A patron must have an account in good standing to borrow materials. A patron’s card will be blocked, and no services may be obtained with it if the patron owes $10 or more in unpaid fines and/or fees [2011.05]. Blocked services include renewals [2009.05, 2009.09] and hold request placement [2008.02]. Delinquent borrowers who have not reached these limits may still borrow materials; the system operator will be notified that the patron is delinquent.

A PINES card is required at all times and at all libraries for all transactions [2006.11], with the following exceptions:

• when an item is in hand, no library card is required in order to renew the item [2007.02]
• when an item is in hand, no library card is required for payment of fines [2007.02]
• when the patron does not have their library card with them when they present materials to be checked out, they may present an approved form of identification to staff. Care should be taken to ensure the correct account is used for check out [2021.12]
• when the patron presents their barcode via the PINES app (no additional piece of identification is required when using the PINES app, as the password is required in order to access the account on the app) [Feature added 2018]
• when the patron presents a scannable electronic facsimile of their PINES card on a hand-held device (such as through the Key Ring app. Staff must confirm the patron’s identity by asking for an additional key piece of information from the patron record. Name, phone number, email address, street address, or date of birth would be acceptable. Note that if a library’s barcode scanners cannot scan the card number from the hand-held device, library staff will type in the card number displayed on the hand-held device along with confirmation of the patron’s identity. [2014.05]

It is recommended that libraries using self-check machines require that the patron input their PIN to avoid items being checked out to incorrect accounts [2014.05].

A card is required for renewals or bill payment if neither the cardholder nor the item is present [2007.02].