November 2025

Quick Facts

• Make sure the patron is not eligible for free services before creating a Paid account. People who live, teach or go to school in the free service area are eligible for free services. The Patrons outside the free service area page has information about free library accounts for temporary residents, MCL staff and volunteers, Oregon Passport patrons, and Multnomah County Taxpayers.
• To register for a fee account the patron must be present and meet all other account requirements, except residing in the free service area.
• Paid accounts cost $180 per year. One Paid account covers all members of the patron's household.
  • The $180 fee must be added manually - whether it is a new registration, a renewal, or an existing account that is being changed to a Paid account.
• The Permission expires field in the Permissions tab is automatically entered as one year from the day the account was created or the user profile was changed to PAID_A or PAID_Y. See the expiration date in the glossary in the Check Out wizard.
• When it is time to renew a Paid account, you will see a pop-up that "Permission has expired" when looking up the patron in the Check Out wizard. The patron does not need to be present to renew.

Procedure

Registering a primary Paid account

Registering a Paid patron's household member

Renewing a primary Paid account

Renewing a Paid patron's household member

Registering a primary Paid account

1. The standard Requirements apply, except for residing in the free service area. The patron must be present at a library and show identification.
2. Check for an existing account.
   1. If a previous Paid account exists, see Renewing a Paid account.
   2. If a previous non-Paid account exists, update the patron's contact information as needed and set the Profile to Paid.
   3. If no previous account exists, create a new patron record using the Patron registration staff form and entering in the patron information.
3. The account's expiration date will automatically be set to one year from the date the Profile is set to Paid.
4. Ask the patron for the names of other individuals in the household.
   1. Click the Modify User Helper, then the Extended Info tab to enter the names of all household members in a HISTORY field. Click Save.
5. Add the $180.00 fee. The patron must pay this fee before the account may be used.
   1. Click the Billing a User Wizard listed under Special.
   2. Enter the patron's User ID.
   3. Select PAID_CARD as the reason for bill.
   4. Enter the amount 180.00
   5. Select payment type CRED_DEBIT, CASH or CHECK.
   6. Take payment from patron and then select Pay Now.

6. Ring the payment into the cash register as an 01 Symphony fee.

    

Registering a Paid patron's household member

1. The standard Requirements apply, except for residing in the free service area. The patron must be present at a library and show identification.
2. Ask for the name of the primary account holder (the person who paid the fee).
3. Use the Display User wizard, then the User Search helper to look up the primary account.
4. Ask the household member for identification.
   1. The patron's name must be listed in the HISTORY field in the Extended Info tab of the primary account.
   2. If the patron's name is not listed in the primary account, the primary account holder must add this person's name as a person in the household, or this person can register  for their own Paid account.  
   3. If this person's name is listed, copy the primary account holder's User Key.
5. Check for an existing account.
   1. If a previous Paid account exists, see Renewing a Paid account.
   2. If a previous non-Paid account exists, update the patron's contact information as needed and set the Profile to Paid.
   3. If no previous account exists, create a new patron record using the Patron registration staff form and entering in the patron information.
6. Click on the Modify user helper.
7. In the Extended Info tab, enter the primary account holder's User Key into a HISTORY field. Example, "Primary fee account is 123456. JR/HDL 11/26/2025"
8. In the Basic Info tab, change the Profile name to PAID_A or PAID_Y. Click Save.
9. A box will pop up to Extend Permission.
   1. Change the expiration date to the same expiration date as the primary account holder, enter "Y" in the Override field and click on Extend Permission.
   2. A box will confirm the permission change. Click Continue Checkout.

Renewing a Paid account

1. If the account has expired, in the Check Out wizard there will be a pop-up message “Permission has expired".
   1. Click Review User Record to review the record.  Verify contact information to make sure the patron is still not eligible for a free library account.
   2. If the patron would like to renew their account, click Extend Permission. The account expiration date will change to one year in the future.
2. If the account has not expired, go to the Permission tab of Modify User and set the expiration date to one year from the previous expiration date.
3. Follow step 6 of Registering a primary Paid account to add the $180.00 renewal fee. The patron must pay this fee before the account may be used.
4. Ring the payment into the cash register as an 01 Symphony fee.
5. Click Modify User, then the Extended Info tab to verify the names of household members. Update as needed, then click Save.
   1. If any household members are noted as having their own accounts, change the expiration date on those accounts to match this account.

Renewing a Paid patron's household member

If the account has expired, you will see a pop-up message “Permission has expired".

1. Click Review User Record to review the record.  Verify contact information to make sure the patron is still not eligible for a free library account.
2. Check the primary account holder's expiration date. If the primary account has expired, do not renew this account unless this patron wants to register as a primary account holder.
3. If the primary account has been renewed, update this patron's Permission expires field to match the primary account.

Policy

• Patrons who live outside of Multnomah County or who are not covered under our reciprocal agreement are offered a one-year (365 days) library account for a fee of $180.00 per household. A household is defined as the individuals who reside at one address.
• As part of the application, the patron is asked about what other individuals (if any) are in their household and if they are authorized to receive a library account. These individuals are then listed in the HISTORY field as being eligible to receive a library account without additional payment, but expiring at the same time as the primary account.
• Paid patrons have access to all standard library services, including all electronic resources, all media services (OverDrive/Libby, Hoopla, Kanopy, etc.) and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services.
• Patrons do not have to be present in the library to renew a Paid account.

Rationale

Much of the library's financial support comes from property taxes paid by residents of Multnomah County. Reciprocal libraries are also supported by local taxes. Therefore, residents outside the Free service area do not provide any financial support other than the library account fee. If a patron owns property in Multnomah County, they may be eligible for a taxpayer account.