Membership GUIDE

Lincolnshire Libraries are operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council.

Library membership is free and open to anyone, of any age, who is living, working or studying in Lincolnshire.

We take your right to privacy very seriously. Please read our Privacy Notice before submitting any personal details to understand how your information will be used.

Proof of address is not required to become a library member, however; this will limit the items you can borrow. To borrow additional items, including DVDs, proof of name and address should be presented to a member of library staff. E.g. Driving Licence or Council tax/utility bill.

For a child’s membership a parent or guardian should present either a valid library card or proof of name and address. If proof of address has not been provided for the adult library card then the items the child can borrow will be limited.

Each library member will receive a library card with a membership number and a separate personal identification number (PIN).

You will need your membership card to borrow an item, look at your account, make a reservation or use the public access computers. You do not need your card when returning items.

Library membership cards cannot be transferred to anyone else.

Lost membership cards should be reported immediately to any Lincolnshire Library. The cardholder, or the parent/guardian responsible for a child’s membership, remains responsible for the return of any item borrowed prior to such notification.

A replacement membership card can be issued on request. Identification is required. A replacement card fee is charged unless it is a change of name or the card has been lost through theft and a police crime number can be provided.

All members must immediately notify a Lincolnshire Library of any change of name, address or contact details so that the record of membership can be updated. For changes to name or address the library card and proof of the change (eg Marriage Certificate for name or utility bill, driving licence for address) will need to be presented to library staff.

Lincolnshire Libraries are entitled to withdraw the membership of any person who fails to comply with any of the membership instructions, or who commits an offence against byelaws made under Section 19 of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 as amended by Lincolnshire County Council.

Library members who have supplied proof of address may borrow up to 36 items; 30 books/talking books and 6 DVDs at any one time. Adult members who have not provided proof of address may borrow up to 6 books. Child members whose parent/guarantor has not provided proof of address will be able to borrow up to 3 books.

Most items may be borrowed for an initial period of three weeks except for those items where special restrictions apply, particularly DVDs. The loan period for items borrowed from a Mobile Library is four weeks in line with their visits to communities.

Items may be borrowed/returned to any Lincolnshire Library, Mobile or Community Hub.

Hire charges for DVDs and talking books must be paid when the item is borrowed according to the published scale of charges and exemptions.

The removal of any item from a library without confirmation that the loan has been recorded on the library computer system will be regarded as theft and in contravention of the Library Byelaws.

Full library members may borrow DVD and/or Blu Ray recordings subject to payment of the appropriate hire charge, provided that they are not below the age specified by the classification on the recording.

These classifications are part of the Video Recordings Act 1984. You may be required to provide additional evidence of your date of birth before you borrow a DVD recording.

Sound or video recordings borrowed from the library must not be copied or used for public performance.

Lincolnshire Libraries accepts no liability for damage allegedly caused to any audio or playback equipment as a result of playing audio-visual recordings borrowed from the library.

There is no charge to borrow books provided they are returned or renewed before or on the date given for return.

There are some hire, late return and other charges, which must be paid as they are incurred. Lincolnshire Libraries, in agreement with Lincolnshire County Council, reviews their fees and charges every year, and the rates are displayed in every library.

Outstanding charges of £20 or over prevent further borrowing, renewals and reservations being placed. If payment is not made to reduce the amount owing to under £20 then this may be referred to a debt collection service for recovery and an additional administration charge will be added to the account.

There is no charge for reserving an item already listed on the library catalogue. Items can be collected from any Lincolnshire Library, Mobile or Community Hub (with the exception of DVDs from hubs).

Adult borrowers are charged to request for purchase any item not already listed on the library catalogue, this charge is non-refundable.

Library members are responsible for the care and safe return of items in the same condition as they were in when borrowed, and to have examined all items at the time of borrowing.

Library members, or the parent/guardian responsible for a child’s membership, are required to pay the cost of replacement of any item which is not returned to a Lincolnshire Library, or which is returned in a damaged condition. In certain situations charges will be waived in recognition of extenuating circumstances.

You should discuss any concerns you have about charges for damaged or lost items with a staff member to prevent further charges being added to your account. In certain situations charges will be waived in recognition of extenuating circumstances.

You are recommended to register to receive emails which will allow us to tell you if your books are getting close to their due date for return or are overdue.

To avoid items becoming overdue you can renew them in person at any Lincolnshire Library, Mobile or Community Hub, by phoning the Lincolnshire County Council Customer Service Centre or through our online library catalogue.

Overdue e-mail notifications are generated on the day your item is due, 14 days overdue and 35 days overdue. Email notifications for DVDs which are overdue are generated on the day your item is due, 7 days overdue and 14 days overdue. Email notification is free.

We do not charge for books and talking books returned one day late. Overdue charges are applied at the next opening session of the library the item was borrowed from. DVDs are subject to the hire charge again on the first day they are late.

Members without an email address registered but with a land line or mobile telephone number registered with us will receive a phone reminder from the Lincolnshire County Council Customer Service Centre between 36 and 47 days overdue.

Accounts with outstanding charges of £20 or more and/or where items or charges are more than 70 days overdue will be passed to a debt collection agency. An administration fee will be added to accounts referred in this way.

You should discuss any concerns you have about overdue charges with a staff member. In certain situations charges may be waived in recognition of extenuating circumstances.

If you register to receive emails we can also email you when your reservation is ready for collection. These notifications are sent as soon as the requested item reaches the collection library you have chosen and are free of charge. Alternatively, you can also register your mobile phone number and receive text notifications.

It is never too early to join your child to the library; we welcome all ages and have books suitable for use with small babies.

Lincolnshire Libraries co-ordinates the gifting of BookTrust Bookstart packs to babies and young children across the county. If you have not received a pack via the Registration Service or your local Early Years setting then please talk to a member of library staff.

The parent or guardian responsible for a child’s membership retains responsibility for material borrowed on a child’s library card.

Children remain the responsibility of their parent or carer at all times and those aged eight and under should never be left alone in the library.

Parents and carers should never leave children unsupervised in a library.

Library members can use their library card number and PIN to use a public access computer free of charge for up to two hours a day. If you do not have your library card with you and do not have proof of address, staff can sign onto a quick use computer for 20 minutes.

A child’s parent/guardian is responsible for the child’s access to the internet and for monitoring and exercising control over sites visited.

Membership cards and PINs cannot be transferred to anyone else for use with the library computers.

In using the public computers you must comply with the Internet Access Policy for Lincolnshire Libraries.

You must not log on to or download from the Internet any material in violation of any laws. This includes, but is not limited to, material subject to copyright, threatening, obscene, racist or pornographic material, or material protected by trade secret. This will result in your session being cancelled.

You will be prevented from further use of public access computers in Lincolnshire Libraries if you access illegal, threatening, obscene, racist or pornographic sites.

Library members with outstanding charges of £20 or more will be unable to access the computers until they have agreed a resolution with library staff.

The online library catalogue can be used to view details of and reserve library items from the comfort of your own home. Provided items on loan are not reserved by someone else then they can also be renewed online.

The library catalogue contains links to various online reference and research resources which your library membership give you access to. Many of these resources can be accessed from home using your library card number and PIN.

Ebooks, eaudio, emagazines/newspapers and the music download/streaming service Freegal can also be accessed free of charge via the library catalogue website.

Reference books, newspapers and magazines can only be consulted inside the library and may not be borrowed. All periodicals are either filed or recycled after use.

Photocopying or computer printing may be produced in accordance with copyright laws and payment of the relevant fee.