Terms of membership
Anyone living, working or studying in Hampshire can become a member of Hampshire Libraries
Memberships are free and available to anyone who lives, works, or studies in Hampshire.
Membership entitles you to:
- Borrow up to 20 books at a time for up to 28 days
- Borrow up to five magazines for seven days
- Use the digital library with no charges
- Renew items up to five times either online or in person at a library (unless the item has been reserved by another customer). You will not be able to renew an item if you owe the library £30 or more
- Late fees are charged for the late return of items unless you have a concession membership. Different fees and charges apply to under and over 18 memberships
- Borrowed items may be returned at any library. Drop boxes are available at many libraries, items left in the drop boxes after hours are regarded as having been returned on the next open day
- Your membership can be suspended if you have overdue items and outstanding charges
- Your library card is for your use only
- All costs incurred by the library due to items lost or damaged while in your care must be reimbursed
- If you change your address or name, please notify us by updating your account online, or at a library
- Please report lost cards to the library immediately, by email or in a library. You will be held responsible for any items borrowed before the loss is reported
- Your membership details are confidential
- Our digital library apps are provided by organisations with their own terms and conditions. You will need to sign up to these terms and conditions to access the digital library
Under 18 memberships
Anyone under the age 16 will need to provide a guarantor’s details to join online. Parents and carers can access their child’s account, to reserve or renew, online by asking for a library PIN number to be set up in a library.
We do not recommend borrowing items for children on an over 18 membership cards, as any fees or charges are related to the type of membership, not the borrowed item.
Concession membership
Concession memberships are free and available to all members of all ages. Concession memberships are designed to help people with access requirements, care-leavers or sanctuary seekers access the library services, by removing reservation charges and fees for overdue items.
If you would like to join the library as a concession member, please visit your local library who will help you join. We cannot offer online joining for concession memberships.
Managing your membership
Automated reminders are sent by email to customers aged over 18 to those who have opted in. You can opt in by logging into your account, select the option for 'personal details' and then 'other details' and ensure the box is ticked beside 'Receive library notices via email'. These are courtesy emails and should not be relied upon to manage the return of loaned items.
To ensure that the data we hold is accurate we require all members to re-register their membership every three years. This is easy to do online or can be done for you in a library. Watch this video to find out how.
Your membership of Hampshire Libraries is governed by these terms and conditions – last updated 03 July 2023.
The General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 requires organisations, businesses and the government to keep your personal information secure and to only use it in accordance with the data protection principles.
Hampshire Libraries Stock Policy
This document provides information on the selection and management of the stock of books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, maps, printed music, photographs, digital formats and electronic information resources within our public libraries.