Oregon Trail Library District cards allow their holder to borrow any of the wide variety of free information and entertainment materials. They also provide access to the District’s electronic resources from home, office, or school.

Any resident of Oregon Trail Library District is eligible to receive a free library card from the District. The District also honors current valid library cards from any other library in the Sage Library System. Materials may be checked out from and returned to any Sage library.

New Library Cards

Patrons 18 and older may receive a library card by going to any District library and providing name, mailing address, street address, contact information, and date of birth.

Patrons who are 16 or 17 can receive cards by providing the same information, as well as the name of their parents or guardians.

Patrons 15 or younger must have approval of the parent or guardian accepting responsibility for the minor’s use of the library card.

The person accepting responsibility for use of the library card (the adult or teen patron or parent/guardian) must provide proof of identification and current residence and mailing address. Acceptable proof of identification and residency include but are not limited to the following:

• Valid government-issued photo ID or Oregon Voter's Registration card
• Valid student photo identification
• Utility bill
• Rent receipt signed by a landlord
• Lease or mortgage agreement
• Postmarked piece of mail delivered to the mailing address

For patrons 17 and under, a parent/guardian's card in good standing may be used as proof of residence and mailing address.

Staff members are encouraged to use sound but flexible judgment in accepting applications and proof of address, remembering that the District's major aims are to verify that the applicant lives in an area eligible for a free card and have enough information to contact the patron regarding hold pickup, billing, and other notices.

Patrons who come to a library without sufficient identification to get a library card are welcome to use the library facilities, including any materials and equipment, and take any free items on offer.

Restrictions and Responsibilities

Library cards are not transferable; each patron must have his/her own card to check out materials. To check out, patrons must show the card in person, show the card digitally, provide valid photo identification, or verify information on the account. Family members living in the same household may pick up each other's holds. A patron also may allow another individual to pick up his/her holds by giving that individual the card to present at the library. If doing business by phone or electronically, they must verify information on the account.

Non-Resident Cards

People who do not live within the Oregon Trail Library District boundaries may register for a patron card for an annual fee of $25. Oregon Trail Library District includes the cities of Boardman, Heppner, and Irrigon.

Loan Periods

All circulating materials check out for three weeks. Patrons may renew materials online, or by contacting any District or Sage library. An item may not be renewed if another person is waiting for it, it has already been renewed twice, or the patron has been billed for the item.

Item Limits

To help optimize availability of the collection to the public, the District limits the total number of items that can be checked out at the same time on a card to 50. Because holds and interlibrary loan requests are labor-intensive services, patrons also are limited to the following:

•  9 outstanding holds within the Sage Library System
•  Other requests beyond the limit may be negotiated.

Fines and Fees

Late fines are not charged for Adult, Children’s or Young Adult materials.

The District collects fees for the following

• Lost or irreparably damaged items: Retail cost of item + $5 processing fee.
• Damaged items, if repairable: $10 or the cost of the repair, whichever is higher.
• Destroyed media case: Audiobooks, $10; everything else, $5
• Lost media piece (e.g. disc from an audiobook or DVD series), if individually replaceable: $10 or the replacement cost, whichever is higher.

Fees paid for lost materials may be refunded, less the processing fee, if they are returned in good condition within six months of having paid the fee