Pick a Card, Any Card!

November 01, 2010

Ok, it's time for multiple choice! Which of the following cards do we accept at the Mid-Continent Public Library to check out books and log on to the internet computers?

A. Kansas City Public Library card

B. Johnson County Library card

C. Mid-Continent Public Library card

D. Driver's license

If you answered A, B, or C.....you're correct!! Last year, the larger public libraries in the Kansas City area made an agreement to help you lose some of that extra plastic in your wallet or on your keychain. When signing up for a new card at any of these libraries, you can request to use the same library card for each place.

Someday, you may find yourself wandering for the first time into the library by the Country Club Plaza. When you go to check out a book, you hand the librarian your lovely MCPL card. He or she will look at you a little funny, scan your card, and then tell you that you're not in the system. This is because the Plaza Branch is part of the Kansas City Public Library system, not Mid-Continent. This confusion happens often; we are two separate systems (MCPL is a county library system covering Jackson, Clay, and Platte Counties; KCPL is a city library system covering the metro Kansas City area). You will have to create an account with KCPL to check out your items, BUT you can choose to use the same card that you use with MCPL instead of getting one of their cards!

Just to clarify, this does not mean that the Mid-Continent, Johnson County, and Kansas City Public libraries share the same information on our computers. We cannot check your account at the Red Bridge Branch of the Mid-Continent Libraries and tell you what you have overdue at the Leawood-Pioneer Branch of Johnson County. Nor can you drop off your Johnson County books at the Downtown Branch of KCPL and expect them to get checked in any time soon, unless you have absolute faith in the postal service getting those books from Downtown to Johnson County Library's headquarters, which is what will happen.

So how does using one card help you out? Simply, just to simplify things. One card means less bulk in your wallet. And it helps your car: did you know that more weight on your keychain can damage the ignition switch? Having only one library keycard instead of three can help take off some of that weight. It also means only one number to memorize if you frequently place holds and check your account on the online catalog.

Time for one last quiz: Of the four choices listed in the first quiz, which card is NOT accepted to check out items or to log in on the public computers at the Mid-Continent Public Libraries? That's right - your Driver's License. At MCPL, we cannot look up your card number to check out your items, or give you more time on the computers; your card must be physically present, the only exception being if you have a copy of your card's barcode on your iPhone (our computer scanners are able to read it off of the iPhone screen). But if you do not have your library card with you when you come into one of the Mid-Continent Libraries, go ahead and pull out your Driver's License anyway, cause we'll need it to give you a new MCPL card for $0.50, whether or not the card you had been using was from us or not.

If you currently have cards from each of these libraries and would like to narrow it down to just one, simply pick the one you would like to use the most. Then go to the other libraries and ask the clerks if they could change your card number (we can do this for free). Happy Reading!!

Sara W.
Red Bridge Branch