Registration, Loan Rules, and Reserves

Policy Effective Date: 10/11/2024

Library Card Registration for Adults
1. Anyone 18 or older who resides in Ohio and agrees by signature to be responsible for materials loaned may register for a library card after the presentation of a photo ID and proof of current residential address.
  1. Acceptable forms of a photo ID include:
    1. Driver’s license
    2. State ID card
    3. Passport
  2. Acceptable methods of address verification include:
    1. Driver’s license
    2. Utility bill dated within 30 days of date
    3. Current year vehicle registration
    4. Postmarked mail dated within 30 days of date
Library Card Registration for Minors
1. Parents or legal guardians of minors (those 17 years of age or younger) must sign a document stating they agree to be financially responsible for the materials borrowed by their children for Full Access or Restricted card types.
  1. The parent or guardian’s name must be entered on the minor’s account
  2. The parent or guardian’s address must be entered for the minor’s account
  3. The minor must be present at the time of registration
2. The library cannot act in loco parentis (in place of the parent), and generally will not restrict access to materials based upon age except as described in the Restricted card type or for administrative purposes (e.g. special collections of high historical or monetary value). Please see policy 2.2.2 Library Bill of Rights. Parents who wish to prevent their children from accessing certain material types or content types are responsible for monitoring their children’s browsing and borrowing activities; library staff will not restrict access beyond the rules set forth for the Restricted card types.
3. Parents or legal guardians will be provided with two levels of access for the minor’s card: Minor Full Access or Restricted. See Types of Accounts below.
Types of Accounts
1. Full Access
  1. Unrestricted access to library materials.
    1. Full Access is the default account type for adults aged 18 and over
2. Minor Full Access
  1. Full access card for those under 18 years of age
    1. Provides full borrowing privileges except for special collections designated by the director as restricted due to reasons including high historical or monetary value
    2. Restricted 1 is the default account type for all patrons under the age of 18
    3. Restricted 1 cards will revert to Full Access accounts upon proof (picture ID) that the cardholder has turned18
3. Restricted
  1. Same borrowing privileges as Minor Full Access with additional restrictions for DVDs, Blu-Rays, and Video Games.
    1. Parents may select a Restricted account for their minor (under 18 years of age) children. See Library Card Registration for minors above.
    2. Restricted cards will revert to Full Access accounts upon proof (picture ID) that the cardholder has turned 18.
4. Homebound
  1. Unrestricted access to library materials.
    1. The Homebound designation is made for patrons utilizing the library’s homebound services and is made for statistical purposes only; loan rules are consistent with Full Access accounts.
5. Educator Cards
  1. Preschool thru High School educators living or working within Pickaway County may apply for an Educator card by supplying proof of educator status. Eligible educators include preschool through 12th grade teachers, day care providers, and homeschooler providers.
    1. Proof of educator status may include: an approval letter from a school district, paycheck stub, school badge, or childcare badge from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
    2. Educator cards allow patrons the same loan rules as a Full Access card, but do not accrue fines for overdue materials. However, long overdue materials will be billed to educator cards in keeping with Full Access loan rules.
    3. Educator Cards are intended for use when borrowing materials for classroom or education purposes and not individual use.
    4. To receive an Educator Card, a patron must also have or register for a personal library account. The educator’s personal library card must be in good standing to use the Educator Card. Fines or fees blocking the use of an educator’s personal library card will also block the use of the Educator Card.
    5. Educator Cards are issued for one-year periods.
    6. Borrowers whose fees exceed the fine threshold or who have long overdue items on their personal card or educator card may not re- register until the fees have been reduced below the threshold and/or long overdue materials have been returned or the cost of their replacement paid.
6. School Cards
  1. Pickaway County Library believes a library card is an important tool for students. Any student under the age of 18 enrolled in a Pickaway County public school district in K-12th grade who does not have a library card is eligible to be signed up for a School Card.
    1. School cards are limited to 2 print items at a time.
    2. Parents or guardians are not financially responsible for School Card accounts. However, an existing School Card account must be in good standing in order for a parent or guardian to register a minor for a library card.
    3. School Cards expire on the cardholder’s 18thbirthday.
7. Additional Account Types
  1. The library is a member of the Central Library Consortium, which includes sharing cards with other member libraries. Additional card types will be treated as Full Access cards or assigned loan rules as deemed appropriate by the director.
IV. Library Card Use
1. Cards that have been inactive for a period of 5 years AND have fines below the fine threshold for checkout will be purged from the library system on an annual basis.
2. An address check will be added to library cards every 3 years to ensure that the library maintains current registration information for cardholder, pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code.
3. Borrowing privileges may be suspended for issues including but not limited to: exceeding the fine threshold, failure to return materials, and/or failure to care for loaned materials in a way that makes them available for further use. In these cases the library will work with the patron to remedy the issue and reinstate privileges.
4. Patrons are required to report the loss or theft of library cards promptly. The cardholder is not automatically excused from liability for any materials charged to the card before the card is reported lost or stolen.
5. When a card is reported lost or stolen, staff will block the reported card to prevent further checkouts and will issue a new card upon verification of the patron’s ID.
Loan Rules
1. Loan periods are intended to allow materials to be utilized by the greatest number of library patrons. Special loan rules may be enacted by the director for subsections of the library collection or for special card types outside Full Access. Patrons will be notified of due dates when checking out materials via printed slip, emailed receipt, on screen notification, or in person.
2. Loan Periods and Item Limits
  1. Audio books
    1. Loan Period - 21 days
    2. Item Limit - 20 items
  2. Books
    1. Loan Period - 21 days
    2. Item Limit - 100 items
  3. Magazines
    1. Loan Period - 7 days
    2. Item Limit - 10 items
  4. Movies
    1. Loan Period - 7 days
    2. Item Limit - 10 item
  5. Music CDs
    1. Loan Period - 21 days
    2. Item Limit - 20 items
  6. Video games
    1. Loan Period - 7 days
    2. Item Limit - 2 items
Renewals
1. Generally, materials are eligible for 3 renewals unless on reserve for another patron. However, materials belonging to other consortium member libraries are eligible for the number of renewals set by that library.
  1. Special loan rules enacted by the director for subsections of the collection may also set different renewal criteria for those items.
Reserves
1. Generally, patrons may place up to 100 reserves at any one time.
  1. To allow materials to be utilized by the greatest number of library patrons, limits on the number or reserves a patron may place on materials within a subsection of the collection (e.g., movies) may be determined by the director.