Ten free library membership card templates in Microsoft Word, for school, community, church, workplace and home libraries. These are borrower cards — the card a member carries and presents when they take a book out.
- Designs10 layouts
- FormatMicrosoft Word
- Opens inWord, Google Docs, LibreOffice
- CostFree, no signup
Three different cards get called “library cards”
Worth a moment, because searching for one and finding another is a common frustration.
| Card | What it is |
|---|---|
| Membership or borrower card this page |
Issued to a person. Carries their name, a membership number, and the library’s details. This is what a member keeps in their wallet. |
| Catalogue card | Describes a book — author, title, edition, publisher, ISBN — and lived in the drawers of a card catalogue. Largely replaced by catalogue software, though some small libraries still keep them. |
| Book card or date-due slip | Lives in a pocket inside the book and records who has it and when it is due back. Still useful in libraries that issue books by hand. |
The templates
Ten membership card designs, from plain layouts for a small collection to cards with space for a photo and a barcode.
What goes on a membership card
- The library’s name, and a logo or crest if you have one.
- The member’s full name, as recorded in your register.
- A membership number. The most important item on the card — see below.
- A barcode, if you issue books using scanning software.
- Issue date, and an expiry date if membership is renewed. An expiry date is what prompts you to check details are current.
- Member category where you have them — adult, child, student, staff — since borrowing limits often differ.
- Contact details for the library, including opening hours if there is room.
- A photo, for school or staff libraries where identification matters. Not usually needed for a small community collection.
- A line on the reverse: a signature strip, and a short note asking that a found card be returned to the library.
The number is what matters, not the card
Like any membership document, the card is evidence rather than the record. The actual record is your register — the list, spreadsheet or catalogue system holding who is a member, what they have borrowed and what is overdue.
- Number members sequentially and never reuse a number. Reused numbers are what make a borrowing history ambiguous years later.
- Record the number in your register first, then print the card from it.
- A lost card is not a lost membership. Issue a replacement against the same record. Whether you keep the old number or issue a new one is your choice — just be consistent and note it.
- Keep the register separate from the cards. If the cards are the only record, losing them loses the library’s memory.
Our address list templates work well as a simple member register if you do not have library software.
Size, printing and durability
- Use standard card size if you want it to fit a wallet. The usual standard is 85.6 by 54 mm, or 3.375 by 2.125 inches — the same dimensions as a bank card. Cards made to an arbitrary size get bent and lost.
- Fit several to a sheet. Most of these designs print eight or ten to a page. Use Multiple Pages Per Sheet in the print dialog, or copy the design across the page, then trim.
- Print on card, then laminate. Around 250 gsm plus a laminating pouch gives something that survives a school bag for a year. Self-laminating pouches work without a machine.
- Cut with a guillotine, or use pre-perforated business card sheets, which give clean edges without cutting at all.
- Leave the signature strip unlaminated, or sign before laminating — ink does not take on a laminated surface.
If you are scanning barcodes
If your library uses software to issue books, the barcode on the card has to match the member number in that system exactly. Generate the barcode from your library software where it offers that, since it will use the symbology the software expects. Where it does not, a barcode generator or barcode font can produce one from the member number.
Print one card and scan it before producing a set. Barcodes that are too small, printed at low quality, or laminated with a glossy finish that reflects the scanner light are the three usual reasons a card will not read.
A note on member records. A membership register holds personal data, and often children’s data in a school or community library. Data protection rules in your country may apply to how you store it, who can see it and how long you keep it. Keep the register somewhere access-controlled rather than on a shared desktop, and remove records you no longer need.
Common questions
Do I need Microsoft Word?
No. Upload the file to Google Docs or open it in LibreOffice. Check the card dimensions after opening, as small layouts can shift slightly between applications.
How do I print a card for every member at once?
Use Word’s mail merge with your member register in Excel. Insert the name and membership number as merge fields, and Word produces one card per member. The same method covers a whole class or school.
Should children’s cards show their address?
No. Name and membership number are enough on the card itself. Keep contact details in the register, where access can be controlled.
Can I add our school or church logo?
Yes. Right-click a placeholder image and choose Change Picture, or insert your own and set Wrap Text to In Front Of Text so the layout holds.
Do I need an expiry date?
Not necessarily, but it is useful. An expiry prompts a periodic check that contact details are current and that the member is still active, which keeps the register clean.
Can I use these commercially?
Yes, including for a school, institution or subscription library. You may not resell or redistribute the template files themselves. See our Terms of Use.
