At the October Public Board meeting, the Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) Board of Trustees, a group of volunteer and elected community members from the NOPL service area, approved making a change to the previously called “out-of-system” library card, now called Out-of-County library card, to be registered as a household card versus an individual card.
Before November 2022, all residents of other counties had to pay $35 per library card each year to use NOPL libraries. But now, that yearly fee will only be paid once per household rather than per individual. This means that anyone residing in a home can receive a library card. In addition, there will be no limit to the number of cards issued to a household; each individual can receive a card, offering privacy for each member.
The purpose of this policy update is to better describe the parameters by which non-residents of Onondaga County can receive borrowing privileges from NOPL. The Out-of-County fee helps offset the cost of providing materials and services to those outside the NOPL tax base. By lowering the financial threshold for library card access, NOPL hopes to ease the out-of-county residents’ ability to utilize nearby library collections. NOPL also hopes the update will offer a more welcoming and accessible approach to new out-of-county cardholders.