It's free and easy to become a member of Wollongong City Libraries
One membership. Seven libraries. Over half a million items.
Who can join?
Membership is available free to everyone - you're never too young or too old to join.
To apply online, you need to be 16 or over and live in the Wollongong LGA. Otherwise, you can become a member in person any of our seven locations (bring some ID if you can).
Organisations in the area can also apply for membership. Please contact us to find out more.
Membership benefits
With your Wollongong City Libraries membership, you can:
- Borrow up to 50 items from our huge catalogue at any one time
- Pick up and return items to any of our seven locations
- Reserve items online or via the Wollongong City Libraries app for quick and easy pick-up
- Suggest a new title
- Access thousands of digital library resources including eBooks and audiobooks
- Enjoy free film, TV and music streaming
- Reserve spaces and tech.
Best of all? We have no late fees. (But please note that if you have overdue items, you won't be able to borrow until they are returned.)
Need more reasons to join? We've got plenty.
Frequently asked questions
We have a growing digital collection that you can accesss with your membership card! This includes
- eBooks
- eAudiobooks
- eMagazines
- Movies, TV shows, and music
- Stories and ebooks for kids
You can also download full text articles from a broad range of research resources, access free online courses, study help and more.
We highly recommend that you download the Wollongong City Libraries app from our app store, which makes it easy to browse and borrow from our digital collections. You can also check out our Digital Library resources for more information and to get started.
Most items in our collection can be borrowed for four weeks. Unless someone has a reserve on the item, you can also renew your loan and hold on to it for longer.
You can renew items:
- On the Wollongong City Libraries app.
- Online by logging into your account
- In person at your library
- Over the phone on (02) 4227 7414 during business hours.
You can renew items up to three times, as long as nobody else has reserved them.
Some items including Fast Backs, HSC Resources, eBooks and eAudiobooks may a shorter loan period.
If an item you want to borrow isn't available right now, you can reserve it for free. We'll let you know when it's available and put it on the reserve shelf for you to pick up from your chosen library.
You can reserve items online by logging into the catalogue, or talk to library staff and we can reserve it for you.
Loads of people love the convenience of the Wollongong City Libraries app, which allows you to browse and reserve items with just a tap, and you'll get a notification when it's ready to pick up. The app can be downloaded from your app store. Just enter your library card number and password and you have the library at your fingertips.
You can reserve up to 40 items at any time.
If an item you've borrowed is lost or damaged, you may need to pay a fee so we can replace it. See our fees and charges page for details.
You can pay at any of our library locations.
We don't charge fees for overdue items, however, you won't be able to borrow, print, reserve a space or use computers at our libraries until the overdue item is returned or the lost item fee is paid.
Don’t panic! You can continue to borrow from our libraries by showing your ID at the service counter.
We can also get you a new one. A small fee applies for replacement cards.
If you prefer, you can go completely card-free. The Wollongong City Libraries app gives you digital access to your library card, so you never have to worry about losing it again. You can use the app just like you would use your card to check-out items by scanning the barcode. You can even add your card to your Googe or Apple wallet for added convenience.