Borrowing FAQs

  • General Questions

    Help us help you by answering a few questions.

    Where did you get your King County Library System (KCLS) library account?

    • I applied online.     
      • My account number starts with 0.  
        • You most likely have an all-access account. Please contact your local KCLS library or Ask KCLS for help.
      • My account number starts with 9.  
        • Chances are you started with an eCard account. Please contact Ask KCLS for help.
      • My account number is my phone number.  
        • You have an OverDrive only account. If you need help with it, please contact OverDrive via email at [email protected].
      • I don’t know what kind of account I have.  
        • No problem. We can help. Please contact Ask KCLS for help. 
    • I applied in person at a KCLS library.    
      • Chances are you have an all-access account. Please contact your local library or Ask KCLS for help. 
    • My school gave me a KCLS account.    
      • Are you a student or a teacher? Please contact Ask KCLS for help.

    As a courtesy to other library systems and partner school districts, we make every attempt to return items turned in at our locations. King County Library System (KCLS) items are often returned to other library systems too. These other systems include The Seattle Public Library, Sno-Isle Libraries, and Pierce County Library System.

    As part of our reciprocal agreements we return items to and pick up our items from other library systems. The drop-off and pick-up schedule varies by library system. We exchange with The Seattle Public Library most often, once a week. The items returned are checked in by the owning library after the exchange.

    We mail school books to districts, with a note inside with the date when the item was returned to one of our locations.

    No. We have considered buying games in the past. So far, we've determined that they are too specialized and expensive to support.

    For video games, this is due to the variable nature of the industry and the products:

    • There are too many formats (i.e. Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, etc.).
    • Those formats change too quickly (i.e. upgrades from Xbox to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4, etc.).
    • Most games require frequent updates and can also have licensing/registration issues—single user registrations, codes, exclusive single-use content, etc.

    For tabletop, board, or analog games, this is due to the variation and complexity of the physical products. Games come in many shapes and sizes that require extensive manual handling, and often contain a large number of small and specialized pieces. We lack the infrastructure to appropriately house, circulate, repair, or maintain items of this type.

    We do support learning through games in other ways. Some libraries offer analog and/or video gaming programs for various age groups. However, the games are not part of the regular collection and are supported by programming budgets. Visit our event calendar to see any upcoming gaming events.

    Present your photo ID with a birth date at the checkout desk.

  • Checkouts

    A full-access King County Library System (KCLS) library card in good standing may borrow:

    All items except downloads Maximum of 100 items
    OverDrive eBooks and downloadable audiobooks 25 items
    OverDrive magazines No checkout limits
    Ready Reads No checkout limits
    Hoopla digital music, movies, TV, and comics 10 items per month
    Kanopy streaming movies 10 tickets per month.
    Estante Infinito streaming movies and performing arts 99 tickets per day per person
    Estante Infinito streaming TV No checkout limits

    KCLS is not responsible for damage to equipment that occurs while using library-owned material.

    Versión en español:¿Cuántos artículos me puedo llevar prestados?

    Versión en español

    Book Group Kits 56 days (8 weeks)
    Books
    CDs
    CD-ROMs
    LPs
    Kits
    Players
    Most video discs (DVDs and Blu-rays)
    Books to Grow On
    Ready Reads    		 28 days
    OverDrive                                
    • eBooks
    • downloadable audiobooks
    • magazines

    Hoopla digital comics
    Interlibrary loans

    		 21 days
    Magazines
    Feature film and movie video discs (DVDs and Blu-rays)
    Hoopla digital music    		 7 days
    Hoopla digital video 3 days (72 hours)
    Kanopy digital video 3-7 days (72-168 hours), depending on the film
    Most media equipment (use in library only)  1 day
    Estante Infinito streaming movies and performing arts 48 hours
    Estante Infinito streaming TV No checkout limits

    Yes, you can. You'll need to check out your items at Self-Check-Out and choose the email receipt option.

    At the moment, emailed receipts are only available at Self-Check-Out. If staff check out items for you at the Check Out desk, you'll get a printed receipt. An emailed receipt will be available at the Check Out desk soon.

    You can log in to your account from any page of kcls.org.

    Click or tap "Log In / My Account" in the top right corner.

    Choose the specific account information that you want to view from the menu. This is the fastest way to get to your account information.
    Examples:

    • If you want to view or renew items that you've borrowed, select 'Checked Out.' 
    • If you want to view or manage items you've requested, select 'On Hold.'

    Log in when prompted.

    • If it's your first time logging in, you’ll need to register your account and create a username.
    • If you've logged in before, enter your username or barcode and PIN or password.
    • If you’re already logged in, the button at the top right corner of the screen will show your username.

    Need more help?

    You can find more detailed Catalog Instructions, opens a new window from BiblioCommons, our catalog vendor.

    Our policy is to backdate returns to the last day the library was open and postpone removing holds. Have questions about your account? Call Ask KCLS.

  • Renewals

    Most physical items can be renewed up to two times, as long as the items are not on hold for someone else. 

    You can renew OverDrive digital titles (eBooks, audiobooks and magazines) one time as long as the items are not on hold for someone else. 

    Ready Reads, Book Group Kits, interlibrary loans and media equipment cannot be renewed.

    Our system will try to renew items one time per checkout period.

    You can renew items that other people aren’t waiting for. If an item has holds, you won’t be able to renew it. Find out how many times you can renew an item.

    If your account has a balance of more than $75, you won’t be able to renew any items. You will need to pay that balance down to $75 or less before you can check out physical items again.

    Auto-renewal only applies to physical items.

    Auto-renewal does not apply to digital collections. That’s because digital items are:

    • Returned automatically on their due date.
    • Paid for with different pricing models than physical items.

    We pay vendors for each new digital checkout, including renewals. For this reason, it is important to confirm that digital renewals are intentional. Please continue to manually renew digital items you’d like to extend.

    Yes, you’ll still be able to renew items by logging in to your account.

    Yes, unless you opt out. 

    To receive notifications for auto-renewal, you need to: 

    • be signed-up for email notifications and  
    • have an email address in your account.

    How will I know if an item has auto-renewed?

    If you are signed-up for email notifications, you’ll receive an email. The email will confirm which, if any, items were renewed.

    The email will list:  

    Yes. Call or visit your library to request to opt out. 

    Opting out of auto-renew won’t change other account alerts you’ve signed up for. There are no changes for hold and due date notifications by phone, text, or mail. 

    You don’t need to sign up. Eligible items will automatically renew.

    Our system will try to renew items three days before they are due. If the item is renewed, three days will be added to your loan period. (We add three days so that renewing doesn’t shorten the loan period.)

  • Due Date and Hold Alerts

    If you provide an email address, you will automatically get email notifications.

    If you don’t provide an email address, you will get notifications by phone.

    If you provide neither an email address nor a phone number, you will get print notifications by mail.

    Contact Ask KCLS or staff at your library. You cannot directly manage your notification settings online. We're exploring ways to offer this option.

    You can receive account notifications by email, text, phone, or printed mail message. You’re automatically enrolled in some notifications when you sign up for a library card. Learn how to manage your notification preferences.

    Email

    Get notified when:

    • Holds are ready for pickup, expired, or canceled
    • Items are due in 2 days
    • Items are overdue

    Email notices contain detailed information about account activity, including titles and due dates.

    Phone

    Get notified when:

    • Holds are ready for pickup
    • Items are overdue

    Phone notifications are brief and do not include title information.

    Print Mail

    Get notified when:

    • Holds are ready for pickup
    • Items are overdue

    Print notices contain detailed information about account activity, including titles and due dates. Please note that due to the nature of print mail, notices via this method are not as timely.

    Text/Short Message Service (SMS)

    Get notified when:

    • Holds are ready for pickup
    • Items are due in 2 days
    • Items are overdue

    Text notifications briefly summarize account activity and do not include title information.

    No, you can’t manage accounts for family members or different library systems. 

  • Fines

    Library accounts expire either due to inactivity or because account information needs to be verified. Please reach out to your local KCLS library, opens a new window for more information about what you need to do to renew your library card.

    It depends! Please visit any of our libraries and ask a staff member about the status of your account.

    You can also check the list below to find out if one of the scenarios apply to you.

    If you have used your King County Library System library card in the last two years:
    Your account is active in our system. Most active cards do not expire or need you to renew them. Checking out items or logging on to a public computer at the library helps to keep your card active.

    If you have not used your card in the last two years and it had no fines or fees:
    Your account is likely no longer in our system. If you would like to apply for a new card, please visit a library or apply online.

    Regardless of when you last used your card:
    If your account had late fines but no other charges before we cleared all late fines, it is active in our system. 

    If your account still has more than $75 after we cleared fines, such as in lost or damaged item fees:
    You will need to pay that balance down to $75 or less before you can check out physical items again. 

     

  • Holds

    All items except downloads 50 holds (Seattle city residents may place up to 10 holds)
    OverDrive eBooks and downloadable audiobooks 25 holds
    OverDrive magazines No holds
    hoopla digital music, movies, TV, and comics No holds
    Kanopy streaming movies
    		 No Holds. 10 tickets per month. Learn more about Kanopy tickets.

    The King County Library System is not responsible for damage to equipment that occurs while using library-owned material.

    Your hold will be available for eight open days at your designated pickup library.

    This process generally takes 3-10 days. It depends on a number of factors, such as the libraries' closed days.

    You can log in to your account from any page of kcls.org.

    Click or tap "Log In / My Account" in the top right corner.

    Choose the specific account information that you want to view from the menu. This is the fastest way to get to your account information.
    Examples:

    • If you want to view or renew items that you've borrowed, select 'Checked Out.' 
    • If you want to view or manage items you've requested, select 'On Hold.'

    Log in when prompted.

    • If it's your first time logging in, you’ll need to register your account and create a username.
    • If you've logged in before, enter your username or barcode and PIN or password.
    • If you’re already logged in, the button at the top right corner of the screen will show your username.

    Need more help?

    You can find more detailed Catalog Instructions, opens a new window from BiblioCommons, our catalog vendor.

    Our policy is to backdate returns to the last day the library was open and postpone removing holds. Have questions about your account? Call Ask KCLS.

  • New and On Order

    Titles that are new and on order have only very basic information. You might see items for children in an adult search. Audiences will get corrected when we receive the DVD and it goes through cataloging. This is a trade-off that our selection department has made. Adding incomplete records when we place the order allows you to place holds earlier.

    There are several ways you can search for DVDs on order, choose the method that works best for you!

    Keyword Search

    To search for fiction titles, search the catalog for dvd fic on order.

    To search for nonfiction titles, search the catalog for dvd nf on order.

    Enter "dvd fic on order" in the search box at the top right side of the website. Search setting are set to search the catalog by keyword.Advanced Search
    Open Advanced Search from the link under the keyword search bar.

    Select Call Number from the Include dropdown list.

    Type dvd fic on order as your search criteria.

    If you'd like to see nonfiction, type dvd nf on order.

    In the "Use the form to construct your query" section, select Call Number from the Include dropdown list. Type 'dvd fic on order' in the search box. Website Picker

    Prefer to use a drop-down menu to create your search? Use this option to find DVDs and other formats.

    Select Books and More.

    Under the Formats heading, select New and On Order.

    Use the dropdown boxes to customize your search.

    Choose Books and More from the menu across the top of the website. In the Formats section, choose New and On Order.Use the filters on the New and On Order page in the catalog to filter by Format, Content (fiction, nonfiction, government documents), Audience, or Language.

  • Using the Catalog

    Call or visit your library. There isn't a way to change your address in your account online.

    An option for patrons with KCLS and SPL accounts. You will use a single username and password when logging in through the KCLS or SPL catalog.

    If you want to keep your Seattle Public Library (SPL) username, contact Ask KCLS. Include your:

    • King County Library System (KCLS) username
    • KCLS barcode
    • Confirmation that you understand that your user-generated content will be deleted.

    If you want to keep your KCLS username, contact Ask Us. Include your:

    • SPL username
    • SPL barcode

    You can log in to your account from any page of kcls.org.

    Click or tap "Log In / My Account" in the top right corner.

    Choose the specific account information that you want to view from the menu. This is the fastest way to get to your account information.
    Examples:

    • If you want to view or renew items that you've borrowed, select 'Checked Out.' 
    • If you want to view or manage items you've requested, select 'On Hold.'

    Log in when prompted.

    • If it's your first time logging in, you’ll need to register your account and create a username.
    • If you've logged in before, enter your username or barcode and PIN or password.
    • If you’re already logged in, the button at the top right corner of the screen will show your username.

    Need more help?

    You can find more detailed Catalog Instructions, opens a new window from BiblioCommons, our catalog vendor.

    If you haven't set up a PIN/password, it defaults to the last four digits of the phone number in your library account.

    Reset your PIN/password using your library card number. Or, show photo ID to staff at the library.

    There are several ways to access the catalog from our site, and two primary ways to start a search.

    One way is to use the built-in search tool at the top right side of any page.

    1. Enter your search terms in the search box at the top right of any page on KCLS.org.
    2. Click the magnifying glass icon on the right side of the search box to enter your search.

    You can also start an advanced search by clicking on the 'Advanced Search' link below the search box.

    To search the website, blog, FAQs, or events, choose one of these options from the first drop-down menu to the left of the search box. Type what you’re looking for in the search box and click/tap the magnifying glass icon to enter your search.

    Another way to search the catalog is to use the search landing page.

    1. Click the 'Catalog' link from the left side of the main site menu or go directly to www.kcls.org/catalog.
    2. Enter your search terms in the search box and click the magnifying glass to start your search.

    If you're using a mobile phone:

    1. Tap the magnifying glass icon at the top right to expand the search box. 
    2. Enter your search terms in the search box.
    3. Tap the magnifying glass icon to enter your search.

    Get more tips for using the catalog on our catalog help site.

    In response to feedback that multiple drop-down filters were overwhelming to many library users, BiblioCommons, our catalog and website vendor, has removed the superformat filter drop-down from the basic search tool.

    Please use the more granular format and genre facets on the left side of any search results page to narrow results.

    You can still start a search filtering by format by clicking the ‘Catalog’ link from the left side of the main menu at the top of any page. This second option is available only on computers, not on mobile devices.

     

    Choose a format and/or search type from the drop-down menus and enter your search terms.

    Click the magnifying glass to start your search.

    Please tap the black button displaying your username at the top right of any page when you’re logged in and tap the ‘Log Out’ link at the top of the drop-down menu.

    Thank you for your suggestion. We’ve shared this feedback with BiblioCommons, our website and catalog vendor, for review.

    In case it’s helpful to have context behind the design:

    The Log In/My KCLS button at the top of the KCLS website and catalog, a built-in feature of the software powering the new site, reveals a dropdown menu that has been optimized for ‘responsive’ views of the site that resize to fit the screen size of computers, phones, and tablets. BiblioCommons previously had the menu open upon hover, which allowed a single click to get to the log in page, but that presented a lot of issues on smaller screens where tap was required.

    Instead of going directly to the ‘Explore’ page from the Log In screen, clicking the Log In button now allows you to choose from a list of the most frequently sought-after links in library user’s accounts, including checked out, holds, and shelves pages. You’ll be prompted to log in, but you can use this menu to quickly jump to any these account pages.

    From My Library Dashboard, you can switch to your SPL account at the top of the page.

     

    To toggle from the KCLS catalog to SPL click the My Account button and click on Switch Library Account. To return to the KCLS catalog click on your username and click on Switch Library Account.

    Your Personal Identification Number (PIN)/password allows you to securely access your library account, place holds in our catalog, log on to library computers, and use Self Checkout.

    You will need to provide your PIN/password when you phone in or if you don't have your library card or photo ID with you at a library. This protects the use of your library account.