If you live in Wyckoff, a free card from the Wyckoff Public Library gets you a lot more than books from the building on Woodland Avenue. It reaches a catalog of "more than 5 million items" shared by dozens of North Jersey libraries.[1][3] It also gets you free New York Times and Wall Street Journal access from home, passes to museums like MoMA and the Guggenheim, and a Library of Things that lends out a telescope and a tire inflator.[6][7][8][9]

How to get one

Adult cards are free to Wyckoff residents 18 and older. Bring a valid driver's license or a current utility bill with a Wyckoff address. Children can get their own card, signed by a parent or guardian, once they enter first grade.[1]

You can register online or at the library. If you had a card in another BCCLS town and have since moved to Wyckoff, the library asks you to come in person to fill out a new registration card. Cards must be renewed every three years with Wyckoff identification.[1]

When you sign up, the library recommends setting a PIN and adding your email address. That lets you request items, check due dates and renew most items online, and get an email when a requested item arrives or is about to come due.[1]

If you work or go to school here but live outside the BCCLS system: the library may issue free one-year courtesy cards to employees of the Wyckoff Public Schools or the township, to Wyckoff business owners, and to non-resident students in Wyckoff's public schools, with proof of employment, property ownership or lease, or enrollment. Employees and business owners also need to show a home address. Courtesy cards are for walk-in use at the Wyckoff library only, with no inter-library loans or eBCCLS.[1]

What the card gets you

A shared catalog. The library belongs to BCCLS, a consortium of northern New Jersey public libraries. You can request any item in the shared catalog online or in person.[2] BCCLS delivers requested items to any member library within days, and you can return them to any member library.[3] Most Wyckoff books go out for four weeks, new books for two, and new DVDs for one, with a limit of 50 items per cardholder. Most books can be renewed twice and new books once; new DVDs can't be renewed.[2]

No late fines on most Wyckoff items. Since Jan. 1, 2022, the library has not charged overdue fines on most items it owns. Museum passes, Wi-Fi hotspots and Library of Things items are the exceptions. Items borrowed from other BCCLS libraries are subject to that library's fines, if it still charges them. Due dates still apply: a card is blocked if an item isn't returned after 60 days, and items more than 90 days late are treated as lost, with the borrower responsible for replacement cost.[2]

E-books, audiobooks, movies and music. With the Libby app, which works with any BCCLS card, you can borrow e-books and audiobooks, five at a time with five holds; e-books go out for 14 days. Hoopla, which requires a Wyckoff card, offers e-books, audiobooks, movies, TV and music, up to 12 items a month; its e-books go out for 21 days.[4] Kanopy streams more than 30,000 films, the library says.[5]

News sites. Anyone in the library can read the New York Times free on its Wi-Fi or computers, and Wyckoff cardholders can read it from home with a 72-hour access code that can be renewed with their card number. Users must be 13 or older.[6] The Wall Street Journal works from anywhere, in three-day stretches, after you sign up with your card number.[7]

Museum passes. The Friends of the Wyckoff Public Library runs a museum pass program for Wyckoff residents. As of Oct. 20, the list includes the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, the Frick Collection, the Guggenheim, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Historical Society and Storm King; the list changes, so check the library's page. Each pass has its own rules. Some need a reservation and a trip to the circulation desk, some print at home, AMNH vouchers cost $5 cash each, up to six per card, and the Frick does not admit children under 10. Several, including the 9/11 Memorial, MoMA and Storm King passes, carry a $5-a-day late fee.[8]

The Library of Things. Wyckoff cardholders can borrow an assortment of non-book items, including a telescope, a tire inflator, a vehicle code reader, a slide-to-digital converter, lawn games and classic video game consoles.[9] Wi-Fi hotspots lend for 14 days with a $1-a-day late fee.[2]

Hours and contact

The library is at 200 Woodland Ave. It is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., except in July and August, when it is closed Sundays. It also closes on the day of the township fireworks.[10] The main number is 201-891-4866.[11]