As of Jan. 1 all Okotoks Public Library patrons will be required to present their library cards when in the library in order to checkout items, renew items, pay fines, place holds, use the self checkout machine or make changes to their accounts.
“Even though the staff strive to become acquainted with as many of our patrons as we can, the Town and the MD have grown so much that it is impossible for us to know who you are without your library card. Using the card ensures that the items you are checking out will be placed on your account and not onto another patron’s whose name happens to be the same as yours,” explained library director Tessa Nettleton. “We are insisting on the use of the card as a security measure for everyone. After all, one cannot go to the bank or a grocery store without one’s Visa or debit card and expect to have access to your bank account, or to buy groceries. We have tried for many years to educate the community in the importance of bringing your cards when you visit the library, and I hope that we have given enough notice, and provided enough advertisement as to our deadline for this.”
Signage regarding the policy enforcement has been up in the library since Oct. 1 and library staff has been reminding patrons who request services without having their cards with them of the Jan. 1 deadline.
The Okotoks Public Library is a member of the TRAC System which means all of the patrons from four library systems across Alberta are registered on our computers. This totals almost 240,000 people. It is only by using one’s library card at each visit that transactions can assuredly be checked out to the right person.
Anyone owning an iPhone can load his or her library card barcode into the phone and present this to library staff to scan as an alternative to bringing the actual card. Complete details are available by clicking on the TRACpac for iPhone link at www.tracpac.ab.ca.
Holidays hours at the library will be as follows: Dec. 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Dec. 24, 25, and 26; Dec. 28, 29 and 30, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Dec. 31, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and closed Jan. 1.
