Any resident of suburban Hennepin County, or the federal lands of Fort Snelling, may register for a free library card at any Hennepin County Library. HCL library cards are non-expiring.
MELSA libraries also will take suburban Hennepin County residents' applications and send them to HCL's Technical Services, Applications/Software Section for checking. If the patron has not previously registered, a card will be completed and mailed.
A taxpayer in suburban Hennepin County, even though residing elsewhere, may be issued a HCL library card good for one year. Cards may also be issued to all members of the immediate family living at home. The taxpayer should present the most recent tax statement as proof of eligibility. The address of the property owned is typed in the Alt. Address and Alt. City, Stat fields of the patron record.
If this information is not available, the agency will forward the card to TS/Applications, who will contact the city assessor for the proof of ownership, before mailing the card. The patron may check out two books until they receive their library card in the mail.
An employee of the County, who resides outside of the County, may be issued an HCL library card without charge. Such non-residents are subject to the same limits and rules as other non-resident cards. As long as the card-holders are still employed by the County, the card may be renewed.
One non-resident fee covers all members of the family. When multiple cards are requested for all members of the family, a separate card is given to each family member. The barcode numbers from the multiple cards are all entered in one record, the fee-payer's record, for billing purposes. The fee-payer accepts the responsibility for the return of the materials and any charges that may be incurred.
Non-residents who live in an area serviced by a participating regional public library system, or MELSA, can obtain free cards in their own library system. The cards can be used free of charge at any Hennepin County library.
An organization is defined as one or more persons formally organized for some purpose or activity. For more information, see the Organization Card rules.
MPLIC has an organization card called a Group Card. HCL organization cards and MPLIC Group cards are valid in MELSA libraries.