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Borrowing & fees

Library cards issued to residents of Chicago Ridge are honored by Illinois public libraries, including member libraries of the SWAN catalog. The Chicago Ridge Public Library honors library cards from other Illinois public libraries as well.

Loan Limits on Up to 20 DVDs & Blu-rays and Up to 5 video games.

Materials Loan Period Late Fee
Books 3 Weeks
Audiobooks 3 Weeks
DVDs & Blu-rays 3 Weeks
Music CDs 3 Weeks
Kits 3 Weeks
Puzzles 3 Weeks
Board games 3 Weeks
eReaders 3 Weeks
WiFi hotspots 90 Days $1 Per Day
Roku players 3 Weeks $1 Per Day
Laptops/Chromebooks 3 Weeks $1 Per Day
Video Games 3 Weeks
NEW and Hot Copy DVDs & Blu-rays 1 Week
Magazines 1 Week
Oak Lawn Children's Museum Pass 3 Days $10 Per Day
Fine & Late Fees: The library does not charge overdue fines for materials checked out at the Chicago Ridge Public Library with the exception of the items/fees listed.

Materials held by a cardholder beyond the due date will be considered overdue. Library cards will be blocked when an item checked out at the Chicago Ridge Public Library becomes 14 days overdue. When items are checked in, that block is immediately removed. If, after 42 days, the overdue material still has not been returned to the library, this material will be deemed lost and billed to the patron’s record.

When Library material has been overdue for more than 7 days, a reminder notice is emailed, texted or an automated call is made to the cardholder, based on their preference. The Library makes a reasonable effort to ensure that this notice is received, but it is sent as a courtesy and failure to receive notice will not be cause for removal of fines.

Lost or damaged items:

The Library may charge for replacement of missing, lost or damaged materials.

Chicago Ridge Library patron accounts with outstanding overdue fees/fines of over $25 are remitted to a collection agency by the RAILS Library System. A collection agency fee of $10 will be added to the patron's account.

Renew materials

If eligible, most materials will be automatically renewed up to two times if they have not been requested by another person.

How to renew materials online:

  1. From the SWAN Catalog select My Account
  2. Enter your Library Card Number and PIN (Your default PIN is the last four digits of your primary phone number.)
  3. Click the CHECKED OUT tab to view the materials you have checked out.
  4. Select the materials you want to renew by checking the boxes to the left of Title/Author and then click the RENEW button. Click YES to confirm you want to renew the selected items.
  5. Look for the message "Checkout(s) successfully renewed" in green under title(s) selected. If an item cannot be renewed, a red message will appear under the title with the reason for the denial.

Pay fees online

Fees may be paid in person at any SWAN library by cash or check. Fines can be paid online using a credit card via the SWAN Catalog. A $0.50 Convenience Fee will be charged when paying online.

To pay fines online:

  1. From the SWAN Catalog select My Account
  2. Enter your library card number and PIN (Your default PIN is the last four digits of your primary phone number.)
  3. Go to My Account > Pay Fines.
  4. Review your fines. By default, all fines are selected – you can check the individual fines you would like to pay, or you can pay all fines. You will need a minimum of $1 in fines to pay online.
  5. Click PayPal to pay with a PayPal account, or click Debit or Credit Card to pay without a PayPal account.
  6. Fill out your payment information and submit.

Holds & interlibrary loan services

You can request (hold) an item online via the SWAN catalog whether it is owned by the Chicago Ridge Public Library or by another library in the system.

If the item you are looking for is not available via the SWAN catalog, please ask a librarian. We may still be able to find the item for you and place an out-of-system interlibrary loan at your request.

Items loaned from libraries in Illinois are free of charge. Chicago Ridge cardholders will be charged $5.00 and non-residents $10.00 for items loaned from out-of-state libraries.

A maximum of 50 holds are allowed on a Chicago Ridge Library card at any one time. You can not place holds on our “Hot Copy” books and movies and only Chicago Ridge cardholders can place holds on new books and DVDs.