Many children and teens in Fairfax County are unable to check out library materials, often because of blocked accounts due to fines and lost materials — their own, or those amassed by parents/caregivers using their card. In partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools, the library sought to provide virtual accounts to all FCPS students, thus giving them access to our collection without needing a physical library card and with no fines or fees to curtail or prevent usage.

After developing a partnership agreement between FCPL and FCPS, we launched LEAP in three phases to allow for evaluation and modification. The program’s participants grew from kindergartners in one school pyramid in winter 2019 to all county students, Pre-K-12, in Fall 2020. The project requires a monthly transfer of data from FCPS to FCPL to reflect current school enrollment. LEAP accounts contain only the student’s name, allow for three checkouts at a time for six weeks each, and never accrue fines.

As FCPL and FCPS increased marketing efforts (in multiple languages) in summer 2020, excitement clearly grew in the community. Emails and phone calls came in from parents, teachers and librarians with questions and positive reactions to the program. We hope and expect to see robust checkout statistics. Our main goal is — and has always been — to get library materials into the hands of kids and teens who need and want them.