Everything You Need to Know About Reciprocard
I am a lifelong user and lover of Libby!
AND as every Libby users knows, the worst part for most people is the hold lines. Depending on your library, you can be on hold for one book for months and months!
A really effective way to reduce your time in the hold lines is by having more than one library card on your Libby account (I currently have . . . .more library cards than I want to admit to).
That’s where ReciproCard comes in.
ReciproCard is a free search engine that helps you discover if you qualify for any additional library cards in your area.
Library systems will make a reciprocal library agreement that basically say, if you let our patrons get a card at your facility, we will let your patrons get one at ours! Libby isn’t telling you about these reciprocal agreements, and that is how ReciproCard was born!
All you have to do is go to ReciproCard.com.
Type in your local library in the top search bar and see what results you will get. Once you get your results, ReciproCard will tell you if you have to apply in person or can apply online, which is incredibly handy.
It also tells you how big each library’s Libby catalog is so you can determine if it’s worth your time.
Keep in mind, some libraries have already pooled their resources into a single Libby catalog. So the “I’ll share my books, if you share your books” doesn’t apply to these branches because they only have one catalog.
Luckily, ReciproCard uses a smart redundancy system to filter out those libraries in your search. In short, ReciproCard will only shows results that will actually expand your ebook and audiobook lending opportunities.
If you end up getting ZERO additional library cards available, like I did for my local library, ReciproCard has a great resource for the best paid non-resident cards.
There is a full breakdown of the pros and cons to each card, along with cost, and the size of their Libby catalog.
A $25 annual fee for a non-resident card is much more affordable than any audiobook subscription I know about!
Have you used ReciproCard? Let me know if you have other questions!
I had no idea this existed! Such a great tip. I checked it out. Now I need to research the libraries to purchase a card from.