April 2025

Quick Facts

• Multnomah County Library (MCL) staff and volunteers who live outside of Multnomah County are eligible for full-service accounts at no cost.
  • This eligibility applies to all services - including Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
  • Unlike Fee Registration accounts, this eligibility does not include household members.
• People who wish to volunteer at the library must contact Volunteer Services.

Procedure

When registering/updating a library employee or active volunteer who resides outside of Multnomah County or the free service area:

1. Use Profile 0_MULT.
2. In the Demographics tab, enter the county that corresponds to the patron's residential address.
3. In the Extended Info tab
   1. Add a Staff field.
   2. Enter a Y in the field.
4. Save the changes.

Policy

Library employees and active volunteers will receive a library card for personal use free of charge even if their residence is outside Multnomah County or the free service area. Employees and volunteers will be assigned a Multnomah County patron type.

Retirees and County employees who are not employees of the Department of Libraries who reside outside of our free service area must pay a fee for a personal library card.

For information on staff personal use of the library, see Staff use of personal library cards. 

For information about administration cards for work purposes, see Administrative library cards.

Rationale

This privilege is extended because many employees and volunteers need to use library services to perform their job duties. A Multnomah County patron type is assigned so that staff and volunteers may use all library services, including Interlibrary Loan.