About one in four school-age children needs glasses to succeed in the classroom, according to Cobb County. For 244 Cobb County students this summer, that barrier is gone.

A mobile eye clinic run by nonprofit Vision To Learn and the Cobb County Public Library has given free exams to 306 students ages 5 to 18 since late May, with 80 percent prescribed glasses at no cost. Students pick their own frames. The partnership announced results Thursday, July 23, just 11 days before the Cobb County School District's first day of school on Monday, August 3.

"Our work is far from finished as there are still thousands of students in our community struggling without the essential vision care they need," said Tom Brooks, CCPL communications specialist and an organizer of the library clinics. "Cobb County's 'glasses gap' is a major, expensive barrier which impacts education, economic and workforce development, and overall community well-being."

A photo published with the county's announcement shows a rising fourth grader named Autumn showing off her new frames at Switzer Library. She attends Smyrna Elementary School.

The program held a clinic at Sewell Mill Library on Lower Roswell Road in East Cobb on Wednesday, June 10. Three final dates remain: Wednesday, July 29, at Switzer Library in Marietta and South Cobb Regional Library in Mableton, and Friday, July 31, at Powder Springs Library. All clinics run 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

All 300-plus summer appointment slots are fully booked, according to the CCPL registration page. Families who missed the window can email [email protected] to join a waiting list.

Since the CCPL–Vision To Learn partnership launched in 2018, it has conducted more than 3,700 exams and provided 2,575 pairs of glasses to Cobb students. The effort is part of the Atlanta Vision Project, a regional initiative led by Learn4Life that aims to screen 165,000 children across 270 elementary schools and deliver 47,000 pairs of glasses across metro Atlanta by 2028. Vision To Learn is joined in that coalition by Prevent Blindness Georgia and the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation.