Maybe OffTopic: Library Cards GOTTA CATCH EM ALL

I'm aware that this community is not usually happy with the content that's available above-board for-free under-restriction. For instance, free with subscription, or free with ads.

But I have found myself obsessed with library cards recently.

Libraries grant access to pretty expansive collections even online: movies, tv, music, and ebooks are just the beginning. Genealogical resources, vehicle repair manuals, business contact databases, academic journals, and periodicals. One of my libraries granted me access to Udemy Business through Gale. I honestly can't detail every database/collection/resource i've found available through the 4 libraries who have granted me useful access.

But I seem to have hit a wall. The New York Public Library says "visitors" may get a "temporary" card, but the number they gave me expired after 2 weeks and didnt get me access to any of their online offerings anyway.

Paris says they'll happily issue me a card. All I need to do is fill out the form (in french?!) and show up in person with photo ID. /s

Surely, I'm not the only one who has decided to try to collect library cards like pokemon cards. I imagine there are philanthropic libraries or national libraries or something that I just don't know how to look up. I'm looking for any library that will issue me a card regardless of residency, but for reference I am in the US if that's the only residency requirement. Anyone got tips?

36 comments

Library punk is cool as hell.

Libraries are what i want anyway.

A library enjoying guide absolutely belongs here.

62
- ok well here's a tip: Libby by Overdrive has different availability of resources depending on your institution, but the app allows you to load all the cards they know about. And they have some kind of affiliation with Kanopy (for movies and tv), who seems to have a universal collection, but limits access to some of their holdings using a ticketing system like carnival rides. More library cards means more tickets-per-month. And Hoopla is sort of a hybrid: it has ebooks, audiobooks, tv, movies AND MUSIC, but your library pays for so many items-per-day across all of its patrons, so if one of your libraries has hit its daily limit, just... switch cards.
  
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  We actually paid for a library card at the neighboring city because the have a much better collection, better online access (hoopla and Libby and Kanooy with less restrictions, our local town library is fully used up by morning most nights).
  
  They also have a much better reciprocal museum pass selection, so we get big discounts on increasingly expensive museum tickets nearby.
  
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You might have trouble getting free unrestricted library cards if you don’t live in the area that the library serves. They are usually paid for with taxes and aren’t there to serve people outside their community.

If you’re willing to pay for it, I know that the Ottawa Public Library in Canada offers membership for $90/year to people living outside Ottawa. You may find something similar at other libraries.

The Libraries and Archives of Canada will issue a card too, but you have to visit the archives in person and have a reason you are using the archives and not another library.

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- You might have trouble getting free unrestricted library cards if you don’t live in the area that the library serves. They are usually paid for with taxes and aren’t there to serve people outside their community.
  
  yea. i realize this. but as i said, my inclination is that there is some philanthropic and national libraries that i just don't know about that fit the bill.
  
  edit:
  
  i also got cards from my local library system, and the two major cities in my state. there's a minor city, too that gave me one. so i have a pretty good stack, but they are all from my state.
  
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Permanently Deleted

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- MEK appears only to be available in hungarian, with some english, but i don't know hungarian at all. maybe someone else will find this useful tho.
  
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  Permanently Deleted
  
  8
- most institutions will issue a physical card, but i don't care if i get one as long as i get an account that grants me access.
  
  I'll check out mek
  
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I just found this article:

https://everyday-reading.com/where-you-can-get-a-non-resident-library-card/

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- yo! great find! while the only one on the list that will issue a free card to non residents is in wisconsin, someone in the comments pointed us to sunnyvale california! woot. add another card to my libby stack.
  
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  Anaheim has a free teir.
  
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I will get downvoted for that

Get the cheapest id card from tor

Go to the area of that id card

Get the library card

Repeat
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- you're not wrong
  
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  😅😅😅 I was wrong about down votes
  
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I use libby and have three cards. My county library, my city and a city I used to live in. Between those three I almost constantly have new books to read. I've read 19 book so far this year. All of them new release literary fiction and 16 of them through libby. With the right card it is really good. I went from dling 10 books a month to 1 a month so far this year.

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Yes! I have 6 library cards myself and love them for the online access you can get these days. I have National Library of Australia and State Library of Victoria cards, as well as a few regional and metro library systems.

You could give the NLA a go. It has a resident or visitor to Aus requirement, but you don’t need ID. If you figured out an Aussie address and postcode you should be good to go.

https://www.nla.gov.au/getting-started/join-us

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- i mean... i see how the us treats julian assange and kimdotcom... i'd hate to get caught infiltrating the australian government's computer systems under false pretenses. if i ever get over the equator tho, i'll be sure to check it out in person.
  
  1
  
  Yeah, you really should worry about Five Eyes. There’s a huge CIA installation in the Aussie outback called Pine Gap.
  
  …But I don’t think they’ll abduct you to a black site over a fake library card.
  
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You said you have found 4 useful ones. Which ones?

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- they are all in my state. I'd rather not say
  
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  We require a geoguessr player here /s
  
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Have you dug into the library of congress?

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- cursorily
  
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Careful with this. My buddy started collecting library cards. He had cards for all the neighboring towns, local universities, some out-of-state universities, etc… After he collected like 30 or 40, Libby banned him.

Personally I have three cards; My local public library, the public library from the largest city in the area, and the library from my hometown. Between those three, I can usually find anything I want.

4
- good tip
  
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I got one online from the Houston Library some time ago.

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- thanks! looks like they charge $40/y for nonresidents now
  
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  Sorry to hear that. I live in the road and have had smaller libraries offer cards to me after getting several temporary passes. I think they like inflating their usage stats to help with funding so maybe they sometimes bend the rules. I might try and push the limits. It sounds like a fun quest.
  
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Lismore, NSW, Australia will do it for free I believe. And BCLS in the US too.

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- thank you
  
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  Not a problem!
  
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