We offer library services to citizens of Germantown Library District, which has the same boundaries as the Germantown School District.
- Anyone who owns property in our district pays an annual library tax and is entitled to a library card. Bring in your ID and you will be issued a card.
- Anyone who does not own property in the district but who would like a card may purchase one for $80 per household per year. If you would like to purchase a card for a trial period, fees can be paid in smaller increments. The amount of time can be chosen when you fill out a Non-Resident Card Application at the front desk. (Fees are based on population and the amount is determined by what an average household pays in property taxes.)
- 3 months = $20
- 6 months = $40
- 9 months = $60
- 12 months = $80
Our library cards may be used at any library in the state of Illinois.
Even if you do not have a card, you may use any resource inside the library.
Books, large print books, magazines, audiobooks, DVDs and Blu-rays, children’s activity bags, puzzles, encyclopedias, newspapers, laptops, tablets, Wi-fi hotspots, and items of local history are available. Most may be checked out for 2 weeks.
*By having and using a library card, you are agreeing to be responsible for all materials and items that are borrowed and checked out on your card.*
We do not charge late fees on overdue items. Once an item is overdue by 14 days, an overdue notice will be sent via email. After 30 days, it will be considered lost and the patron will be billed for the item.
If the item is returned in the same condition it was checked out in, all fees will be waived.
However, if an item is returned in damaged condition, the patron will be charged depending on the item. For most items such as books, the patron will be charged the cost of the book plus a $2.00 processing fee so it can be replaced.
The Germantown Public Library is part of the Illinois Heartland Library System. We participate in inter-library loan and receive free delivery of materials through the library system 5 days per week.
If you cannot find an item you want at our library, the librarians can assist you in locating the item at another library in our system, the state of Illinois, or anywhere in the USA. You can also download the Share Mobile Library app or use our library catalog to locate and place holds on items from libraries in our system.
Items requested through interlibrary loan usually arrive within a week and will be placed on our holds shelf. You may pick them up at the front circulation desk and can borrow them as you do our own items. There is no charge for this service.
Wireless internet access is available on our property 24/7. In addition, we offer 2 patron computers with internet access. These may be used at no charge and there is no sign-in sheet. We ask users to limit their time on the computer to 30 minutes if others are waiting. Anyone under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult to use a computer.
We have a laminator, printer, copier, fax machine, and color scanner available.
- You can scan and send items to the computers or have them be emailed to you at no cost.
- You may print from the computers at a cost of $0.25 per page.
The price is the same for black & white or color pages. - We make photocopies on regular or legal size paper for $0.25 each.
- Our laminator takes 15 minutes to heat up and accepts items up to 26″ wide.
We charge $0.50 per foot to laminate for large items such as posters.
Regular size paper (8.5×11) or Legal size paper (11×17) is $0.25 per page. - You can send or receive faxes at the library for $0.25 per page.