You can register a library card for your corporation, business, library, or other institution at any of our locations. Complete guidelines for accessing an Institution Card are as follows:
- Institution cards are intended for schools, businesses, daycare centers or similar organizations, that intend to take responsibility for materials borrowed to meet organizational needs.
- Institutional cards provide borrowing and interlibrary loan privileges but do not allow remote access to electronic resources due to vendor licensing restrictions.
- Individual cardholder hold, checkout, and other limits also apply to Institution cards.
- Items checked out to academic institutions are for classroom use only.
- In the event more than one card is issued for an institution, all cards will be associated in our system. Should one or more cards become delinquent, the BPL reserves the right to block all associated cards.
- Institution Cards expire one year after registration or renewal, with the exception of academic cards.
- Academic cards expire at the end of the current academic year.
- For continued use after expiration, Institution Card holders are be required to renew the agreement and update contact information every year.
A letter from the head of the institution, on official letterhead, is required stating the individual(s) authorized to use the card and that the institution agrees to be responsible for all materials borrowed on the card, for fines incurred, as well as for lost or damaged materials and designating a contact person to oversee the use of the card. Institution Cards are be issued upon receipt of this letter.
If your official letterhead does not contain contact information, you will be asked to provide additional proof of address in the Commonwealth.
Please use the format of our example letter to draft your institution's registration request on official letterhead.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Colford at mcolford@bpl.org or 617-859-2389.