Thank you for your question about charges for library cards.

Policies on fees vary from library to library, and from province to province. The majority of libraries in Alberta charge for library cards, and this is an important funding source for many libraries. However, whether or not a library charges card fees is a matter of local library board policy. For example, within the Parkland Regional Library system, there are nine public libraries that do not charge for cards (and a few more that do not charge for children's cards). Libraries that do charge for cards will usually waive fees for low-income patrons on request.

An article analyzing how this situation developed in Alberta's libraries was published in Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research in 2007. Click on the following link to go to the article: http://www.criticalimprov.com/index.php/perj/article/viewArticle/281/362

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