Paying $80 for a Library Card? Not if you're a student

Pay $80 a year for a county library card? If Los Gatos residents go to Saratoga Library, they will asked do just that starting July 1, with one exception.

On Thursday, the Santa Clara County Library District Joint Powers Authority Board, in response to public outcry, voted unanimously to exempt students who attend schools whose districts overlap with the boundaries of the Santa Clara County Library District.

For example, regardless of where they live, students who attend schools within the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, will be eligible for a library card at Saratoga. 

In the end, board members agreed that students from preschool through 12th grade will be eligible for a one-year limited use library card, good for five checked out items and computer access. Students will be required to provide proof of their student status.

Private school students are also eligible. So, for example, if a Los Gatos student attends Sacred Heart Catholic School in Saratoga, he or she will be eligible for the one-year limited card.

Monte Sereno residents are part of the Santa Clara County Library District, so they will not be charged for their county library cards.

Less cards will reduce the amount of materials checked out systemwide and pose a barrier to access to computers or internet, which require a card and pin number.

At the end of the day, you get free Internet access where you pay for it, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, referring to the fact that Los Gatos residents pay for the town-run library through their general fund.

But Los Altos Hills councilwoman Joan Bardo said, "I think there are things that should be open to everybody." For simplicity's sake he suggested all students be eligible for a limited-use card, regardless of where they live.

The decision to charge is "against the principle of a public library," said Jean Mordo, another Los Altos Hills council member, who sits on the Joint Powers Authority Board. "It should be free. Period." 

Mordo said the Los Altos Library would look for a mechanism in which they could pay for the cards for non-Los Altos residents.