Helen Hall Library staff will no longer check library cards at the door
LEAGUE CITY, Texas -- Helen Hall Library staff will no longer stand at the front door to ask visitors to show their library cards prior to entering.
What you need to know
In early April, Helen Hall Library administrators told staff to no longer check library cards at the door, which was part of a new library policy that went into effect March 4, because they felt patrons were sufficiently aware of the new policy.
Community Impact previously reported that League City City Council voted on Jan. 9 to charge a $50 annual household fee for a library card to visitors who do not live or own property in Galveston County in an effort to combat capacity and overhead challenges.
To enforce this policy and educate library patrons, the library assigned staff to ask patrons to present their library cards before entering the building.
SEE PREVIOUS REPORT: Surge of out-of-towners at library leads League City to start charging $50 a year for access
What to expect
The library will still require visitors to present their library card to use its primary services, such as checking out books, having tests proctored, attending programming or using the library's spaces, city Librarian Meredith Layton said.
Library staff pursued checking library cards at the door as part of its effort to educate patrons about the policy change, but now that more visitors are aware of the new policy, the library no longer needs to post staff at the front door to check for library cards, Layton said.
"As of last week, we have pulled staff," Layton said. "We spent the first several weeks educating folks in terms of what the new policy was, what did people know, what had changed and what hadn't changed in terms of their library experience, and now we are pulling back from checks at the door now that more of our patrons can understand what the policy is."
The backstory
A needs assessment of Helen Hall Library presented to the City Council in 2019 showed the facility lacked adequate parking and seating for library visitors, and had an insufficient staff-to-patron ratio.
The needs assessment showed, if capacity issues continued, the city might even need to build a new library, which could cost $75 million, Mayor Nick Long said at the Jan. 9 League City City Council Meeting.
