borrowIT CT

Program Description 

"borrowIT CT" (formerly known as Connecticard) is a cooperative program among public libraries in Connecticut that allows a resident of any town in the state who holds a valid borrower card issued by their home library to use that card to borrow materials from any of the 191 public libraries participating in the program. Using their hometown cards, non-residents may visit any public library and borrow any of the materials that participating libraries lend to their local borrowers. Participating libraries are reimbursed for these loans by the CT State Library. The budget for FY2024 is currently at $703,638.

Patrons may return print items directly to the owning library or to any public library, which will return the items to the owning library via deliverIT. An owning library can require that non-print materials be returned directly to the owning library, bypassing deliverIT. 

Key Dates

• End of February - The borrowIT CT reporting year ends.
• March 15 - Deadline for submitting borrowIT CT lending reports for the preceding year.
• April - State Library issues a report showing the borrowIT CT loans, borrows, and payments at each public library during the previous reporting year.
• April/May - Libraries receive borrowIT CT reimbursement payments.
• October 31 - Deadline for completing borrowIT CT Expenditure Reports for the payment made approximately 18 months earlier.

Statutory References

Conn. General Statutes (CGS) 11-25a, 11-31a, 11-31b, 11-31c. Regulations of Conn. State Agencies, Sec. 11-31c.

All public libraries in the state of Connecticut who meet the following requirements are elligible for borrowIT CT:

• Have a signed Letter of Agreement on file with the State Library
• File a record of the number of items loaned to non-residents of the town or towns it normally serves
• Submit by October 31 of each year an Annual borrowIT CT Expenditure Report
• Complete and submit each year the Annual Report of Connecticut Public Libraries

The formula for determining grant amounts is included in the state statutes. Payments are made annually. One-half of the total funds appropriated is used to reimburse participating libraries for all reported borrowIT CT loans. The other half is used to make an additional payment to those libraries that loaned more items to non-residents than their resident card holders borrowed from public libraries in other towns.

borrowIT CT grant payments MUST be spent by the library and may not revert to the general fund of the municipality