Yes, San Jose's library cards are still free!

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I know there has been quite a bit of confusion lately about whether library cards are still free.

The Santa Clara County Library District recently decided to begin charging non-District residents an annual fee of $80 for a library card. Residents of the Library District will receive cards at no charge.

The Library District includes the cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Campbell, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, as well as unincorporated areas. The other cities in the County, including San Jose, operate municipal libraries.

The District Library has experienced such a high amount of use by non-residents that its ability to meet the needs of its own residents was compromised.

As San Jose reduced its hours and services in recent years, many San Jose residents began to use nearby District Libraries and also the Santa Clara City Library as their primary library.

The District Library is the only one that is charging for a non-resident card. All the municipal libraries in the County (Santa Clara, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose) continue at this time to issue a library card to non-residents.



Posted by Jane Light on Jun 15, 2011 | Comments: 2 |
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Comments from our readers...

So what if the San Jose

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, July 01.
So what if the San Jose library is still free?? They're now only open 4 days a week, have staff that can't answer a reference question to save their life, and an incredibly crappy collection. I'm going to pay the $80 and stay with the County Library - the employees are wonderful, know what they are doing, and what a collection! Can't be beat

Sad state of library ”usefulness”

Submitted by Library lover (not verified) on Tue, October 09.
I regret to say I fully agree with the previous post. Unhelpful help, lack of services-of course it remains free, what services would the library be charging for? Free internet? Pay the 80$ and go to the libraries of Santa Clara County network.