Library Card

The Lake Mills Public Library offers free library cards with full privileges to all the library’s resources to residents of Lake Mills, rural Winnebago County, and cities that contract directly with the library, as well as patrons who reside elsewhere but own property in Lake Mills.

People eligible for library cards must be residents of the state of Iowa or living within the service area of an Iowa library, approved for reciprocal borrowing through the Open Access Program.

Individuals applying for a library card must appear in person and show photo identification and proof of current address. Address must show house number and street name.  Post office boxes are not acceptable. Mail may be used as proof of address if it has been postmarked within two weeks of the current date.

Children who meet the residence requirements and are at least 5 years old are eligible for a library card according to the discretion of their parents or legal guardian. The Lake Mills Public Library requires a parent or legal guardian to have a Lake Mills library card for the child to receive a card in their own name. Parental signature is required for people under age 15. Youth aged 15 and older, not accompanied by a parent, must also show photo identification and address verification to secure a library card.  

Responsibility for a child’s selection and return of materials, and any fines or charges accrued on the child’s card, is held by the parent or guardian of the child.

Loan Periods, Reserves, Renewals, and Limits

Most materials may be borrowed for two weeks. DVDs are circulated for 3 business days.  New periodicals have an Overnight sticker and are due back the next day.  Other periodicals have a two-week circulation period. Most items can be renewed two times if no one has placed a hold on them. If a patron wants to renew an item, and it is on hold for another patron, the item must be returned and checked out by the patron at a different time.

A patron may place materials on hold that are currently circulated to other people.  If multiple people place holds on the same item, the item will be shared according to the order in which the holds have been placed. The patron(s) will be notified when the item becomes available.  The item will be held for three days before placing it back on the shelf or allowing the next patron to check it out. 

New Borrowers:

New Borrowers will have a preliminary 3-month probationary period where they are limited to a 3 book, 1 DVD check-out limit.

Fines:

No fines on overdue materials will be charged. However, lost or damaged materials will be charged a replacement fee at their listed value.