock even more age-appropriate ebooks and audiobooks.
To use L2 in a CCPL branch to check out materials, students simply enter
their credentials into any self-check kiosk or provide their information to a staff
member at check out. Students who wish to access the internet on CCPL
computers must abide by the system’s rules for internet use in the library (visit ccpl.org/l2 for details).
“This partnership has significantly increased the number of resources available to all our students at all our schools,” said James. “Libraries are seeing more usage, and it benefits our kids to have more access to books inside and outside of school.”
L2 accounts are fine-free, which means students will not accrue late fees for materials returned beyond the due date (though some lost item fees still apply). This is being done to eliminate possible barriers, increase family participation, and provide literacy support using family involvement strategies.
“Our partnership with the library has been instrumental in ensuring all our students have access to the resources they need,” added James. “When we work together, we increase access, which benefits our students. What the public library does for our entire community is amazing and this continued L2 partnership is another sign of their commitment to make sure that we have a stronger community.”
All library account information and updates will be sent via email from the library to the student’s CCSD email account.
For more information about L2, visit ccpl.org, email info@ccpl.org, or contact your local CCPL branch. For questions about CCSD’s participation in the program, contact the Office of Communications at (843) 937-6303.
