In 2023, with support from the Mellon Foundation, BPL launched a research project to collect and study library card signup policies from public libraries across the nation. Research findings were summarized in a report published in spring 2024.
Using these findings, BPL convened a diverse working group of public library leaders to develop guiding principles and best practices for barrier-free library card signup, with a draft policy framework published in summer 2025. The guidance is intended to give public library leaders and staff with the tools to have informed conversations about aligning library cardholder signup process with the profession’s stated values of access and intellectual freedom.
Read the research report, access an interactive dashboard of the data findings, or request access to the policy framework, below.
See the Research
BPL, with market research firm Avenue M Group, collected and analyzed cardholder signup data from over 1,800 public libraries across the United States.
Access the Data
Explore the data collected from the research via an interactive dashboard. The raw dataset is available by request, below.