From 7 February 2011 we're inviting all our customers to come to any City of York library to update your membership details and collect your new card.

Why are the libraries going through this process?

After six years of issuing the previous cards, it is time to update our records to ensure that the information we hold about you is correct.   We'd especially like to collect more e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers from customers, so that we can contact you in a speedier and more efficient way.  During the process you'll also be asked to complete an equalities monitoring form, which is optional, which will enable us to make sure that we're providing a fair and inclusive service for all.

Will the new library cards still act as YorkCards?

If you live in the City of York council area then you can choose to get a dual purpose card which acts as a library card and a YorkCard.  The YorkCard is a leisure card for residents which gives you discounted or free entry to a range of leisure facilities in York - for more details of the discounts available please see the link.

Is there a cost for new cards?

The new YorkCards will have a £2 admin charge for adults, and YorkCards are free for residents aged under 18.  If you choose not to pay £2 for a YorkCard, then your library card will be free, and will act as a library card but not a YorkCard.

What do I have to do?

Please come to any City of York Library. You'll be asked to fill out a form, and then your new card will be made up for you.  The process should only take a few minutes, but please bear with us if we are dealing with a lot of customers.  If you wish to save time when you get to the library, you could download a registration form from the right hand side of this page and complete it in advance.  Please note that the "Equalities Monitoring" section is optional.  Any information you provide on it will be kept strictly confidential, and only council employees will use it to monitor and improve our services.  If you're happy to fill this in then please do so.

When do I need to do this?

We'd like to re-register all of our customers over the next couple of months.  In the libraries the old cards will stop working on 1 June 2011, and you'll need to get a new card.  The leisure centres and museums will accept the old cards as YorkCards for a few extra months, in order to ensure that you have time to get to the library for a new card, and will stop accepting the old cards from September 2011.