Are You and Your Student Aware of New Library Rules?

In the time since the new fiscal year began on July 1, an increasing number of people living outside of the Santa Clara County Library District might have noticed that their old, free library cards no longer work. To renew their membership as a non-resident suddenly cost $80.

It’s part of an effort to dampen the effects of state budget cuts for the system that includes the and its

Yet, students who live outside of the library district but attend school in the district can still get a free, limited-use card, Deputy County Librarian Nancy Howe said.

Non-resident students in preschool through 12th grade will still be able to get free, limited-use cards if they attend a school in one of the member cities of the county library district, or attend school districts whose boundaries overlap with the county library district member-city boundaries. This also applies to private schools, charter schools and qualifying home schools.

The nine member cities include Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill or Saratoga. Schools in the unincorporated county areas also qualify.

"We've tried," said Howe, who was in charge of implementing the system. "We've had a staff working on this ever since they made the decision so we can get on with services as quickly as possible—but I'm sure we haven't thought of everything."

The Gilroy Library has very little out-of-district use, compared with the more overlapping school and library districts to the north, said the city’s head librarian, Lani Yoshimura, in an earlier interview with Gilroy Patch.

“Still, if you use the library often, $80 can be a pretty good deal,” she said.

Forty-three percent of county library users live outside of the district, according to library district data.

The library board voted April 28 to charge a fee for the first time in the history of the library district, and the county librarian cited dwindling state contributions.

"It's a whole new ballgame," said Jane Cronkhite, the community librarian at Los Altos Library, where usage by non-residents from Palo Alto and Mountain View is high.

Anyone can continue enter the libraries, use its study rooms and look at books and materials, Cronkhite emphasized. They cannot check out books or use its Internet database without purchasing an annual library library card.

Student card eligibility:

• Applicants must be preschool through 12th-grade students.
• They must attend public and private schools that are part of school districts whose boundaries overlap with the Santa Clara County Library District city boundaries.
• Applicants must provide proof of residential address or student IDs or proof of student status with school affiliation and a mailing address for the one-year card.

The student card offers the same privileges as resident library cards with the exception that check-outs are limited to five items and two holds at one time.

Some clear examples include Mountain View students in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, because its boundaries overlap as described. Similarly, West San Jose students who attend schools in the Fremont Union High School District or Cambrian School District, for example, are eligible because the district overlaps with cities that are members of the library district.

It's a complex situation, however, even though there is a logic and consistency applied, because it's not always easily apparent which schools qualify, Howe said.

Both Los Gatos Union School District (LGUSD) and Palo Alto Unified School District are examples of the wrinkles of the new rules.

For example, LGUSD students can thank one of its schools—Daves Avenue School, located in Monte Sereno and part of the library district—for making them all eligible to county library cards now.

"It's just over the city line," Howe said. "The idea is that children study together, collaborate together, use the data bases together at home." 

And Palo Alto Unified School District families may wonder what makes Escondido Elementary School so special that they can get county library cards that the rest of the district kids can't.

"We have some small pockets in unincorporated areas, like that where we picked up schools, but not those districts," she said. Escondido is not within the city boundaries of any member city of the library district.

"We're not issuing student cards to the entire Palo Alto Unified School District, because it's a school that is in the incorporated county," she said.

Confused? There's help.

Over the past month, the county library staff developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. Even more anticipated, it just posted a five-page list of schools that students can check on the Santa Clara County Library website.

The list, which is also contained on a PDF format document above, only has public schools at this point. Howe advised families to check back to the county library website, because they are still compiling the list of private schools, including preschools.

"I'm not saying we don't have a mistake in that list," Howe said, "but we have tried to be methodical."

Be sure to talk to librarians to see how your student might qualify, she said.

And there's no need to rush, particularly if you plan to take vacations this summer, Howe advised. The one-year cards are active from the day they are qualified, so students might want to make sure they get the full 365 days of use.

"A lot of people were tearing out their hair trying to figure this out," said Howe. "We want to make it work for families."