Your Library Card

There are no age restrictions for library cards.

Minors can either use their own documentation (if they are old enough for a driver’s license or learning permit) or their parent/guardian may co-sign for them, using the parent’s/guardian’s documentation instead. If a parent/guardian is co-signing for a minor, both the parent/guardian and the minor must be present at the time the card is issued.

We check in with you periodically to make sure that we still have good contact information for you.

If you are a resident patron in good standing who has had their card for more than 9 weeks with no outstanding overdue items or fees, your card will be automatically renewed for two years. After that, you will need to verify your contact information with us online or in person every 2 years.

If you are a non-resident, please stop by the front desk with all required documents to have your privilege renewed. A $45 non-resident fee is due yearly at time of renewal.

If you registered for a library card online, please come into the library with all required documents to pick up your physical card and to verify your residency.

What you will need in order to get a physical library card will vary on a few factors, such as whether you live in the Oak Ridge city limits. To see what you will need, use the tables below.

¹Fees are already paid through your property taxes.

Contact the library at (865) 425-3455 as soon as possible to inform us of a lost card. You are responsible for all items checked out on your card until you have reported a lost card to us.

Replacement Cards are $4.

To check out items at the library, you can bring them to the main desk or the Children’s Room desk for checkout. We also have a Self Check kiosk in the main library.

For the first 9 weeks after signing up for a new library card, you may only check out 6 items from the library at one time.

After this “New Library Card” period, we remove the limit of items you may have checked out at one time, with certain exceptions.

Your ability to check out items will be suspended if you have outstanding overdue items, or if the total fines/fees on your account are $10.00 or more.

You can extend an item’s due date by requesting a renewal when the item nears its due date. You can do this in-person, through your online account, or over the phone. The library also will automatically renew eligible items that have not been returned by the due date. Here’s how that works:

• When an item is checked out, it will be due back in three weeks for books, CD-books, music CDs, and launchpads or one week for movies and Wi-Fi hotspots.
• If a book, CD-book, music CDs, or a movie is not returned by its due date AND no one else has it on hold, the item will automatically renew.
• Wi-Fi hotspots are not renewable.
• Launchpads will not renew automatically. Please talk to the Children’s Room staff to renew a launchpad.
• Book club sets will not renew automatically. Please talk to the Main Desk staff to renew a book club set.
• Interlibrary loan items will not renew. Please talk to our Interlibrary Loan clerk to renew one.
• Patrons will be notified via text or email, letting them know the status of their items whenever an automatic renewal is attempted.
• This will happen through 2 renewal periods. Patrons will still receive a 3-day notice prior to items being due.
  After an item has been renewed twice, it will be due back at the library. If the item is not returned on the due date, the card will be blocked from checking out other items, including online materials from Libby and Hoopla, and from using library computers until the items are returned.
• Patrons will receive an overdue notice 7 days and 14 days after the due date asking for the item(s) to be returned.
  Thirty days after the final due date, an item changes from OVERDUE to LOST. If a patron has any lost items, the card will be blocked. If the item is not returned, the patron will be charged the full cost of the item plus a processing fee.
• Interlibrary loan items are still subject to overdue charges. Since the rules regarding late fees are set by the loaning library, Oak Ridge Public Library does not have the authority to waive late fees charged by other libraries.

If you would like to know when your currently checked out items are due, or if you have any fees, you can find this information three ways:

• Checking in-person
• By contacting us by phone, email, or chat (contact information below)
• By clicking here to access your online account

To find this information using your online account, you will need to click on “My Account” while you are logged in. From here, you can track items checked out to your account, see if you have any fees, update your information, and more.

If an item you’re looking for is checked out to another patron, you may place a hold on the item. Placing a hold puts your name on a waiting list. When the item is returned to us, and you are next in line, you will be notified by your preferred contact method (email, phone call, or text) that the item is ready for pick up.

Library Items ready for pick up are placed on the Self-Serve Holds shelf in the Main Library. These items are organized by card-holder last name.

Interlibrary Loan holds are located at the Main Desk.

Items that are on the Self-Serve Holds shelf are not yet checked out. You must take these items to the self-checkout or main desk for check out.

Holds can be requested in-person, through your online account, or over the phone.

• • Items are held for you for 7 days, after which time the item moves to the next person on the waiting list or is placed back on the shelf.
  • Holds on Libby are limited to 20 items.

You can return items inside the main library during our regular operating hours or by using our outside bookdrop, available 24/7 with the exception of Federal Holidays and Summer Sundays.

*Launchpads must be returned inside at the main desk.

You and others you designate as able to use your card can check out items and access library services through your account. You are responsible for any lost or overdue items on your account, regardless of who checked them out.

*Designees must present your library card to be able to check out items/access services.