Membership FAQs

  • General Questions

    You are eligible for membership at any age if you live, work, teach or go to school in any participating Burlington County municipality. BCLS defines membership based upon residency or affiliation. The library operates via a dedicated county library tax collected from Burlington County households in its 37 participating communities. Cards are offered to residents of the participating communities. In addition, many county residents who are ineligible via residency but who work, teach or attend school in participating communities may apply for membership. For more information see below for types of memberships.

    • Non-participating municipalities are: Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Willingboro.* 

    To get a card, you may apply for membership at any library location or by submitting an online application. Applicants submitting an online application must provide identification and proof of residency within 60 days of the application date at a branch. Learn more.

    *Non-residents and members of exempt communities (Mount Laurel, Moorestown and Willingboro) may apply for a library card in person. Payment must be made when application is submitted. A paid membership cover's everyone currently living in the household & provides full access to library services, including borrowing materials, use of public computers, access to online databases and digital collections, and participation in library programs and events.

    Please visit the library location you selected during the application process within 60 days to activate your card.

    You'll need to bring verification of eligibility. Please bring government issued photo identification and proof of residency (recent phone/utility/bank statement) if your identification does not display a current address, alongside military identification if applicable.

    • Renew in person at any location with a current government-issued ID. If the photo ID does not show your current address, you will be asked to provide additional validation of address with a recent phone/utility/bill statement.
    • Renew virtually by sending a copy of your photo ID and verification of current address (if not on ID) to cardrenewals@bcls.lib.nj.us.

    1. Log In to your account (if you've never signed into the account before, you'll need to register).
    2. click on My Settings (last option in the drop-down)
    3. Under Account Information select Change under PIN.
    4. Enter your old PIN, new PIN and confirm your new PIN.

    Having trouble changing or resetting your pin? Contact a location or come in person with a photo ID.

    No!

    Overdue fines for most library items, including books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, movies, video games and technology-on-loan do not accrue overdue fines.* We want you to read more and worry less, so if you keep a book out for longer than its due date, you will not see daily fines on your account.

    However, we encourage you to be courteous to your fellow library user and return your items on time. Others may be waiting to borrow them and we want to make sure they enjoy library materials as much as you do!

    Borrowed items are still due back on a set date and we expect items to be returned on time.** 

    How It Works

    • Item is borrowed and a due date is established.
    • If there are no holds, the item is renewed automatically, establishing a new due date after each renewal.
    • Item reaches the maximum number of auto-renewals (this varies by item) and enters a 7-day grace period.
    • At end of the grace period, the item is set to “lost” status and a replacement fee is added to the account.
    • Account-holder is ineligible to borrow items until the outstanding item is returned or the lost fee is paid.

    *Overdue fines will continue to accrue for select library items, such as Museum Passes, Borrow-A-Book-Club sets, Interlibrary Loan items and Classroom Kits.

    **Accounts with unreturned items that go into a lost status will be locked until the items are returned or replacement fees are paid. Cardholders will be unable to borrow more items or download books or magazines in Overdrive/Libby.

    We do not charge fines for most overdue materials such as books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, video games, and technology-on-loan.  However, overdue fines on select library items such as Museum Passes, Borrow-A-Book-Club sets, interlibrary loan items, and Classroom Kits will accrue daily fines.

    When library material is lost or damaged while on loan, the borrower will be sent a bill letter showing the non-refundable replacement cost for the item. The price of lost items will be set by current list price or out-of-print average replacement price. Borrowing privileges will be suspended until the item is returned or paid for.

    Please review our Lending & Access Policy for more information.

     

    BCLS pays for a range of subscription-based online resources so you don't have to. Our license for these products and platforms means they are restricted to those we serve. When providers ask you for your library card number, they are verifying that you are a member and have permission to access.

    You can check out a total of 35 items total on your card!  This may be a combination of books, DVDs, video games, CDs and museum passes. In addition, you may download up to ten items on your Libby account. For more information on the limit of items as well as their borrowing period, click here.