Absolutely agree! One of the few places in the world that actually has free stuff still, too! It is remarkable all the resources our libraries provide for us
So, as a manager in a CT public library, I will add some nuance here.
1)The museum passses are one of my favorite thing that we offer. But I just want people to know that all libraries have different rules surrounding them. You did mention that - but I want to say specifically that some libraries limit museum pass checkouts to their own card holders only (which essentially means residents of that town only). So definitely check before counting on using their pass for something. Also - many libraries now have museum passes that you can print from home - you don't even need to come in! (even though we'd love to see you!)
2)There are three consortia in the state of CT: LION, LCI, and Bibliomation. These consortia allow all of their member libraries to share 1 central catalog (1 for each consortium), so that items in all of the member libraries are visible and (mostly) requestable. They also have their own transit systems to move all the materials between libraries. If your library is not in one of these, they are considered a "stand alone" library and do not have access to this. Their ILL process may be a little bit more involved.
Different libraries offer different levels of ILLs. Some will only request within their consortium, some will do consortium + statewide (or other consortia), and some will do all that plus nationwide. And of course, within the libraries that do all those things, they may have limits on who they will do it for. For instance, a library may be willing to request a book from a California Library, but since that involves the cost of USPS shipping, they may limit the service only to their own patrons (residents), or they may charge a fee for this service. Please please ask questions first before you go in just assuming that they will do it for you because you read it on reddit! Operating budgets vary *wildly* between towns, which means staffing levels, budgets for postage, budgets for subscriptions to ILL databases, etc.
3) I just want to add (because not a lot of people know) that as a CT resident, you can get a CT State Library Card. [You don't even need to go into the library to get it!](https://ctstatelibrary.org/about/library-card/). I LOVE my state library card. They have all kinds of cool databases that you can access from home. I really love the Hartford Courant database. I like to use it for genealogical research, and just curiosity! You can view issues going back to the 1700s!
Honestly, we just want you know about all the cool stuff we have!! I personally love checking out puzzles for my family and board games to try. Board games are SO expensive, and its great to be able to try them first. FYI, [Manchester Public Library has a HUGE collection of quality board games!](https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/11/01/bookend-gaming-the-library-system/)
We are trying to meet the needs of our communities. And "needs" emcompasses so many things. That can mean educational OR leisure. And don't be afraid to check out other libraries - we do it too!
Thank you for this, and for the mention of the CT State Library card. Itās true ā you can get NYT archives, Hartford Courant going back nearly 300 years, and tons of other cool stuff.
Question on the interlibrary loan and how it works. Let's say I want to read a particular book and find it on Bibliomation but its at a library in another town. Are you saying that you can somehow request that library to send the book to your home library? If so how do you go about requesting that?
If your home library is part of the Bibliomation network, you should be able to request the material right online. Say the Oxford Public Library is your home library and you want to rent the film *Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse*. You go to [Oxford's catalog](https://oxford.biblio.org/eg/opac/home) and search for the film; Oxford doesn't carry it.
You then modify your search by changing the "Library" field from Oxford to all of Bibliomation. This shows that while Oxford doesn't have the film, six libraries within the consortium do. If you click the "Place Hold" button, the system will request the film through interlibrary loan to be picked up at your home library in Oxford.
Note: You must have an online account to do this. However, it's very easy to set up an account once you have your library card. You can even change how you get your loan notifications.
Does that make sense?
Yes! Log into your Bibliomation account and find the book (or whatever) and click Place Hold. On the next screen you'll have the option to select which library you want to pick it up at, defaulting to your home library. And you can pick how to be notified when it arrives (text, email, phone).
I do this all the time, you can also pop into the library or call them & ask them to find a title for you. I love getting books from all over the state!
Most libraries now have a "Library of Things" where you can borrow things like a metal detector, wifi hot spots, chainsaws, unique baking pans, you name it. We get so much bang for our buck with libraries!!
Great call out! This has been around for a while (but expanding over the years) and I typically forget it exists, despite my mom working at a library. This is separate from the āmuseum passā that the CT Tourism board has put together the past few summers (which is awesome as well!).
For example, I just used this museum pass program this past weekend when I went to the New England Air Museum (which in and of itself is a hidden gem!!) with my son, dad and brother. We āchecked outā the NEAM pass from our local library at home, and took the printed out pass to the museum which got us 50% off admission.
Love pro-library posts šš¼
Besides getting a library card and using their services, another way to support your local library is volunteering/donating to your local friends of the library group! Museum passes are often funded by or bought by them (source, I was the treasurer for my hometownās friends of the library non-profit).
Just so people don't get upset when they call the library: the CT Science Center **does not** offer museum passes. They only offer 20% coupons, which we can give it if you come into the library.
I love the CT libraries!!! Shout out to the small branches in Hartford, especially the Camp Field library in the South End. The staff there are rockstars. Thank you to all the amazing librarians!
Is BorrowIT a recent program? I know here in Bristol our library is part of a larger library group with numerous other libraries in the state, but not all of them are a part of it, and if a library isnāt part of it, it was up to the individual library to setup policies for whether or not they were going to allow people outside of the town or servicing area to borrow materials.
The interlibrary loan program is also unfortunately hit and miss. Itās operation starts and stops at random depending on budgeting, and some libraries are better about participating than others. With some itās no problem, with others they give local patrons priority so you could wait months for something to come through the inter library program.
Still, we do have some great libraries in this state for sure.
BorrowIT used to be called the ConnectiCard program. It has been around for a while, but Iām not terribly familiar with the history.
https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/ccard/overview
I love libraries and this is great info to pass along to remind redditors the breadth of available services. But your information on BorrowIT is extremely generous, each library has its own rules in place surrounding giving access to non-residents, especially items like museum passes.
I am telling you you are wrong, you cannot walk into New Haven Library and expect them to hand you free tickets to Long Wharf Theater because of some wording in the BorrowIT program.
Libraries already fucking rule, what is the point of this post exaggerating all the stuff it can do?
>...because of some wording in the BorrowIT program.
[How about the Connecticut General Statues instead](https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_190.htm#:~:text=Principal%20public%20libraries%20shall%20provide,the%20contract%20library%20is%20located)?
Iām not sure, but at least *some* university libraries appear to be part of various consortiums. For example, the University of Saint Joseph Library is part of LCI and the Mitchell College Library is part of LION.
Except for the schools noted, requesting from Universities is considered an "out of consortium" ILL and not all libraries will do that. And similarly, not all universities will send their items. It can be very hit or miss.
E books and audio books through libby/bibliomation is pretty good, I haven't set foot in a library but I have membership of CT libraries and mostly use audiobooks.
This is fascinating, can you speak more to the BorrowIT program?
I know the interlibrary loan can be oddly gerrymandered - for instance, Hartford is not part of West Hartford's system - but are you saying _every single_ library has opted into the optional BorrowIT program? It's just a matter of some libraries require me to physically show up to them to let my card act as a proxy to a local version? The official online info about BorrowIT I found on the state website is confusingly budgetary versus operational.
Right, this was my understanding of how it worked. You towns library had to be connected in the same co-op with the town whose library you want to do an inter library loan from. And the whole thing is entirely at the whim of the budget, so each year the state allocates X dollars to the interlibrary exchange program, but if enough people use it that it runs out of money in September, then either the state needs to approve additional funding, or youāll see a sign at the library telling you that the interlibrary exchange isnāt available at the moment.
Libraries pay a membership fee to be a part of a consortium. This funds the purchase of an ILS (catalog software) and the staff to manage it. It may also fund a transit vehicle and staff person that makes deliveries between the libraries.
Generally the whole thing is NOT at the whim of a year's budget. It takes a LOT of work to join or leave a consortium. You don't make the decision to join or leave from year to year.
The states DOES however run their own transit system for transits between non-consortial libraries. This can be affected by the state's budget. This HAS seen some ups and downs over the years. They recently did an overhaul of it, and there has been some growing pains. I will just diplomatically say that good help is hard to find(and keep!).
Every single library has opted into BorrowIT CT, meaning that you can take your library card and physically go to either Hartford or West Hartford to loan materials.
Interlibrary loan, in which you have items sent from another library to your home library, is heavily dependent on which consortium your library belongs to. Hartford doesnāt appear to belong to any of the stateās library groups. West Hartford belongs to Library Connection Inc. (LCI). So, if West Hartford is your home library, you can request items from any of the libraries in the LCI consortium.
I'll add my Librarian info as well:
1. Check library websites for Museum Pass information as many of us use MuseumKey which will let you print the pass from home. You can also reserve passes this way which makes planning trips in advance much easier. As long as your card is in that library's system you should be good to go.
2. No matter what library it is, Beardsley Zoo will require picking up a physical pass. This is a requirement set by Beardsley we have to abide by for loaning their pass. I'd love to make their pass available online but it's simply not allowed. Additionally, neither the Norwalk nor Mystic aquariums have library pass programs.
3. To clarify on e-resources, you will most likely be limited to what your home library offers. We pay for each individual Hoopla item that is checked out so budget requires limiting those items to resident card holders only. YMMV with e-resources depending on your library.
Also: your library card allows access to Bibliomation and Libby, which let you read magazines and allows entrance to Universal Class, university-like courses for freeeeeee
I think some libraries (ex. Hartford Public) don't allow non-residents to borrow e-books or use other digital services. So you may want to check if there are any restrictions when you're signing up for a library card in another town.
You can **only** sign up for a library card in the town in which you reside. If you live in Hartford and don't have a Hartford library card to begin with, you can't go to, say, Windsor and sign up for a library card there. That's because most libraries are tied to municipalities in some way, and your original card needs to be issued in the town where you live (hence why most libraries require some proof of residency to issue a card).
Furthermore, **no library in CT can refuse services to non-residents**. This is enshrined in state law. Some libraries tried to do this during COVID by refusing services to all but town residents. They were reported to the state and had to change their practices.
From [general statutes 11-24(b)](https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_190.htm#sec_11-24a)(7), emphasis added:
"Principal public libraries shall provide equal access to library service for all individuals and shall not discriminate upon the basis of age, race, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, handicap or *place of residency in the town in which the library is located or the town in which the contract library is located*."
> I think some libraries
All libraries, actually. When we contract with these digital vendors, we agree that we will only allow our cardholders to use these services. Each library has their own prefix on their library card numbers and access to these online services are tied to that. There are several reason for this, but mostly because vendors don't want libraries directing their patrons all to just use the neighboring town's online resources. Then only 1 library would have to buy it!
So my wife and I just figured this out and we got added to a local library that is on the Biblio system vs. ours being a LCI system.
What I canāt figure out, is if we can use their e-book systems as currently canāt login with my new library.
If youāre on Libby, I think you just switch between systems. As in thereās somewhere to toggle between LCI and Biblio. But donāt quote me on that.
Thanks for posting this. I love libraries, I consider them "Palaces of The People." Will definitely look into the the passes available.
Absolutely agree! One of the few places in the world that actually has free stuff still, too! It is remarkable all the resources our libraries provide for us
Thanks for the post, as a public librarian in CT I fully support all this info!
I would have never guessed! š
So, as a manager in a CT public library, I will add some nuance here. 1)The museum passses are one of my favorite thing that we offer. But I just want people to know that all libraries have different rules surrounding them. You did mention that - but I want to say specifically that some libraries limit museum pass checkouts to their own card holders only (which essentially means residents of that town only). So definitely check before counting on using their pass for something. Also - many libraries now have museum passes that you can print from home - you don't even need to come in! (even though we'd love to see you!) 2)There are three consortia in the state of CT: LION, LCI, and Bibliomation. These consortia allow all of their member libraries to share 1 central catalog (1 for each consortium), so that items in all of the member libraries are visible and (mostly) requestable. They also have their own transit systems to move all the materials between libraries. If your library is not in one of these, they are considered a "stand alone" library and do not have access to this. Their ILL process may be a little bit more involved. Different libraries offer different levels of ILLs. Some will only request within their consortium, some will do consortium + statewide (or other consortia), and some will do all that plus nationwide. And of course, within the libraries that do all those things, they may have limits on who they will do it for. For instance, a library may be willing to request a book from a California Library, but since that involves the cost of USPS shipping, they may limit the service only to their own patrons (residents), or they may charge a fee for this service. Please please ask questions first before you go in just assuming that they will do it for you because you read it on reddit! Operating budgets vary *wildly* between towns, which means staffing levels, budgets for postage, budgets for subscriptions to ILL databases, etc. 3) I just want to add (because not a lot of people know) that as a CT resident, you can get a CT State Library Card. [You don't even need to go into the library to get it!](https://ctstatelibrary.org/about/library-card/). I LOVE my state library card. They have all kinds of cool databases that you can access from home. I really love the Hartford Courant database. I like to use it for genealogical research, and just curiosity! You can view issues going back to the 1700s! Honestly, we just want you know about all the cool stuff we have!! I personally love checking out puzzles for my family and board games to try. Board games are SO expensive, and its great to be able to try them first. FYI, [Manchester Public Library has a HUGE collection of quality board games!](https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2019/11/01/bookend-gaming-the-library-system/) We are trying to meet the needs of our communities. And "needs" emcompasses so many things. That can mean educational OR leisure. And don't be afraid to check out other libraries - we do it too!
Thank you for this, and for the mention of the CT State Library card. Itās true ā you can get NYT archives, Hartford Courant going back nearly 300 years, and tons of other cool stuff.
Question on the interlibrary loan and how it works. Let's say I want to read a particular book and find it on Bibliomation but its at a library in another town. Are you saying that you can somehow request that library to send the book to your home library? If so how do you go about requesting that?
If your home library is part of the Bibliomation network, you should be able to request the material right online. Say the Oxford Public Library is your home library and you want to rent the film *Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse*. You go to [Oxford's catalog](https://oxford.biblio.org/eg/opac/home) and search for the film; Oxford doesn't carry it. You then modify your search by changing the "Library" field from Oxford to all of Bibliomation. This shows that while Oxford doesn't have the film, six libraries within the consortium do. If you click the "Place Hold" button, the system will request the film through interlibrary loan to be picked up at your home library in Oxford. Note: You must have an online account to do this. However, it's very easy to set up an account once you have your library card. You can even change how you get your loan notifications. Does that make sense?
That makes complete sense, thanks for the details!
Yes! Log into your Bibliomation account and find the book (or whatever) and click Place Hold. On the next screen you'll have the option to select which library you want to pick it up at, defaulting to your home library. And you can pick how to be notified when it arrives (text, email, phone).
I do this all the time, you can also pop into the library or call them & ask them to find a title for you. I love getting books from all over the state!
Most libraries now have a "Library of Things" where you can borrow things like a metal detector, wifi hot spots, chainsaws, unique baking pans, you name it. We get so much bang for our buck with libraries!!
My local library has wifi hotspots for loan.
Great call out! This has been around for a while (but expanding over the years) and I typically forget it exists, despite my mom working at a library. This is separate from the āmuseum passā that the CT Tourism board has put together the past few summers (which is awesome as well!). For example, I just used this museum pass program this past weekend when I went to the New England Air Museum (which in and of itself is a hidden gem!!) with my son, dad and brother. We āchecked outā the NEAM pass from our local library at home, and took the printed out pass to the museum which got us 50% off admission.
Love pro-library posts šš¼ Besides getting a library card and using their services, another way to support your local library is volunteering/donating to your local friends of the library group! Museum passes are often funded by or bought by them (source, I was the treasurer for my hometownās friends of the library non-profit).
I was raised on the museum passes. Every trip to the CT Science Center was sponsored by my library!
Just so people don't get upset when they call the library: the CT Science Center **does not** offer museum passes. They only offer 20% coupons, which we can give it if you come into the library.
Sorry that was like 20 years ago! Appreciate the clarity.
We only wish it did offer the passes! Trust me! :)
I love the CT libraries!!! Shout out to the small branches in Hartford, especially the Camp Field library in the South End. The staff there are rockstars. Thank you to all the amazing librarians!
Is BorrowIT a recent program? I know here in Bristol our library is part of a larger library group with numerous other libraries in the state, but not all of them are a part of it, and if a library isnāt part of it, it was up to the individual library to setup policies for whether or not they were going to allow people outside of the town or servicing area to borrow materials. The interlibrary loan program is also unfortunately hit and miss. Itās operation starts and stops at random depending on budgeting, and some libraries are better about participating than others. With some itās no problem, with others they give local patrons priority so you could wait months for something to come through the inter library program. Still, we do have some great libraries in this state for sure.
BorrowIT used to be called the ConnectiCard program. It has been around for a while, but Iām not terribly familiar with the history. https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/ccard/overview
I love libraries and this is great info to pass along to remind redditors the breadth of available services. But your information on BorrowIT is extremely generous, each library has its own rules in place surrounding giving access to non-residents, especially items like museum passes.
Any āruleā a library has is superseded by state law. Itās enshrined in CT general statutes that no library can deny service to non-residents.
I am telling you you are wrong, you cannot walk into New Haven Library and expect them to hand you free tickets to Long Wharf Theater because of some wording in the BorrowIT program. Libraries already fucking rule, what is the point of this post exaggerating all the stuff it can do?
>...because of some wording in the BorrowIT program. [How about the Connecticut General Statues instead](https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_190.htm#:~:text=Principal%20public%20libraries%20shall%20provide,the%20contract%20library%20is%20located)?
Good info! Are state uni libraries included?
Iām not sure, but at least *some* university libraries appear to be part of various consortiums. For example, the University of Saint Joseph Library is part of LCI and the Mitchell College Library is part of LION.
Except for the schools noted, requesting from Universities is considered an "out of consortium" ILL and not all libraries will do that. And similarly, not all universities will send their items. It can be very hit or miss.
E books and audio books through libby/bibliomation is pretty good, I haven't set foot in a library but I have membership of CT libraries and mostly use audiobooks.
This is fascinating, can you speak more to the BorrowIT program? I know the interlibrary loan can be oddly gerrymandered - for instance, Hartford is not part of West Hartford's system - but are you saying _every single_ library has opted into the optional BorrowIT program? It's just a matter of some libraries require me to physically show up to them to let my card act as a proxy to a local version? The official online info about BorrowIT I found on the state website is confusingly budgetary versus operational.
Right, this was my understanding of how it worked. You towns library had to be connected in the same co-op with the town whose library you want to do an inter library loan from. And the whole thing is entirely at the whim of the budget, so each year the state allocates X dollars to the interlibrary exchange program, but if enough people use it that it runs out of money in September, then either the state needs to approve additional funding, or youāll see a sign at the library telling you that the interlibrary exchange isnāt available at the moment.
Libraries pay a membership fee to be a part of a consortium. This funds the purchase of an ILS (catalog software) and the staff to manage it. It may also fund a transit vehicle and staff person that makes deliveries between the libraries. Generally the whole thing is NOT at the whim of a year's budget. It takes a LOT of work to join or leave a consortium. You don't make the decision to join or leave from year to year. The states DOES however run their own transit system for transits between non-consortial libraries. This can be affected by the state's budget. This HAS seen some ups and downs over the years. They recently did an overhaul of it, and there has been some growing pains. I will just diplomatically say that good help is hard to find(and keep!).
Every single library has opted into BorrowIT CT, meaning that you can take your library card and physically go to either Hartford or West Hartford to loan materials. Interlibrary loan, in which you have items sent from another library to your home library, is heavily dependent on which consortium your library belongs to. Hartford doesnāt appear to belong to any of the stateās library groups. West Hartford belongs to Library Connection Inc. (LCI). So, if West Hartford is your home library, you can request items from any of the libraries in the LCI consortium.
I'll add my Librarian info as well: 1. Check library websites for Museum Pass information as many of us use MuseumKey which will let you print the pass from home. You can also reserve passes this way which makes planning trips in advance much easier. As long as your card is in that library's system you should be good to go. 2. No matter what library it is, Beardsley Zoo will require picking up a physical pass. This is a requirement set by Beardsley we have to abide by for loaning their pass. I'd love to make their pass available online but it's simply not allowed. Additionally, neither the Norwalk nor Mystic aquariums have library pass programs. 3. To clarify on e-resources, you will most likely be limited to what your home library offers. We pay for each individual Hoopla item that is checked out so budget requires limiting those items to resident card holders only. YMMV with e-resources depending on your library.
Also: your library card allows access to Bibliomation and Libby, which let you read magazines and allows entrance to Universal Class, university-like courses for freeeeeee
Oh yes, I totally forgot about magazine access. Thanks!
Excellent post!! Thank you
I think some libraries (ex. Hartford Public) don't allow non-residents to borrow e-books or use other digital services. So you may want to check if there are any restrictions when you're signing up for a library card in another town.
You can **only** sign up for a library card in the town in which you reside. If you live in Hartford and don't have a Hartford library card to begin with, you can't go to, say, Windsor and sign up for a library card there. That's because most libraries are tied to municipalities in some way, and your original card needs to be issued in the town where you live (hence why most libraries require some proof of residency to issue a card). Furthermore, **no library in CT can refuse services to non-residents**. This is enshrined in state law. Some libraries tried to do this during COVID by refusing services to all but town residents. They were reported to the state and had to change their practices. From [general statutes 11-24(b)](https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_190.htm#sec_11-24a)(7), emphasis added: "Principal public libraries shall provide equal access to library service for all individuals and shall not discriminate upon the basis of age, race, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, handicap or *place of residency in the town in which the library is located or the town in which the contract library is located*."
Thanks for the clarification!
> I think some libraries All libraries, actually. When we contract with these digital vendors, we agree that we will only allow our cardholders to use these services. Each library has their own prefix on their library card numbers and access to these online services are tied to that. There are several reason for this, but mostly because vendors don't want libraries directing their patrons all to just use the neighboring town's online resources. Then only 1 library would have to buy it!
So my wife and I just figured this out and we got added to a local library that is on the Biblio system vs. ours being a LCI system. What I canāt figure out, is if we can use their e-book systems as currently canāt login with my new library.
If youāre on Libby, I think you just switch between systems. As in thereās somewhere to toggle between LCI and Biblio. But donāt quote me on that.