Policies

Residents and landowners of any member county or municipality of the Plum Creek Library System are eligible to receive a library card at no cost. The following groups are also eligible to receive cards:

• Children under the age of 16 may receive a card at no cost if the application is signed by a parent or legal guardian. Libraries may choose to raise this age.
• Minnesota residents with a valid card from their home library living in an area that participates in the Minnesota Reciprocal Borrowing Compact may register and borrow at no cost. Residents of the Pioneerland and Traverse des Sioux regions may be issued a card without a card from their home library, depending upon local policy.
• South Dakota residents who attend the Pipestone school district or with children who attend the Pipestone school district may receive a card at no cost.
• Individuals and families may receive a non-resident card good for three years at a charge of $5. This includes residents of other states and residents of communities in Minnesota that do not participate in the Minnesota Reciprocal Borrowing Compact.
• Businesses, institutions, and organizations may receive a card under the same terms as individuals. The card application must be signed by the owner, president, treasurer, or other signatory eligible to take responsibility for the materials borrowed on the card.

Plum Creek Library System requires public libraries using its shared ILS to use the Plum Creek card application, which includes a Tennessen warning. Cards will not be issued to patrons who do not provide the information marked with an asterisk(*) on the application form.

• Identification must be a valid driver's license or state identification card, tribal identification card, passport, or immigration identification with a photograph.
• If the address on the identification is not current, proof of current address must be provided by showing a check, piece of business mail, or other item.Cards expire every three years and may be renewed.
  Please refer to Patron Privacy Policy for additional information.Approved by Advisory Council - October 2, 2019 Approved by Governing board – October 16, 2019

Printable Patron Registration Policy

Minnesota Statute 13.04 provides that individuals on whom data is stored by a government entity have the right to know what data is stored, how the data will be used, and what happens if the individual refuses to provide it.

Minnesota Statute 13.40 provides that patron records are private and that information linking a patron to materials requested or borrowed or with a subject about which the patron has requested information may not be disclosed without a court order except for library purposes.

Card applications will be kept by the library that accepts them, either in print or electronic format, until the patron record is deleted from the ILS. Libraries will keep the applications in a secure location or on a secure server if they are stored online.

Plum Creek Library System will delete records for patrons whose records in the ILS have been expired for at least three years. The records will be deleted at least once per year and a list of the deleted records will be sent to the library that entered the record so that the applications may be removed from storage and destroyed. Libraries will destroy the applications within 60 days of receipt of the list of deleted patron records.

Approved by Advisory Council - October 2, 2019 Approved by Governing board – October 16, 2019

Printable Patron Privacy Policy

Library Card Renewals

Patrons must renew their cards every three years. Those with a name change must complete a new registration form and the old one must be destroyed.

Please refer to Patron Privacy Policy for additional information.

Fines

Each library will determine whether to charge fines and set its own rates. Fines for items lent through the Plum Creek ILS to another Plum Creek library will be determined by the policies of the library that lends the item to the patron.

If a library collects $5 or more in fines or fees at one time that were assessed by another library, it will forward the amount to the library that assessed them.

Suspended borrowing privileges

Patrons may not borrow materials if:

• They have $5 or more in fines and fees.
• They have 5 or more items overdue for a week or more.Approved by Advisory Council May 1, 2019 Approved by Governing Board December 4, 2019

Printable Card Renewals Fines Suspended Borrowing Privileges Policies

Libraries on the Plum Creek ILS will share their materials to the greatest extent possible, but they may create collections that are restricted to use at the library or to borrowing at the owning library. Such collections should be limited in size and number. Examples of such collections are local histories that are no longer available for purchase or a reference collection. Broader categories such as entire genres must be made available for lending to other libraries through the ILS.

All materials must be available to fill holds immediately upon addition to the collection except those in the library's Lucky Day collection, as explained in the next paragraph.

Libraries may create Lucky Day browsing collections of materials on which no holds may be placed. Any title a library adds to its Lucky Day collection must be an additional copy of a title already held by the library and available for holds under the terms of this policy.

Each library must run its holds list and fill the holds on it each day the library is open.

Once the feature is working, holds will be filled using a "local holds filled first" policy, meaning that if a library owns an item patrons who choose that library as their home library will have their holds filled before holds for patrons at other libraries regardless of their place in the hold queue.

A library with four or more holds on an item must add a copy of the item to its collection if it does not already own a copy. Book club requests are exempt from this requirement.

Items with holds may not be renewed.

Approved by PCLS Advisory Council 5/4/2016 Approved by PCLS Governing Board 6/15/2016

Printable Holds Policy

The requesting library is responsible for the return of the item to the owning library. The requesting library must follow its overdue procedures, which should include at least two notices or phone calls to the borrower with the overdue ILL materials. The requesting library will provide status reports to the owning library upon request.

Approved by Advisory Council 5 April 2017 Approved by Governing Board 19 April 2017

Printable Lost Damage Policy

Libraries are public spaces and those who use them do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Photographs may be taken during library programs and posted to websites maintained by Plum Creek Library System on behalf of a member library at that library’s request.

If a close-up photo is taken of one or two people, a photo permission form will be acquired by the library and a copy will be sent to Plum Creek Library System before the photo will be used. The permission form must be completed and signed by a parent or legal guardian for children under the age of 18. The library will use a permission form provided by Plum Creek Library System.

This policy only applies to webpages maintained by Plum Creek Library System.

Photo Video Permission Use Form

Amendment to Minnesota Library Reciprocal Borrowing Compact
By
Pioneerland Library System, Plum Creek Library System, and Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative

WHEREAS, the undersigned boards of trustees are participants in the Minnesota Library Reciprocal Borrowing Compact dated the 15th day of June, 2001; and,

WHEREAS, the undersigned boards of trustees recognize that public libraries are working to remove barriers to library service; and,

WHEREAS, Sec. 5. of the Minnesota Library Reciprocal Borrowing Compact requires borrowers to hold a borrower’s identification card from the regional library system, or member library, serving that area before obtaining a card from a library in another regional library system; and

WHEREAS, the above requirement creates a barrier to access to library service;

NOW, THEREFORE, FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF THE MUTUAL COVENANTS HEREIN CONTAINED, THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

Sec. 1. Each of the three regional library systems that are parties to this Amendment shall be permitted to determine whether to require borrowers from the other two regional library systems to hold a borrower’s identification card under the terms of Sec. 5. of the Minnesota Library Reciprocal Borrowing Compact.

Sec. 2. Each of the three regional library systems shall issue borrower’s identification cards to residents of the other two regional library systems based upon policies set within that region.

This compact shall be executed by the President of the board of trustees and the Director of each participating regional library system, and where required, the members thereof;

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this COMPACT has been executed this 28th day of February, 2018.

Printable Amendment to Minnesota Library Reciprocal Borrowing Compact