Ownership of Patron Records
The library that registers the patron will own that record and will accept full responsibility for maintaining correct information. Only the library in the service area where the patron lives can change information in the patron record, with the exception of non-blocking notes, which can be added to a patron account by other libraries, taking into consideration patron confidentiality.
Acceptable Forms of Identification
Acceptable forms of identification include a valid photo ID from a government agency that contains the potential patron's legal name and must be presented by all adults at the time they request a library card.
Proof of residency is determined by the individual library.
Required Fields
Academic and Public Libraries require birthday, address, and an identification number. School and Special Libraries do not have required fields.
Libraries should use the address from materials the individual provided for proof of residency. The identification number can be from a driver’s license, state ID, government ID, or student ID. If the identification is outside of the state of Illinois, indicate the state or type of ID at the end of the number or in the Other field.
Library Card Expiration
Expired library cards must be renewed at the home library.
The registering library will accept full responsibility for maintaining correct information in the patron record.
The registering library must develop a schedule to purge their expired patron records, in accordance with Illinois record retention laws.
Interlibrary Loan Registration
There will be one record for each interlibrary loan library in the database, owned by IHLS. Libraries should not register interlibrary loan libraries themselves but should contact SHARE designated staff to create a record if one is not found.
Jurisdiction
Library patrons should only have one public library card. When a patron moves from one public library to another, the patron's new library will modify the previous library's patron record, instead of creating a new record. Special exceptions are listed below.
Children of Divorced Parents
The library will not mediate between divorced parents. Each parent, signing as the financially responsible party, may request a library card for children in their respective household. Children of divorced parents may have dual cards in differing jurisdictions or in the same jurisdiction, dependent on each address. Parents will be responsible for monitoring the use of their children’s library card. A parent may request that either the library card or identification of the financially responsible parent must be present to check out materials.
Intergovernmental Agreements
A library may enter into intergovernmental agreements (IGA) with other community agencies and offer either a limited student access card or a full access public library card as part of that agreement, following all applicable SHARE policies and procedures for each type. If the patron is eligible for a public library account in their library service area, they should be issued a card, even if they have an alternative student account or an account in a different jurisdiction through the intergovernmental agreement. It is recommended to alert nearby libraries about the IGA if they will notice an increase in patron activity.
Property Tax Exception
Patrons that own property in two different library service areas are entitled to receive library cards as taxpayers in both areas, if requested. The patron must provide proper documentation.
Staff Member Exception
Library staff members who live in one library service area and work at another library may have both a personal card and a professional card.
Merging patron records
Public Libraries should not merge records of patrons from a different library type. Academics, Schools, and Special Libraries should not merge patron records.
Reading History
The use of patron reading history lists will be determined by each individual library.
Reciprocal Borrowers
Reciprocal borrowing means the right of a person who holds a valid, in-good-standing library registration card from a full member public library to borrow materials on site from other library system full member public libraries under the same conditions that the library provides those materials to its patrons, subject to reasonable restrictions approved by the library's governing board in accordance with requirements of the library system's resource sharing plan and this Part. Illinois Administrative Code, [23 IL ADC 3030.110].
Reciprocal borrowers from standalone libraries should have only one account in the SHARE database. Reciprocal borrowers must present a photo identification and a valid library card for their home library, if that library does not belong to the SHARE consortium.
The individual library will determine how to verify the information presented and will choose the manner to barcode cards for these type of reciprocal patrons, such as using the barcode from the patron's home library, or a separate barcode.
The patron type must be set to a reciprocal code in the database.
The expiration date must be set to the expiration date of the home library or set for one year.
Reciprocal borrowers from Illinois standalone libraries or other Illinois library consortia are not eligible to borrow electronic resources or interlibrary loan, except from their home library.
Transitional and Affiliate Member Registration
Transitional and Affiliate members will be registered as a patron of their closest IHLS hub, with one barcode per library. Materials requested by these libraries will be processed by IHLS staff at each of the IHLS hubs.
Adopted 01/17/2014
Amended 08/01/2022
Best Practice 08/07/2025