St. Louis County Library and Public Library Will Update and Share Their Catalogs

As many of you know, St. Louis has two unique library systems, one for the City of St. Louis and one for St. Louis County. Up until recently, each system maintained its own catalog, but all of that is about to change. Both library systems have announced that they are ready to merge their catalogs, improve their technology software, and make checking out materials between systems possible, and it’s about to happen!

Here’s what it means for library patrons:

• No matter which library system is your primary one, you will be able to borrow from either.
• All of the materials from both systems will be merged into one catalog, which will include books, movies, and music.
• The new software system at St. Louis County Library will allow you to personalize your reading history, set preferences for certain items, create reading lists, automatically renew items, and more.
• You will be able to request items to be sent to any library in the city or in the county system and return them wherever it’s convenient.

St. Louis County Library

St. Louis County Library has announced an “Upgrade Week,” from March 9–16. During that time, the catalogs from both library systems will be merged and the software in both systems changed over. Some services will, therefore, be unavailable. You will not be able to:

• Place holds or renew items
• Update your account information
• Use some of the eMedia and databases
• Obtain a new library card
• Make any payments

On 17 March, all library PIN numbers will be reset to the last four digits of whatever phone number is on file. If they don’t have a phone number, your PIN will go to the default of 1234.

St. Louis Public Library

The changeover for St. Louis Public Library will be from the 8th to the 25th of March.

• Beginning on 8 March, they will not accept fees, make updates to library cards, or check in materials.
• On 17 March, all locations will close for the day to test the new software.
• On 18 March, the libraries will be open, but the online catalog will not be available. Staff, however, will be able to hold items for patrons.
• On 25 March, the new shared catalog will go online. PIN numbers will be reset automatically, although no details on what they will be set to are currently available.

Both library systems are asking patrons to hold circulating materials during their respective upgrade weeks, as they won’t be able to properly credit materials to patrons’ accounts during that time.

The History and Genealogy Departments at the St. Louis County Library and the St. Louis Public Library have fabulous collections, and now anything that can circulate will be available to holders of either system's library cards. Directions for obtaining library cards for either or both are on their respective websites.

For More Information

St. Louis County Library FAQs: https://www.slcl.org/using-the-library/system-upgrades

St. Louis Public Library: https://www.slpl.org/post3214122/