Patrons eligible for free library service in Madison County include:

• Madison County residents
• Individuals who own property in Madison County but reside out of county
• Individuals residing in Bentonia with a zip code of 39040

Library cards are issued to individuals and are not transferable among family members or friends.

Any person 16 and over may register by giving name, address, phone, place of business or employment and must show one picture I.D. and proof of residence.

Nonresident library cards can be issued to patrons who do not meet residency requirements.  The fee for this card is $25.00 per year and is not refundable.

A temporary card can be issued to anyone who will be living in the county for three months or less.  A fee of $15.00 is charged for a temporary card and is refundable upon the return of all materials borrowed from the library.

Children are eligible for their own library cards when they reach the age of 5 years. 

• All applicants age 15 and under must have a parent or legal guardian read and sign the application. (Parent must be present)
• By reading and signing the child’s application, the parent or guardian accepts financial responsibility for all items borrowed on the child’s card.
• When a parent or guardian applies for a child’s card, the child must be present.

• All library materials except audiovisual materials (Audiocassettes, Videocassettes, DVD’s, and CD’s) may be returned in book drop receptacles located at each library branch.
• Audiovisual materials may not be returned to the book drop.  Patrons will be charged a $1.00 fee for each audiovisual item that is returned to the book drop.

Library users may have up to 25 items checked out at any time.  The following subject and/or media specific loan limits have been established:

1. Videos & DVDs:  Five (5) per card.
2. Audio Cassettes/CDs:  Five (5) per card.
3. Subject Areas:  Five (5) books per subject.

The majority of items within the library’s collection may be borrowed for twenty-one (21) days.  There are daily due dates.  Special loan periods have been established for the following library materials:

1. Videos & DVDs:  Seven (7) days
2. High Demand Items:  Library materials that are in high demand by library users may be temporarily assigned a seven (7) day loan period.

Charges and fees

Overdue Materials
$ .10/day Books (maximum of $5.00 per book)
$ 1.00/day Audio Book (maximum of $10.00 per audio book)
$ 1.00/day DVD’s, Video Tapes or sets (maximum of $10.00 per video tape or video set)
There is no “per patron” maximum.

Lost Materials
$5.00 non-refundable processing fee PLUS the replacement cost of the item as follows:

Mass Market PB (4” x 6”)   $8.00
Adult fiction   $20.00
Adult non-fiction   $20.00
Easy   $20.00
Children’s Board Books   $5.00
Juvenile fiction   $20.00
Juvenile non-fiction   $20.00
Music CD   $10.00
Audio book (Cassettes or CD’s)   $25.00
Videocassette   $10.00
DVD   $15.00
Missing barcode   $1.00
Missing spine label   $1.00
Replacement case for audios, videos, DVD’s and CD’s   $5.00
Fee for returning audios, videos, DVD’s or CD’s to the book drop (per item)   $1.00

Patron Cards
First wallet card   Free
First Key chain card   Free
Replacement card   $3.00

Photocopies
There is no price difference if you bring your own paper.  Two sided copies will be counted as 2 pages.

Legal and letter size   $ .20 per page
Ledger size    $ .50 per page

Computer Disk
$1.00

Computer Printer
$ .20 per page

Fax Charges
$1.00 per page to send or receive (includes long distance and toll free numbers)
No International faxes.

Non Resident Patron Card
Non-resident patron card - $25.00 per year (non-refundable)
Temporary resident patron card (3 months or less) - $15.00 refundable at end of time if all items are returned.

Books not owned by our library system, photocopies of magazine articles, and information on a particular subject may be requested through the interlibrary loan service (ILL).

The following materials cannot be borrowed or loaned through interlibrary loan.

• Audiovisual, genealogy and reference materials.
• Books published within the last six months.
• Non-circulating materials owned by MCLS.