Cupertino Library Card is Worth $80

Over the holiday weekend, 175 Cupertino Library patrons paid the that as of July 1 non-district residents now must pay in order to fully use all the services available at libraries in the Santa Clara County Library District.

A total of 855 cards were issued district wide, and an additional 540 student cards were issued over the Friday-Saturday-Sunday period, said Mark Fink, community librarian at .

“We were kind of prepared for the worst, but public reaction has been really smooth,” Fink said. “The feedback we’ve been getting from the patrons who are paying the fee is that they weren’t surprised.”

Patrons either got an email from the library or a postal mailing, or they found the information on the library website, he said.

The non-resident student card—for pre-school through grade 12—is a free, limited-use card for anyone who attends a school in one of the member cities of the county library district or are in 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.

An unlimited use card—which allows cardholders to check out up to 100 items at a time—is available for students for the $80 fee.

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.

Patrons without cards may still use the facilities but will not be allowed to check out materials. The fee-based card structure was implemented July 1 as a result of high demand and low supply from state funds.

Confused about the student cards? Read more here on Los Altos Patch, or go here to the Santa Clara County Library website.

For more detail about the unlimited-use card, read more here on Los Altos Patch.