The Contra Costa County Library is excited to offer five new library card designs to the public beginning today.
First time cardholders may choose one of the new designs when signing up. Those who already have cards may replace their current card at no charge. The new card designs include Mt. Diablo, an astronaut, a train, an otter and a fox.
“The new cards will allow us to reach potential new library users as well as reengage with those who have not used their card in a while,” said County Librarian Melinda Cervantes. “The new designs are also beautiful and fun.”
The five new cards were chosen as part of a voting process, earlier this year, when members of the public were asked to choose their five favorites out of nine designs.
The introduction of new cards and the elimination of overdue fines are just two of the changes the Library made this year aimed at attracting new cardholders, re-engaging with patrons who have dormant cards and encouraging more checkouts.
It’s amazing how much effort and marketing went into this.
Honestly, does anyone out there really care about what their library card looks like? How much additional revenue will these new card styles generate for the library? (Hint: zero dollars)
Party pooper! If it gets more people into the library, more kids reading, etc. it’s a win-win.
I just can’t imagine a situation where the physical aesthetic of a library card made the difference between whether or not people actually went there.
The County must be flush with cash. After all, they publish the Voter’s Pamphlet on 20 lb paper in three languages making it a heavy 140+ pages document, if I remember correctly, mailed to every registered voter. Last election, I removed all but what I needed to vote, and was left with under 20 pages. I don’t even buy 20 lb paper for my home printer, and if you’ll notice, most things aren’t printed on anything as heavy as what Contra Costa County uses to print the Voter’s Pamphlet. The State of California uses cheap recycled paper and only prints it in English. Foreign language versions are available, but they don’t send them out to everybody. It’s wasteful and profligate. Ridiculous!
Great. I’ll pick one up this week. We love the library and I have used them my whole life.
yay. choo choo was my #1 vote
Can’t wait to get mine. Love that train “Coming Through”. My old card is really worn out. Should be fun.
I like it all except the elimination of the overdue
fines. This is also eliminating the teaching of
responsibility. It doesn’t cost anything to get a
book back on time so the next person waiting
can read it. A bad, bad idea for the youth of
today. The library is supposed to be a place to
aid in learning. They dropped the ball on this
important learning lesson.
There’s still a due date and renewals. If you keep the book 30-days past its due date all your borrowing privileges are frozen until you either pay to replace the book or bring it back.
This allows people who have transportation insecurity to be able to borrow books. I hear circulation is up!
I must admit… this is a tad lame.. One card fits all unless you have certain issues. The library should not have to entertain. Cute cards for kids under 8 maybe, but we all need to grow up in this new world and libraries should not have to advertise or stoop to this level.
geez – it’s not mandated to get a new card your existing one will continue to work.
libraries absolutely need to promote themselves. people think libraries just house books but they also have a ton of ebooks and audiobooks that you can borrow from an app without having to be at the library. not to mention discover and go. they’re so much more than just books now.
This is the new “big thing.” Some credit card companies now allow you to upload your own images to appear on your credit card, rather than the standard issue. Like Burger King, you can “Have it your way.”
Libraries are my favorite places! I’m in favor of anything that gets more kids reading and spending more time enjoying fun library programs. Several of these cards will be very popular with kids.
Find out more about free library events or come volunteer for an hour a week as a tutor.
I didn’t like the idea of doing away with fines, but these cards look nice. Giving people options will be popular with kids and adults. If banks can give you options for your credit card, so can the library. These cards do look fun. The library is making positive changes, and I support it.
The removal of the library fines has had a profound effect on circulation. Books are finally being returned, which saves the library thousands of dollars on replacement costs.
@Claycordian
So people can keep books as long as they
want. I’d say that has a more profound effect
on circulation. You can’t read a book if the
last person had no incentive to return it.
How many popular books need to be replaced
by the library because they weren’t returned.
Do you think rental car companies would
increase circulation if there was no fine for
bringing them back late. The small overdue
fee for late books helped insure they were
returned in a timely manner, not months or
years later.
@Shoulda – Why are you talking about something you totally don’t understand? There are still incentives for returning items checked out. You can educate yourself here:
https://ccclib.ask.libraryh3lp.com/questions/37027
Thanks.
@Claycordian – Do you have a link that supports that claim?
The only thing they did away with was the overdue fine. You are still liable for the cost of the material that you had checked out and will be getting billed for it 30 days after the due date.
Overall, I don’t think the circulation numbers have changed. However, the library staff is no longer needing to deal with patrons paying their overdue fines. They used to have to pull the cash box out of the safe each morning, count the cash on hand each day, track the money received, and to put the cash box back in the safe at the end of the day.
Libraries no longer have any cash on site. If you fail to return a book the library turns the issue over to an outside vendor. You will get notices from and pay that company.
This is so wonderful! Our family all went to the library yesterday to pick out our new cards. We love the library so much, and visit all the time. 🙂
I wish I could get one with the classic picture of Stitch reading a book. That’s one of my favorite scenes from the movie.
instead of new designs, a better use of the funds would be
to get high speed internet connections for the public pc s at the libraries..
what they have now is extremely slow.
pretty sure the cost of new cards vs. the cost of infrastructure for new internet connections is vastly different.
I would think that high speed internet would be unnecessary for information or research because that is mostly text. No need for You Tube or fun and games. People behind you are waiting their turn.
@missimee – Try making a custom library card by printing out a picture of Stitch, or anything, and then gluing or laminating it onto the library card. All the library cares about is that the barcode on the back is visible.
As the card is never put into a slot you can glue gemstones or other accessories to it. You can also cut holes in it or even trim it down to just the barcode and the number under the barcode to make a minimalist library card. I have my library card positioned in my wallet so that just the barcode is visible. I hold the wallet under the scanner.
Anon: I asked at the library the other day if I could still use my old card or if I had to get a new one and was told I could not use my old one.