Free Cards for Florida Residents Offered by St. Johns County PL

Staff -- Library Journal, 3/6/2000

Any Florida resident may now apply for a free card from the St. Johns County Public Library System, St. Augustine. The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners has agreed to make a free library card available to any resident of the state. Common practice in Florida is for counties to limit access to their library services to county residents, because more than 80 percent of library funding comes from local sources. "The State Aid to Libraries Program does provide enhancement funding from state general revenue to all countywide free public libraries, and we felt that it was in the spirit of that law to open our doors to everyone in Florida," explained Library Director Mary Jane Little. Jim Bryant, chair of the commission, cited county partnerships as one of the motivators of the decision and said, "We hope to inspire other counties to do the same."