San Tan Valley residents who sign up for a free library card this month will count toward a Pinal County Library District goal of reaching 100,000 registered users by the end of the year.

The district is marking September as Library Card Sign-up Month, and the San Tan Valley Library on Schnepf Road is one of its branches. A card is free to any Pinal County resident, and the San Tan Valley area sits inside Pinal County, so residents of both the incorporated town and the unincorporated portion qualify.

The district is tracking the run at 100,000 in two ways. One is a social media campaign with county departments, running through September. The other is a bucket. For every registered library card user, the district adds one water bead to it. If the count reaches 100,000 by the end of the year, the bucket goes over the library director's head.

What the Card Actually Gets You

A library card covers more than borrowing books. Through the district, it also opens:

• Passes to Arizona museums, parks and other institutions, a day trip can be arranged through the library rather than at the ticket window.

• Audiobooks and ebooks, these check out from home, so a title is available without a drive to the branch.

• Car repair manuals, reading the correct procedure first is what makes a repair at home possible instead of a guess.

• Resume building tools, the resume is the document that decides whether an application gets a call back, and the help costs nothing.

• Practice tests, for the SAT and ACT, citizenship, and vocational exams, a way to work through the material before test day.

• Resources for hobbies and interests, gardening, Dungeons & Dragons, or something new, a person can try an interest through the library before spending money on it.

• Language learning tools, a way to start a new language without buying a course.

• Free classes, job resources and homework help, these are the services a resident might otherwise pay for or go without.

• Programs and events for all ages, story times, book clubs, job search support and tech help happen at the branch, which puts a person in a room with neighbors and staff rather than alone with a screen.

Why September

Library Card Sign-up Month is an initiative of the American Library Association and has been held each September since 1987. It was set at the start of the school year to encourage sign-ups and to fight illiteracy. Thousands of public libraries and schools take part each fall.

This year's theme is "A Library Card Hits All the Right Notes." The district's point with it is that the collection is not aimed at one kind of user: a card serves a student, a job seeker, a hobbyist and a reader equally.

How to Sign Up

There are two kinds of card, and they are not two ways to get the same one.

A virtual card is free and can be applied for entirely online. The barcode arrives by email within two business days. It opens the digital collection and an online account, but it cannot be used to check out physical books or DVDs.

A full card has to be started in person at a branch. Bring a valid photo ID and a document showing a current mailing address.

The San Tan Valley Library is at 31505 N. Schnepf Road. Hours, both card types and the full list of branches a card opens are on our San Tan Valley Library resource page.