Reciprocal Borrowing

How does it work?

By showing your library card and appropriate identification and proof of current address, resident members of Portage District Library have access to free, limited memberships at each of the libraries listed below. For those who have resident memberships at these same libraries, you can get a free reciprocal membership at Portage District Library by showing your resident library card and appropriate identification and proof of current address. Reciprocal memberships allow you limited access to materials within our collection.

Partner Libraries

Limitations

To better manage the cost of providing library services and collections and assure that district resident and paying non-resident members have priority access to them, the Portage District Library limits access to reciprocal borrowers. Similar limits are instituted by all libraries in Kalamazoo County. Specific reciprocal borrowing privilege limits at Portage District Library are:

• No access to Hot Pick Collections; this includes all games.
• No access to Favorite Authors,a reservation program
• No access to Inter-library Loan services
• No access to e-book or other download/streaming media services
• Reserves are limited to 5 at one time

Reciprocal borrowers can only utilize the reciprocal borrowing agreements of their home library. If you would prefer to have fewer limitation on your use of Portage District Library collections and services, you can always choose to upgrade to a paid non-resident membership.

The following membership types at Portage District Library are not included in our reciprocal membership agreements with participating libraries: businesses, educators, students, and other non-resident types of memberships. Any business owner, educator, or student who resides within the Portage District Library service area should get a resident membership type in order to take advantage of this service.