Using the Library

Getting a library card

Trails Regional Library welcomes all people to get a library card, regardless of where they live. To register, simply visit any branch location during open hours and present your photo ID. Patrons ages 17 years and under must have a parent sign their application.

The library also offers a Digital Only Library Card. This card will work only for digital resources. Patrons wishing to also check out physical materials should visit a branch for a full library card. The application for a Digital Only Library Card is open to anyone aged 18 and older due to COPPA restrictions. Upon submission of the application, library staff will review your application and ensure there are no active duplicates in our system. A library staff member will send confirmation of your library account to the email address provided in your application, typically within 2 business days of receipt. New library card accounts issued digitally will expire every year, at which time patrons may contact the library to renew. Patrons may visit a branch in person at any time to change their Digital Only Library Card to a physical library card.

To apply for a digital card, visit trailslibrary.org/ecard.

Renewing a library card

Library cards expire after one year. To renew by  email or over the phone, please provide the following information:

Name (First, Middle, and Last)
Street Address
City, State, and Zip Code
Telephone Number
Email Address
Date of Birth
Library Card Number

Replacing a library card

One library card may be issued at no cost to the patron each calendar year. The cost of an additional replacement card needed within the calendar year is 50 cents.

Checking out items

You may check out up to 50 physical items at one time. You may check out up to 10 titles on OverDrive at one time. You may check out up to 10 titles on Hoopla each month.

Items circulate for 2 weeks. Items may be renewed up to two times if no other patrons have holds on the item. All items must be returned to the library before they can be checked out again after two renewals.

After an item is overdue for more than two weeks, its status will change to Lost. The total cost of the item will appear as a bill on the account and the item must be returned for the bill to be removed and full borrowing privileges to be restored.

Hotspots and other specialty items have different renewal and return restrictions. All Hotspots should be returned inside to a circulation desk and NOT left in outdoor bookdrops as the weight of other materials can damage the Hotspot and incur damage fees to your account. Hotspots that are not renewed within 3 days of their due date will have service disconnected. Hotspots must be returned after disconnection. Any hotspot not returned within one month of its due date will be charged to the patron account and must be paid for.

Requesting books and movies

If you can't find the materials you're looking for, try an Interlibrary Loan request or Request an Item using our form.

Searching the Library Catalog

Usually, a keyword search is the first way people start to search for books or other materials. Keyword searches are helpful because they pull book titles, authors, subjects, and more to give you lots of results.

The words in a title or in an author’s name do not need to be entered in capital letters or in the correct sequence in order to find results. If you aren’t looking for a specific item or aren’t sure of the title or author, you may choose to do a Keyword search and enter a subject (for example, math) or the part of the title that you do know. By scrolling through the results, you will find what you want.

Sometimes, you need to do a bit more work to find the right item, though. Try the search tips below to see if you can narrow down your search to find the right item.

To request an item from any library in the catalog, select the big green button that says "Place hold" directly to the right of the item. It will ask you to log in with your library card number and your pin if you are not already. Once you are logged in, or if you are already logged in, it will just confirm where you want it to be picked up and your contact information. From there, select the gray "Submit" button at the bottom of the screen.

Subject searching
Books can be written about many things, and often books have multiple subjects. When trying to search for a specific topic, it is easiest to use just one word, like dogs or space.

Word adjacency
If you enter multiple words into a search box, it will look for each of those words separately. You can tell the catalog to look for those words together by putting quotations (“  “) around them. For example, if you search for “Harry Potter” with quotations, the catalog knows not to give you the author Beatrix Potter.

Search filters
You can tell the catalog exactly what you want, but sometimes it will still give you more stuff than you want. To help limit what you get, use the filters in the Advanced Search to tell it what type of material you want or even what language you want it to be in.

Formats - limit your search to a format like Books, CD Audiobooks, or DVD

Libraries - limit your search to a specific library, like your local branch.

NOTE: searching all libraries will give you more results and a greater likelihood of finding a copy of what you want that is available. There is NO extra charge for requesting books from other Missouri Evergreen libraries!

advanced search feature in catalog with fields for author subject and title search
My Account

You can access information about your account from any page in the catalog by selecting the My Account link in upper right corner of any page in the catalog. Your account information includes contact information, items you have checked out or placed on hold, your fines, preferences for the catalog, and your lists (a place for you to keep reading lists or other lists of items). Each of the sections in the My Account area is described below.

Logging Into Your Account
Click on the My Account link.
  • Enter Your Username
    • Your username is your library card number.
  • Enter Your Password
    • The first time you log in, your password is the last four digits of the phone number you provided to create your account. After your first log in, you may change your password.
Click on the Login button.
Account Summary
The Account Summary tab displays a summary of the number of items you have checked out, the number of holds you have, and the number of holds you have ready for pickup. Clicking on “view all” will provide a detailed list of these items. Also on the summary page are any fines that are owed and any payments.
Items Checked Out
The Items Checked Out tab displays a list of all items that are currently checked out. The list includes the title/author of the item, the number of remaining renewals, the due date, the barcode, and the call number of the item. To renew any items, check the box on the far left side of each item you want to renew. Go to the dropdown menu just above the list and choose “Renew Selected Titles.” Then click “Go.” Your items will be renewed and a new due date will be shown in your account.
Items on Hold
The Holds tab shows the materials you currently have on hold (reserve). The title, author, format, pickup location, and status are displayed. You may cancel a hold, suspend a hold, or activate a hold from this screen. Click on the check box to the left of the item and then go to the dropdown menu above the item list and choose the action for the selected items. By clicking on the “edit” link to the right of the item, you can edit the pickup library, suspend a hold, activate a hold, and change the expiration date of the hold.
Account Preferences
In the Account Preferences tab, personal information can be viewed. Patrons may edit their account name, PIN/password, and email address. Any other changes to personal information will be done by library staff at the patron request. Notification preferences may be set by each patron. The patron can choose to be notified by email, text message, or phone. A default phone number for hold notification can also be entered here. Search preferences allows you to decide how many entries you want to see on a page when you complete a search. You can also choose your preferred search location and your preferred pick-up library for holds.

Credit Card Payments

Evergreen allows patrons to make online payments with a credit card. These are processed with the vendor Stripe. Below are the steps to make a payment online.

  1. Log in to the “My Account” page from the library’s home page or the catalog.
  2. Review the billed items on your account in the “Charges” tab at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Check the boxes for the billed items that you wish to pay, and click on the “Pay selected charges” button.
  1. Enter the billing information for the card that you are paying with.
  1. Review the final amounts that you are paying and click submit.
  1. Evergreen will then send the information to the payment processor and authorize the transaction.
  1. You will be notified when the payment has been approved. Here you may print a detailed receipt.

If the payment is not approved, please write down the error code and message so that TS can do more research as to why the payment did not process.

My Lists
The My Lists section allows you to create, edit, share, and remove lists you have created.
Your list of items can be used for any number of purposes. For example, to keep track of what books you have read, books you would like to read, to maintain a class reading list, to maintain a reading list for a book club, or to keep a list of books you would like for your birthday. There are an unlimited number of uses.
You can see the list(s) you have created in the My Lists section of the My Account area.
How Do I Create a List?
There are two ways to create a list:
  • In the My Account area, click on My Lists. In the Create a New List section, enter a name for your list into the text box. A description of the list may be entered in the space provided. Decide if you would like to share the contents of the list with other users, and click the Submit button.
  • If you are already logged in, on any item detail page, select the “My List” link located to the right of the item search results. Click on the “Add to My List” link and a drop down menu will appear. Choose “Add to New List” to create a new list.
What Does Share This List Mean?
Lists can either be private, and only viewable by you; or public, and viewable by anyone who knows where the list resides. By default, all lists are private, and you must explicitly instruct the system to allow others to view the contents of a list. You can elect to share a list from the My Account area, My Lists section.
You can give the address of your list to anyone you want to share it with. In the My List section, hover-over the list name to display the address to that particular list. Clicking on the list will open that particular list and the address will be in the Internet address bar at the top of the page. Copy and paste the address in an email or other form of communication.

Map of Missouri Evergreen Libraries