How to Get a Santa Clara County Library Card After July 1

Mountain View residents who use the Santa Clara County libraries must face a new reality today—that of paying to check out books and use the Internet on site.

Whether it's the Los Altos or Los Altos Hills Libraries, Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill or Saratoga, the new $80 fee applies.

Here's what Mountain View residents need to know:

• Determine if you're in the district. Your postal mailing address may not be a reliable indicator of your qualifying residence, the county library advises. The district encompasses the above mentioned cities, and unincorporated county land, but if you're uncertain, check the searchable Assessor's website. If the Tax Rate Area listing for a property listing includes “Area No. 01 (Library Services),” that property is part of the Santa Clara County Library District. Questions about that can be addressed to the Assessor’s Office at 408-299-5500. People who live at Moffett Field would likely fall within the county's library district, but call with if you have questions.

• Property owners. Property owners (and members of their household) within the library district are eligible for free library cards because their taxes support those district libraries. See above regarding the Assessors records.

• Student cards. Students who attend schools whose districts overlap with the member cities are eligible for a free, limited use card on an annual basis. This covers pre-school through Grade 12. The library has published a list of eligible schools or school districts. The list contains mostly public schools, but students of private schools and charter schools may be eligible. They are advised to ask a librarian. Only Mountain View students who attend The Springer School or any of the three local public high school will be eligible.

• A "Household cards." Non-residents who want to stretch their budget to pay for a card, may consider one card for the entire household. One card can borrow up to 100 items at a time. Consideration should be paid to who will be using the card, however. "If they want to use the children's computers for example, they would need to put it in the child's name," Cronkhite said.

District librarians understand that the new rules may prompt a rash of new in-district library card sign-ups, too.

When applying for Santa Clara County Library card, people should bring in any of the following to prove eligibility for a free card:

• Drivers license
• Utility bill
• Any kind of phone bill
• Property tax bill

Students should bring in proof of school attended:

• Student ID
• Mailed envelope from the school
• Report card

"We actually take a lot more than that," said Jane Cronkhite, the community librarian at Los Altos Library. "This is just a basic list."

For people who do not have a verified address, the library offers to send a post card the home address specified. Once it is received they bring that in for verification, she said.

"We really want to put library cards in people's hands," she said.

Given the cost, she has heard from patrons from Palo Alto and Mountain View who have told her they are going to try going to the Palo Alto and Mountain View libraries for a while.

"I've talked to one woman from Mountain View who said she was looking at how she could budget, because she really likes our DVD collection," Cronkhite said. "She was considering dropping her cable service."

For more background on this issues, click here: http://patch.com/A-jPRC