If you're a traditional library borrower who wants a physical book in hand, your stacks of books just got a lot longer.
Library patrons from the Camden, Burlington, Atlantic and Gloucester county library systems as of January 1 have been able to get library cards from all of those county systems and check out materials and use many services as if they were their home libraries.
Officials who run libraries have an over-arching goal for people to borrow, explained Linda Devlin, director of the Camden County Library System.
"The ultimate vision is that we have open access to library services for everyone," Devlin told 70and73.com in an interview. "This is a great start."
A couple of exceptions: digital lending, such as e-books, remains limited to only a home library because of costs to the libraries.
And residents of municipalities such as Cherry Hill and Haddonfield are not eligible because they have their own town libraries and are not part of the county system. Cherry Hill residents, for example, pay a municipal library tax and do not pay the county library tax. However, residents of Voorhees are covered by the county library system and may participate.
In essence, the library user will be getting a card from the other library system to use that system's services, Devlin said.
For example, the holder of a Burlington County library card could go to the Camden County Library System and become a member. Or that holder of the Burlington County card, for example, could also visit the Atlantic County Library System or the Gloucester County Library System to sign up for cards.
The reason for regional reciprocity goes far beyond greater choice of books.
Burlington County is the largest in geographical area in the state — its 799 square miles gives it more than three times the land area of Camden County.
"Burlington County is the largest county in New Jersey and many of our residents live close to the border or work in the other counties," Burlington County Library System Director Ranjna Das said in a county announcement of the program.
"Reciprocal borrowing is a way to enhance BCLS cardholders’ access and make it easy for them to borrow materials from locations that are the most convenient for them," she said.
"It's a wonderful convenience for them," Devlin, of the Camden County system, said.
Also, a user from one county visiting relatives or vacationing in one of the four counties now can use the library services as if it were the home library.
Devlin said a library patron needs to be aware of the rules of the other systems because they can differ.
Camden County is fine free, has a borrowing period of three weeks and will renew items up to two times if no other user has placed a hold.
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