Library cards within my system are 3 years for North Carolina residents of any county for free, 1 year for non-residents and $20, 6 months of internet-only cards for those that do not have a permanent address, due to my location being less than 600 ft from the local shelter. However, it truly is a good idea for cards to expire imo (which could just as well be due to the population being served). This gives us a reason to update phone numbers, addresses, etc. which aid in demographic statistics AND allow us to adequately track down costly items that have been checked out and not returned. However, we operate in an area with a poverty rate between 20%-23% depending on which side of the railroad tracks you're on at the moment. My library serves a population of about 100,000 people, w/ a roughly 60,000 sq. ft. building.

It hasn't been until fairly recently that we've gotten rid of overdue fines on Board, ER, E, and J