There has been a lot 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, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, as well as unincorporated areas. The other cities in the County, including Santa Clara, operate municipal libraries. Santa Clara City Library has always been a municipally funded city library and is not, nor has it ever been, a branch of the Santa Clara County Library District. The District Library is the only library in the area 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 for no charge.
posted by mb
