More than 315,000 Chicago Public Schools students could benefit from Chicago Public Library resources, yet access previously required families to complete a separate application and staff to create each account individually. This process added time, administrative burden and another potential barrier for families already managing school forms, health records, transportation, passwords and other demands. It also required the transfer and storage of personal information that was not essential to providing service. The opportunity was to make library access universal, automatic and privacy-conscious while freeing staff to spend more time supporting students directly.

Chicago Public Library and Chicago Public Schools built library access directly into the student experience. Through a new data-sharing agreement, legal and privacy review, technology integration and shared governance, each student’s existing school identification card now functions as a library card. The partners minimized data collection by using school addresses instead of home addresses and grade levels instead of birthdates. Students helped shape the 81 Club name, identity and creative direction. The model advances the library field by treating access as infrastructure: removing enrollment friction, strengthening privacy and connecting school-day learning with neighborhood and online library resources from the start.

The 81 Club launched citywide, automatically connecting more than 315,000 students to six million physical items, digital books, audiobooks, research databases, computers, broadband, live tutoring and 82 library locations. As of March 2026, 30,928 active accounts had generated 460,415 checkouts. Library use increased 63 percent among economically disadvantaged students and 81 percent among English learners. Chicago Public Library also estimates that families avoided more than 600,000 hours of registration time and staff reclaimed nearly 11,000 hours previously spent creating accounts individually. Continued success will be measured through account activity, circulation, digital resource and tutoring use, branch visits and participation in learning programs. Students wearing 81 Club merchandise across Chicago offer an early sign of recognition and ownership.