FAQs

13 Libraries serving York County, Pennsylvania

York County Libraries include 13 full-service public libraries and two township pick-up locations. We are just south of the State Capitol in Harrisburg, and north of the Maryland line. Spanning urban, suburban, and rural areas, York County Libraries are conveniently located in Brogue, Dillsburg, Dover, Etters, Glen Rock, Hanover, Hellam, Jacobus, Red Lion, Shrewsbury, Spring Grove, Stewartstown, and York City. The two township locations provide pick-up/drop-off services to residents living in Manchester Township and Springettsbury Township!

Getting a library card is easy! Simply fill out an application form in-person at any of our full-service libraries or apply online.

When applying at a library, you’ll walk away with a library card in your hand right away!

If you apply online, you will receive your library card in the mail. Please allow our staff time to process your application. We will send you an email after we’ve created your card.

If you apply online, you will receive your library card in the U.S. mail. Please allow our staff time to process your application, especially during busy seasons like summer—it can take a few days for us to fulfill all the requests! We will send you an email with your account information right after we’ve created your card.

Library cards expire every 3 years. Renewing a card is simple: come into any library, call us, or fill out our online renewal request form. At renewal time, we must check and update your contact information (address, telephone, email) to ensure the best library service for you. Your library card number will NOT change at renewal time unless you ask for a replacement card.

Nothing! They are free! A York County Libraries card is free to everyone who lives or works in York County, for students attending college in York County, and for Pennsylvania residents with Access PA library cards!

Non-Pennsylvania residents may purchase an annual card for $25 to access full library services in our libraries or online.

Note: Some services do not require a card, such as one-time computer access; other services, like access to some databases, the Libby eBook collection, and checking out items, will require a card.

While a parent or guardian may use their own card to check out materials for a child, we highly recommend having each child get their own card. They are free and there is no minimum age to get a library card, so even our youngest members are welcome to have a card and library account of their very own!

There are many benefits to children having their own cards.

• Many of our popular programs such as SummerQuest, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, and Reading Challenges require that children must have their own library card.
• Some library services also require a child to have their own card, such as access to children’s computers (where kids can get homework help, play safe games, or learn on their own).
• When a child has their own card, they learn about responsibility for items that belong to others, as well as the benefits of shared, community resources like the library.
• A child who has their own card feels connected to the library community—they’re a member just like everyone else!
• Children with their own library cards take ownership in learning to read and trying new books—the keys to becoming a lifelong fluent reader!

Your library account can be accessed through our online catalog. By default, your library card number is the username. The PIN/password is typically the last four digits of your library card number.

Your YCL library card works at any of our 13 library buildings or two pick-up/drop-off locations. While each card is assigned a “home base,” that doesn’t mean you can only visit that library. You’re welcome in any of our buildings!

We also have a robust collection of resources, databases, and digital content like eBooks and eAudiobooks available anywhere you have Internet access. If that’s not enough, your YCL card is an Access PA card. You can take your card to other Access PA libraries and request a reciprocal card to access their collections, too!

There’s basically no limit on physical item checkout! (OK, a librarian will have to help you with checkouts past 100 items on a card. But we’re happy to help!) You can also place holds on up to 10 items at a time.

On our eBook platform, Libby, you may check out up to 5 items at a time and place holds on up to 10 items at a time. If you finish a book early, you can choose “Return Early” in the app to free up a checkout space.

That depends on the item! We have different checkout periods to allow more people to have a turn with the most popular items.

• Print Books and audiobooks (in CD format) can be borrowed for 3 weeks at a time.
• DVDs, CDs, and video games lend for one week. Fees may apply.
• eBooks and eAudiobooks on Libby can be borrowed for up to 2 weeks at a time
• Mobile Hotspots check out for a 3-week period. A $30 checkout fee applies.
• InterLibrary Loan items are loaned for a 4-week period. If a renewal is needed, you must contact the ILL office as early as possible.

At the end of your borrowing period, you can renew your items either online or at the library.

Note: New library items and items with pre-existing holds are non-renewable.

We will contact you when an item is ready for pickup! Depending on your notification settings, you will receive an email, text, or phone call* from the pickup library.

Most items (if showing as Available in the catalog) take at least one day for staff to process, but it may take longer if we need to move the item from one building to another.

If you have not heard from the library via phone call*, automated text, or email, that means the item is not yet ready for pick up. Please wait to hear from the library that your book is ready before heading in for pickup.

*Phone call notifications are not available at Martin Library

Yes and no; York County Libraries does not deliver books to your home address. However, we will happily bring a book from one YCL library to any other YCL library convenient to you! Just place a hold in the catalog, select your desired pickup location, and wait to hear that your book has arrived and is ready.

Springettsbury and Manchester Township residents may also choose a bonus pickup location: their respective municipal offices.

If the book you want is at a library outside of York County PA, we will happily place an InterLibrary Loan request for you. If the owning library agrees to lend it, they will send it to the YCL location of your choice for pickup.

Yes, but instead of paging through traditonal paper cards, our Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), called ChiliPAC, is online! You’ll find catalog search terminals in our libraries, where you can find out where the item is in the building or place a hold on it if it is not in the building. The catalog is also available online at the link below!

We’re happy to help! You can visit our friendly staff at our libraries for help or fill out our Can’t Find It? online form, and our dedicated staff will search for the item from libraries across the state and continental US. We can find most things!

Yes! All our libraries have public computers and Wi-Fi available. Time limits may apply on public computers if others are waiting.

We offer a variety of different book and media types in our collections, including Large Print, to meet the different needs of our members. If you can’t find something or need a specialty format, use the Can’t Find It? Form to let us know how we can help. If we don’t own it, we are happy to borrow items from other libraries or provide referrals to libraries such as LAMP (the Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians).