Poll

adira wrote: "hi betty! i mainly go to my local library so i’m not sure i can help you out on this front. sorry <3 :("

aw it's okay adira :)

Try San Jose Public Library

I'm sorry. I also just go too my local library. I hope you find one though

I think Harris county does one

Girl I literally pull up random addresses of public businesses and use their zip codes and everything lol I have cards in California, Canada, etc lol

ali (semi-hiatus) wrote: "Girl I literally pull up random addresses of public businesses and use their zip codes and everything lol I have cards in California, Canada, etc lol"

don't you need papers like a driver's license or ID?

san jose public library... i live in texas and get books there all the time

*Clears throat* lemme check my list of libraries for you bby! 😉💗

Sacramento
Miami Dade
Broward County
Boston
Martin County
Seattle
Chicago
Ohio Digital
San Jose
Harris County
Multnomah
Santa Clara
Sunnyvale
Maryland
LA County
Delaware
New Orleans

I think NO makes you pay now but the others should be good

I begged my bestie in Canada to use her husbands cause my local library has nothing much online.... SO THAT WORKS

don't even ask me how i arrange for books🙈😅 sorry i won't be able to help you

THANKYOUU SO MUCH MY LOVES!!

(heather you're a real one ilyy)

♥︎ Heather ⚔ wrote: "*Clears throat* lemme check my list of libraries for you bby! 😉💗"

An actual lifesaver!!!! We love you 😘😘

hii i know you mentioned that you usually use libby for audiobooks, but if you’re desperate, oceanofpdf (dot come) is great and has practically every book ever. there’s only be one time i’ve looked for something and it wasn’t there, and that book was niche. you can choose between epub and pdf, and it’s a really easy download process. plus, not a virus, i swear. scout’s honour 🫡

Hi,

There's an article at everyday hyphen reading dot com called where you an get a non-resident library card that has quite a few options and links to check out.

Thanks for sending me in search myself! Excited to explore other libraries' options!

san jose public library has free digital library cards!

Most of them have stopped the free ecards for everyone. I had some and they went away.

Thanks for this. Following :-)

Broward County in Florida still worked for me a week ago. Good luck!

I have searched and searched. So far the only two i have come across are Harris County and Broward County. None of the others mentioned are free for non resident cards.

Google Seattle Books Unbanned. Anyone can get it and use for free

San Jose Public Library will let you get one for 1 year without showing ID but you have to look up a California address to use

I have recently downloaded Libby and have been looking for free non-resident library cards. I have been checking ones that have been suggested, but it seems some have been updated since being posted. So, here's an updated list as of 11/2024.

UPDATE:
San Jose County - must be a California resident
Harris County - free digital signup for non-residents!!!
Sacramento - "Out-of-area CA residents will need to visit a Sacramento library location to apply for and receive a card."
Broward County - must be a Broward County resident (they allow in-person visitor cards)
Martin County - must be a Martin County resident
Ohio Digital - there is a list of library's to choose from, but there are so many to go through to find one that will allow a free signup. (I tried the Wilmington Public Library of Clinton County, so we'll see what they say).

Note: some of the resident ones do offer a non-resident card for a yearly fee. Also, I may update this again when I have more time.

these are the ones that worked for me with no problem:

delaware
multnomah (add your regular address but put Oregon instead with zip code 97010)
new orleans
martin county
fairfax county
san jose
harris county
seattle (worked but waiting for email with the card number)

If you live California, you are entitled to a card at any library system in the state as long as you can show up for it in person.

ali wrote: "Girl I literally pull up random addresses of public businesses and use their zip codes and everything lol I have cards in California, Canada, etc lol"

There's a website that will generate addresses for you all over the states!!

postcodebase

Just tried Harris County and it denied me access.

Queer Liberation Library. Free for anyone and everyone! Queerliberationlibrary DOT org

Some of these did work. I'm still trying with Delaware and Louisiana. Great thread.

Thanks for this thread.. I'll try some
But got denied Broward today

Adriana wrote: "these are the ones that worked for me with no problem:

delaware
multnomah (add your regular address but put Oregon instead with zip code 97010)
new orleans
martin county
fairfax county
san jose
ha..."

Could you please give me the new orleans link please? The link i found only provides for 1 month ecard only :/

British Council

Following <3

Taking the list posted as on Nov2024 and updating what I got to work Feb 2025:

Delaware works, must use a local address, I picked a brewery in Wilmington and it worked.
Multnomah works, I put a random brewery in downtown Portland as my address. It said it will be active for 6 month and then I have to come in person to verify.
Martin County worked. I put in an address for a brewery near Jensen Beach.
San Jose worked. You have to be a CA resident, so I put in an address for a brewery near the San Jose airport. It says it’s valid for a year.
Harris Co- it said you need to be a resident so I put a random Houston TX address in.

I didn’t end up applying to these because…
New Orleans- valid for 30 days before in-person verification.
Fairfax- valid for 30 days before in-person verification.
Seattle- you have to upload your ID.

Thank you all for the recommendations of libraries! 🥰
I have a few that were not listed here yet and worked great for me as a non-resident:

Sunshine Coast Libraries
Port Phillip Library Services
The Libraries Consortium
Indiana Digital Library
Inglewood Public Library

aurora *ੈ✩‧₊˚ wrote: "san jose public library... i live in texas and get books there all the time"
The removed Libby access in February. Very sad.

Iseabail wrote: "aurora *ੈ✩‧₊˚ wrote: "san jose public library... i live in texas and get books there all the time"
The removed Libby access in February. Very sad."

Access still available on CloudLibrary!

Carmen wrote: "Thank you all for the recommendations of libraries! 🥰
I have a few that were not listed here yet and worked great for me as a non-resident:

How did you get a card with the Indiana Digital Library as a non-resident?

Hi 👋 please l need help the looking for is on goodreads but l am unable to read it please can someone help me thankyou🙏

They're smaller, but the Queer Liberation Library and The Japan Foundation both offer free cards online for people in the US (maybe Canada also?). Also check the major cities in your state. They often offer cards to all state residents.

Update on New Orleans Public Library:
The NOLA library sent out an email on 8/25/2025 that the fee will be increasing to $100 a year, and you can only apply and/or renew in person. Makes me really sad; if they had enough non-residents that they had to make a choice that extreme to “prioritize [their] constituents and taxpayers”, then I feel they’re going to lose a lot of revenue.
As a side note, you can do an internet search for "library without residency requirement" and you'll get articles with lists. Some of the lists are outdated, but like this one, there are updates from readers in the comments.
Good luck!

Marcia wrote: "Update on New Orleans Public Library:
The NOLA library sent out an email on 8/25/2025 that the fee will be increasing to $100 a year, and you can only apply and/or renew in person. Makes me really ..."

I did just this. There were 2 results with this thread being one of them.

hi, have you guys any more recommends? it was so hard to get into harry co :(

Jeremy wrote: "Broward County in Florida still worked for me a week ago. Good luck!"
What is the name of the library?

As someone who is a resident in Indonesia, so far I got Digital Library of Korean Literature and British Council Libraries Consortium for free.

for the Korean, it was easy. You just have to go to their website and sign up. You can have access through Libby by signing in with your email.

for the British Council, it takes a while to get accepted. Getting a membership is easy, but to borrow books you need a "Premium Membership". I wait for a month or so for this, but worth it!

Will let you people know for more.

If you search for Libby nonresident access library cards, it will result in a list of libraries you can sign up for, online. You can obtain a card for as little as $25.00 per year. If you want a larger selection and of quicker, newer releases, New York claims one for $50. per year. Not free but easy to obtain and much less expensive than purchasing. At even $50.00 it is less than $1. per week. I have several libraries that I access from places I've lived, one paid and one library gave me a nonresident card so I could help my elderly grandmother. I search each library to see who has which books I want and who has the shortest waiting period for books on hold. The nonresident paid card I have is not renewing for non residents so I am researching which library or libraries (by stacking multiple cards) I want to sign up with. When traveling I will obtain both book and audio book (sometimes must be obtained from different libraries) so I can listen while I am in the car or when I'm working out and then switch to reading while waiting for appointments or before bed.) Another reason to obtain multiple cards - the libraries do not all have the same catalog available and it seems there are different genres favored at different libraries, according to the libraries preference. There are some books I can find at one library that I cant find at any of the others. Also, some of the libraries provide access to movies. Hope this helps - Good Luck!

Follow up: I just purchased the Queens Public Library card online for $50. and received immediate access. When I Googled the libraries available for nonresident access to Libby, AI also gave me information about local cards available, asked me about which cards I already had, and which genres I usually read. As a result it gave me recommendations for which libraries would enhance the cards I already have, according to the genres I prefer, with the reasons for the recommendations per library recommended. Hope this helps - Good Luck and Happy Reading!