Borrower's Agreement
Limits
Loan Periods
Renewals
Returns
Fines
Requests
Borrower's Agreement:
The holder of a Santa Clara City Library card may borrow circulating library materials and access the Library’s Internet workstations and most subscription databases.
The Santa Clara City Library issues a library card to an individual. The card may be used only by the person to whom it has been issued. The card must be presented by the cardholder to access his or her record. The individual to whom the card is issued is responsible for the following:
- the return, in good condition, of all materials borrowed
- payment of fines incurred for any overdue, damaged, or lost material
- immediately reporting a lost or stolen card and any changes in name, address, or phone number
- all charges/activity associated with cardholder’s account until the card is reported lost
- complying with all library rules and guidelines
Parents or guardians of a library card holder agree to be responsible for the above and to teach their child library rules and guidelines to help him or her use the card. Please visit our information for parents page to find out more about library cards for children.
Limits:
Your card allows you to check out up to 40 items at any one time. However, a few types of items are more limited. When you check out CD-Roms, DVDs, magazines, maps, pamphlets, and videotapes, you can have five of each per card. You can also check out one engraver at a time.
Loan Periods:
3 Weeks: Books, audiobooks, CDs, pamphlets, engravers
1 Week: DVDs, videos, magazines, CD-Roms
Renewals:
So long as no one has a hold placed on an item, all items are renewable at least one time. Books and audiobooks can be renewed 3 times.
You can renew by logging into your account and doing it online, calling us Monday - Saturday during open hours at (408) 615-2970, or by calling our 24 hour automated renewal phone line at (408) 246-9359. For all methods of renewal, please have your library card number and the materials you want to renew available.
Returns:
You can return your materials to either of our branches. Both locations have bookdrops available for after hours returns.
Returns/renewals are processed in "real time." Because of this, you should either return or renew your materials before midnight on the due date.
Fines:
Most Library Materials- $0.25 per day
Interlibrary Loans- $0.75 per day
Link+ Materials- $1.00 per day
Fines are charged daily for items that are not returned by their due dates. To avoid overdue fees, a receipt is given to you at checkout with the due dates of your materials. Please keep this receipt. If it is misplaced, you can log into your record to find your due dates, or give us a call and we can let you know when your items need to come back.
If your library record has fines of $15.00 or greater, you will be unable to checkout more material, or renew online, until some of it is paid for. Payments can be made by cash or check (payable to the City of Santa Clara) at the front desk, or you can pay by credit card by logging into your account online.
Requests:
You can request books, audiobooks, CD-Roms, and nonfiction DVDs/videos that are currently checked out. This can be done through the website, in person, or over the phone.
When the item becomes available, we will contact you by e-mail (if we have your e-mail address), phone, or mail. The item will be held for you on the hold shelf under your name (unless you have provided us with an alternate “alias” to use instead). Once you pick up the item from the shelf, you’ll need the card it was requested on in order to check it out.
You can be on hold for 10 items at a time. This includes Link+ holds.
A digital brochure of all this information and more can be found here