Non-Resident Library Cards

[rxmom03]

Originally Posted by Avice

Is it relevant to this thread to post libraries that offer free digital access cards to non-local residents of the same state / geographic area, for which you can apply online? For example, Houston Public Library offers a free digital card to all adult Texas residents, as does North Richland Hills Library, etc. Those are only relevant if you live in Texas, but there are similar library programs in other states, and it could be helpful to round up a list of such libraries by state.

Thanks for this. I knew about the Houston Library but not about the library from NRH!

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I'm surprised that this library is on the list. There are more people in the area than when I used to live there (late 80s) but there aren't that many more. The fact that they have 33% more epubs than King County / Seattle is mind blowing. And to be #2 overall? Wild.

Did they, too, change their terms recently? When I go to their page now on obtaining a library card, not finding any out-of-residency options
https://www.sno-isle.org/get-a-library-card/register/

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by darryl

Metro library is very efficient. Simply emailing the details as set out eerlier in this thread resulted in a very prompt response with a card number and login detqils. I am however having real problems paying. I have tried a number of Visa/Mastercard Credit/Debit cards where the transaction is approved at this end (Australia) but gets an AVS (address) mismatch despite the address being correct in each case. The library is great and is trying to help but the Banks and Visa/Mastercard here in Australia are not al all interested in resolving the matter.. I'm now going to look at getting a US gift card in the hope that this will work.

I enjoyed membership of Fairfax County for some years but they are not renewing cards for non=US residents. I espect that some libraries are coming under pressure to abandon such cards due to geographical restrictions. Some Australian libraries are really excellent and I am a member of a number of them. However, US libraries offer a number of advantages, including many with wider selections of ebooks and audiobooks, availability of ebooks in Kindle formats and in many cases earlier availability. I suspect the only winners from restricting access further will be the pirates.

Incidentally, have any Australians managed to join Metro and pay? How? Any better suggestions appreciated.

Florida's Orange County allows out of country residency cards, or at least they did two months ago. $125.00 for a year is a bit steep but they offer 3 and 6 months cards also. They have 100,629 e-books on Overdrive. Not sure if this is what you're looking for.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Did they, too, change their terms recently? When I go to their page now on obtaining a library card, not finding any out-of-residency options
https://www.sno-isle.org/get-a-library-card/register/

I don't think they ever offered a non-resident card. They show up as number 2 in the largest library systems (post) and that was what I was commenting on. Sno-Isle Counties are relatively small counties in Washington so to see them at #2 in the nation is incredible.

[Paperbackstash]

Looks like Williamson (TN) from the sticky changed their terms as well, or we assumed before, - you can still get a card but it's only for physical borrowing from this wording?

"All other out-of-county residents must pay an annual borrower's fee of $25.00 unless they are residents of a county that is participating in the Middle Tennessee Reciprocal Lending Agreement. These patrons will receive free cards and full access to library materials and library computers. This does not include electronic resources. Out-of-state residents must pay a semi-annual borrower’s fee of $25.00. The card is limited to a maximum of 3 items per check out."

Why anyone would pay fees for out of state or county residency to be cut off from the digital borrowing makes little sense.
https://wcpltn.org/438/Get-a-Library-Card-Account

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I don't think they ever offered a non-resident card. They show up as number 2 in the largest library systems (post) and that was what I was commenting on. Sno-Isle Counties are relatively small counties in Washington so to see them at #2 in the nation is incredible.

It is impressive. Some residents lucked out with their states and systems. Would be depressing if these out of residency keep getting pickier or dwindling down.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I don't think they ever offered a non-resident card. They show up as number 2 in the largest library systems (post) and that was what I was commenting on. Sno-Isle Counties are relatively small counties in Washington so to see them at #2 in the nation is incredible.

They apparently offer cards to at least some other counties in Washington state. (King County worked.)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by CRussel

They apparently offer cards to at least some other counties in Washington state. (King County worked.)

Most of the libraries in western Washington have reciprocal borrowing agreements with other libraries in the region. The number varies with each library. I haven't checked the libraries for the eastern half of the state.

I think I'm eligible for about a dozen free cards, but only have four - Sno-Isle, King County, Seattle, and Pierce County.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by CRussel

They apparently offer cards to at least some other counties in Washington state. (King County worked.)

Yes. I thought tubemonkey was only tracking systems with open availability. A lot of places not listed have reciprocal agreements with other counties / systems in their state. They just don't (as far as anyone has said) have the option for anyone to get a card.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Yes. I thought tubemonkey was only tracking systems with open availability. A lot of places not listed have reciprocal agreements with other counties / systems in their state. They just don't (as far as anyone has said) have the option for anyone to get a card.

That's correct. I'm only tracking libraries that offer out-of-state cards. There are way too many libraries that offer cards to residents within their states.

[CRussel]

FWIW, sign-up for sno-isle was entirely online, and access was essentially immediate. They appear to have fewer actual copies of books I'm waiting on at King County, but shorter queues, and they have books that King County doesn't.

[Montana Harper]

I find Sno-Isle is especially good for diverse titles. They've got a lot of queer romance and other LGBTQIA+ titles that I can't find at other libraries.

Las Vegas-Clark County will issue cards to anyone who lives, owns property in, or visits Las Vegas, and you can sign up online. Makes sense since Vegas's economy is built on tourism, so they're willing to provide some services to out-of-towners who vacation there. With LVCC, you can use the Henderson library, too, but you can't put things on hold and their selection is pretty skimpy, IMO.

tubemonkey: I found a Google spreadsheet and have been using it as a basis to research non-resident card options. Not sure how up-to-date it is, but it might cut down on some of the time-consuming stuff for you.

Also, can I guess which six libraries you have cards at? Seattle, King County, Tacoma, Sno-Isle, Pierce County, and...Whatcom/Bellingham? The Washington Anytime consortium? It probably depends on where exactly you live for the last one. :-) I'm over on the Peninsula, so I've got WA Anytime and Kitsap as my sixth and seventh. Thank God for reciprocal agreements!

[Paperbackstash]

Wow, that spreadsheet is handy

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

I find Sno-Isle is especially good for diverse titles. They've got a lot of queer romance and other LGBTQIA+ titles that I can't find at other libraries.

Las Vegas-Clark County will issue cards to anyone who lives, owns property in, or visits Las Vegas, and you can sign up online. Makes sense since Vegas's economy is built on tourism, so they're willing to provide some services to out-of-towners who vacation there. With LVCC, you can use the Henderson library, too, but you can't put things on hold and their selection is pretty skimpy, IMO.

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the LV library.

tubemonkey: I found a Google spreadsheet and have been using it as a basis to research non-resident card options. Not sure how up-to-date it is, but it might cut down on some of the time-consuming stuff for you.

Wow, that sheet has quite the listing. I wonder who set it up? I noticed that it is out-of-date. Don't know when it was last updated.

It'll definitely come in handy in order to track down libraries I missed.

So a big thank you for posting it

Also, can I guess which six libraries you have cards at? Seattle, King County, Tacoma, Sno-Isle, Pierce County, and...Whatcom/Bellingham? The Washington Anytime consortium? It probably depends on where exactly you live for the last one. :-) I'm over on the Peninsula, so I've got WA Anytime and Kitsap as my sixth and seventh. Thank God for reciprocal agreements!

The four libraries I currently use are: King County, Pierce County, Seattle Public, and Sno-Isle Libraries.

Since I started this thread, I deleted two libraries: Timberland (western WA) and WA Anytime (via Puyallup).

You got four correct. I never had a Tacoma card. I'll give you 3/4 of a correct answer for WA Anytime since you guessed Whatcom when I got it through Puyallup

Anyway, thanks again for finding that spreadsheet

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Wow, that sheet has quite the listing. I wonder who set it up? I noticed that it is out-of-date. Don't know when it was last updated.

Unfortunately, they closed one but opened another method to get email addresses.

No longer applicable. BOOO!

Spoiler:

There used to be a way to get the email address for any file you had access to in Drive (even as read only) so I was going to message you about how to contact the owner if you wanted. But, it looks like Google has changed the information they give out and I can't find their email address any longer. I'm both disappointed and happy. This is a great change for anyone who has shared Google Docs files on the internet.

I've complained about the loopholes I had found directly to Google several times even as I used them in some cases. It's taken years but it looks like they've finally listened.