Borrowing Policies

Library Cards

  • Library cards are free of charge to residents of St. Tammany Parish.
  • Children must be at least 5 years old to obtain a library card.
  • A picture ID and proof of address must be shown to obtain a library card. (Children under 16 excluded.)
  • A child's parent or legal guardian must be present to obtain a library card if a child is 17 years of age or younger.
  • A St. Tammany Parish Library card may be used at any of our branches.
  • Non-residents of St. Tammany Parish may purchase an out of parish library card for an annual fee of $30.00.
  • Lost library cards can be replaced for $3.00.

Borrowing

  • No one may check out library materials without a library card in hand.
  • There are no limits to the amount of items borrowed at one time.
  • Anyone with fines in excess of $5.00 or items more than two weeks overdue, may not borrow any additional items until the fines have been paid or the items returned.
  • Children under the age of 17 may not borrow NC-17 and R rated videos without their parent or legal guardian's consent.
  • Items can be returned to any branch.

Loan Periods

  • Books- 28 days
  • DVDs-7 days
  • Audiobooks- 28 days
  • CDs- 28 days

InterLibrary Loan

If the St. Tammany Parish Library does not own a particular item, we can attempt to borrow it from another library system through InterLibrary Loan.

  • Items that can be borrowed include books, audiobooks, videos and microfilm.
  • Photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles may also be requested.
  • We do not borrow genealogy materials through ILL. However, the Covington Branch is a Family History Center and microfilm may be borrowed from the Family History Library in Utah for a fee.
  • Items may take several weeks to be delivered.
  • There is a limit of 5 open ILL requests and 10 ILL items on loan at any one time.
  • There is a $1.00 per day fine for InterLibrary Loan items returned late.

Hold Requests for Physical Items

  • Hold requests can be placed on any item in the St. Tammany Parish Library's collection, with the exception of non-circulating materials.
  • Hold requests may be placed at the library, by telephone or by using the online catalog.

Renewals for Physical Items

  • Any circulating item can be renewed once, as long as no one else had requested the item.
  • Renewals may be completed in person, by telephone or through the online catalog.
  • InterLibrary Loan materials may be renewed at the discretion of the lending library.

Fines

Fines are as follows for overdue physical materials:

  • Books- 10¢ per day
  • CDs- 10¢ per day
  • DVDs- 25¢ per day
  • InterLibrary Loan materials- $1 per day

The maximum fine for any item (excluding InterLibrary Loan items) is $5.00.

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