Nonprofit public libraries have to stop offering U.S. passport services on Friday, Feb. 13.
That decision was recently handed down by the Department of State, which has opted all of a sudden to enforce a "long-forgotten 1920 statute that 'federal law does not explicitly allow public libraries that are nonprofits to collect and retain execution fees for processing passport applications,'" reports the Hartford Courant.
Libraries across the country received notification of the change in an email sent by the State Department in November. Many of those institutions have been accepting passport applications without incident for years.
In addition to the budgetary hit local libraries will sustain from the loss of passport application fee revenue, the move will make getting a passport significantly more difficult for a large chunk of Americans.
A first-time passport application must be carried out in person, and in some small cities and rural communities public libraries are the only option in town.
In Pennsylvania, for example, "the Lancaster Public Library is the only available place for processing here in Lancaster City," the library's executive director, Lissa Holland, told local news reporters with WGAL. "So we are used quite a lot."
What's more, libraries usually have shorter lines and more convenient hours for working people than other passport acceptance facilities such as post offices.
"We are open evenings and weekends," points out Alice Knapp, president of the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Connecticut, to the Hartford Courant. "So if you work during the day and can’t take time off during the week, we offered extended hours over post offices.”
Not to mention that if you have a kid in tow, a public library is quite a bit more family-friendly—keeping youngsters entertained with books and games while you wait, say—than most post offices, many of which can't be described as anyone-friendly.
And another consideration: If the SAVE Act being debated by Congress becomes law, Americans will have to show "proof of United States citizenship" in order to vote.
One of the few accepted documents proving that status is a U.S. passport. So it stands to reason that the law could trigger a surge in passport applications—at the same time as the new library restriction makes getting a passport harder to do.
Bipartisan push to extend passport services at libraries
This week, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, led by Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to delay implementing the rule change until the end of the year.
“In a time when demand for passports is surging, libraries are among the most accessible passport acceptance facilities, particularly for working families and rural residents,” the members of Congress wrote. “This abrupt determination, issued with little notice or explanation, has placed libraries, their employees, and the communities they serve in an untenable position through no fault of their own.”
Extending the deadline past Feb. 13 to the end of 2026 would give libraries time to "adequately prepare for change," the lawmakers argue.
And in the meanwhile, legislators could work on passing Fetterman's Community Passport Services Access Act, which would amend that 126-year-old statute to "authorize certain public libraries to collect and retain a fee for the execution of a passport application."
So far, the White House hasn't responded to requests to extend its deadline temporarily—but the permanent solution Fetterman has proposed could still move forward.
As Knapp of Stamford's Ferguson Library told the Hartford Courant, "I think my message is go to your Congressman and phone them up and tell them you want to see this changed. ... I think the more people speak out about this, the greater chance that something will be done.”
You can find contact info for your senators and representatives at Congress.gov.