How long can I use the internet with a library card?
Your library card gives you FREE access of up to 120 minutes per day. If you'd need additional access time you may purchase one or more Guest Passes.
What if I have a library card, but I forgot to bring it?
Please check with the Circulation Desk staff to look-up your account, the library staff will do this for free. Your picture identification is needed for each look-up.
Do I have to use all two hours at one sitting?
No. You can spread out the time throughout the day… 30 minutes in the morning, 40 minutes in the afternoon, 50 minutes in the evening. Whatever suits your schedule.
What is the charge for using the internet?
If you have an Arcadia Public Library card, there is no charge for using the Internet for up to 120 minutes per day. The Library charges $2.00 per Guest Pass which are also limited to 120 minutes per day. There is no limit to the number of Guest Passes you may purchase. All passes will be available at the Circulation Desk only.
What is the charge for printing?
The charge for printing is 15 cents per page for black & white printing and copies, 50 cents per page for color printing or copies.
Why is the Library charging for Guest Passes?
There are two primary reasons the Library Board of Trustees and the Arcadia City Council decided to charge for Guest Passes: first to help support the City’s Budget so we can continue to offer public computers and printers, as well as Internet access and word processing software; and second to reduce the excessive use of Guest Passes by some and therefore allow for more fair access to this service for all of the Library’s patrons.
Can I purchase more than one guest pass a day?
Yes, each pass is $2.00 and each has a limit of 120 minutes.
How long can I use the guest pass?
The pass is good for the day you purchase it. It allows for up to 120 minutes of public computer access per Guest Pass. Be advised: if purchased at the end of the day a full 120 minutes may not be available before closing.
Can I purchase guest passes for the next day?
No. They are only good for the day of the purchase.
Does the Library have laptops available for checkout?
Yes. The Library has a number of Chromebooks available for checkout to the public.
Chromebooks are are secure, easy-to-use laptops that work with resources on the Internet. A Google or Gmail account is required to use one.
Chromebooks are available for front-door pickup for a three day checkout.
Call the Library at 626-821-5571 to arrange to check out a Chromebook!
PC Reservation and LPT: One
The Library uses EnvisionWare products, PC Reservation and LPT:One, to help manage usage and printing for all the public Computers. This system offers "self-service scheduling" using your Library Card Number or a Guest Pass and secure printing. These solutions enable more equitable access to computers by the public and more efficient service to our customers by the Library Staff. Some things you should know about using the public stations with PCReservation:
- Customers may use their Library Card Number and PIN (usually the last 4 digits in their phone number) for FREE access to the public computers, or a temporary Guest Pass and PIN may be purchased for $2.00 at the Circulation Desk, to login at any open station on a first-come, first-served basis or to make a reservation for a specific type of station, area or time slot.
- Each Library Card and Guest Pass is limited to 120 minutes per day, with a maximum of 60 minutes per session and a minimum of 10 minutes per session.
- If all stations are in use or reserved and there is a waiting period, users may login for Short Sessions—when users leave a session before the hour is expired and a short time remains before the next reservation. If a patron has an existing reservation, logging into a "short session" will cancel that reservation.
- If a station becomes available before the time of the next reservation, the user with the next reservation may login up to 5 minutes early at that station.
- A user may trade an existing reservation at a later time if a station opens that doesn’t have a waiting list by just logging in at the open station.
- Concurrent reservations are not allowed, meaning a user may not make a reservation while they have an active session and starting an active session will cancel any existing reservations.
- There is a 5-minute grace period to login at the reserved station after the start of the reservation before it lapses and the station become available to others.
- Three “session ending” warnings—at 10, 3, and 1-minute before the session will end—are displayed on the screen and the time bar will flash.
- Users should “LOCK” an active session to prevent it from timing out when he/she needs to step away from the station for up to 10 minutes and unlock it by re-entering their PIN.
- A session will close automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity (no mouse or keyboard activity) and become available to other users.
- Click “DONE” before leaving station if session has not expired to close all windows, delete temporary files and prepare the station for next user.
- Only ONE person is allowed to use the mouse and keyboard, though in some special cases more than one person may sit at a single station to work on homework or projects together--at the discretion of the Computer Aide, Security Guard, or Library staff-- and as long as they do not disturb other users around them. Only one person is allowed to play games at a station.
- Users who don’t have an active session may not sit at a station nor can they occupy a station that another user has reserved.
- Click the “AGREE” button at the Internet Use Policy screen to proceed to the Library Home Page.
- Some things you should know about public printing with LPT:One:
- We have a black and white print queue--B&WPublic, which is $.15 per page, and a color print queue--ColorPublic, which is $.50 per page. Make sure to select the correct queue in the Print Dialog Box.
- We have two Public Print Stations. The one in the Copy Room will accept your Print Card or coins/bills for either the B&WPublic or the ColorPublic queues. The one in the Catalog Area will only accept coins/bills for the B&WPublic queue.
- There is a $5 limit for coins/bills on all payment devices. If your print or copy job costs more than the $5 limit you must use a Print Card. Ask a Computer Aide for assistance if using or adding money to a Print Card.
- Do not use a Print Card from another Library or an old Print Card from our previous printing software. These may jam in the readers and any value on them will be erased.
- If you discover you've sent your print job to the wrong queue, just resend it to the correct queue. Any print job that was sent in error will expire from the queue if not selected, paid for and sent to printer within two hours.
- It is recommended that any document created on any of the public stations be saved locally to that station's My Documents folder or to a USB storage device prior to printing just in case there is a printing problem and it must be resubmitted to the printer. It is also recommended that any Internet image to be inserted into a document or attached to an email be first saved locally to the station's My Documents folder or to a USB storage device. A Computer Aide will gladly delete the document if you request it to be deleted after it is printed or it will be deleted automatically after 24 hours.
- When you are asked to enter an ID for a document it is recommended to enter your PIN or your initials so that the ID is easily remembered, then enter that same ID at the Print Release Station.
Wireless Internet Access
Wireless Internet Access:
We offer free wireless Internet access in all areas of Library to our customers with 802.11b, 802.11g or better compatible wireless laptops, notebooks, or other wireless devices. Ask the Computer Aide for assistance if there are problems connecting to one of the 'libraryWIFI' wireless network access points. This WiFi network is not secured, there isn't a password or key, but you must click on the 'AGREE' button to acknowledge the Internet Users Agreement page before proceeding at least once every day. Access to the Internet through this WiFi network is unfiltered and unprotected so users are responsible for all risks and liabilities when using it. Library staff will not install or configure software or apps on any personal devices. Our WiFi network is part of the California CENIC project and the CALREN network.

Some of the technology services and resources available to the public are:
- Black & white copiers and a Color copier
- Microfiche/microfilm Station with Scanning and Printing Software (MICRO: 1) - in the Copy Room (please ask Computer Aide for assistance). Microfilm/microfiche viewing free; 15 cents per printed page. Print jobs are sent to Public Print Stations.
- Scanning and FAXing Station to scan documents (600 or 300 DPI) to USB, Mobile Device (requires QRCode Reader), Email, DropBox, Google Drive, or OneDrive for 5 cents per page or FAX for $1 per page.
- Unfiltered Internet stations (UNFILTERED: 3) - in the Tech Center (over 18 years)
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (TECH: 24) - in the Tech Center
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (KIDS: 4) - in the Children's Room
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (MIDS: 5) - in the Children's Room
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (EXPRESS: 4) - under the Catalog sign
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (TEEN: 6) - located in the Teen Center
- Filtered Internet/Microsoft Office stations (REMOTE: 3) - near Administration; near Teen Central, and near Study Room 3.
- Filtered Catalog & eResources Only stations (CATALOG: 4; REMOTE: 2; KIDS: 4) - located near the Catalog sign; in the Tech Center; in the Library Entry; and in the Children's Room (no general Internet access)
- Gates Learning Stations for Children (GATES: 4) - located in the Children's Room (also with MSOffice products, but no Internet access)
- Adaptive Technology Station for Patron's with hearing, vision, or mobility limitations with microphone, headphones, and scanner (TECHAT: 1) - located in Study Room 1, must be reserved at the Adult Information Desk (also used for our FREE Computer Tutoring)
- Public Print Stations (2) accessible by all stations for black and white printing, $.15/page, located near the Catalog sign (use Print Debit Card only) and in the Copier Room off the Tech Center (pay for print jobs at the print station).
- Public Print Station (1) accessible by all stations for color printing, $.50/page, located in the Copier Room (pay for print jobs at the print station)
- PCReservation Kiosks (1) to reserve any public computer, located near the Catalog Area.
- Black & White Copiers--15 cents per copied page; print card or coins accepted; located in Copier Room.
- Color Copier--50 cents per copied page; print card or coins accepted; located in Copier Room.
- Public Computer Printing--15 cents per black & white page, 50 cents per color page. Coins required for printer in Catalog Area, print card or coins accepted at printer in Copier Room.
All of the public stations at the Library, except the Catalog Only stations, have Windows 7 or 10 and Microsoft Office 2010. All of these computers allow reading and writing from a USB Drive. These stations also have CD access to allow reading files from a CD. Patrons must bring their own media for storing files. No applications may be installed on these stations, files must be able to be read or written using currently installed software. All of these stations are able to send print jobs to the Public Printers. The stations are audio enabled allowing the patrons to plug in their own headphones to play streaming media. These stations offer the following software applications:
- Microsoft Office 2010, including Word and Excel.
- Web browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox & Chrome (for Windows 7), Edge, Firefox & Chrome for Windows 10)
- Video Editor/Viewer: VLC Media Player
- Ease of Access applications to address hearing, vision, or mobility limitations: Magnifier, On-Screen Keyboard, and Narrator
Is Wi-Fi Service available in the Library's parking lot?
Yes! We have added Wi-Fi coverage to the north parking lot (which faces Duarte Road).
The network is called ArcadiaPL_WIFI, and there is no password.
If you are in the north parking lot, scanning this code should take you to our Wi-Fi network:
3D Printing Service
The Library’s new 3D printers (Lulzbot TAZ 6 and the Lulzbot Mini) are available to Arcadia Library cardholders to make three-dimensional plastic objects using a design that is uploaded from a digital computer file (in STL format) by a trained staff member or volunteer on a first come, first served basis. In our initial pilot project, printing will be free of charge. Restrictions: The Library reserves the right to refuse the production of any content at any time at the discretion of Library staff. Examples of objects that will not be produced include, but are not limited to:
- Objects that appear to be unprintable or which are beyond the capability of our TAZ 6 printer and available PLA filament
- Any object that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, tortuous, obscene, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable
- Objects that may be construed as having intent to harm or capability of harming an animal or person in any way
- Objects that may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of a third party
- Objects larger than 11 inches x 11 inches x 9.8 inches (280 mm x 280 mm x 250 mm)
By submitting objects for printing, the patron assumes all responsibility for, and shall hold the Library harmless in, all matters related to patented, trademarked, or copyrighted materials.
What is 3D printing?
3D Printing is the action or process of making a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many thin layers of a material in succession.
Has the Library prepared a helpful introductory guide to 3D printing?
Yes! It's posted here: 3D Printing LibGuide
What does 3D printing have to do with the Library?
Life-long learning and digital literacy are key parts of our mission.
What printers and filaments do you use?
We currently have one LulzBot Mini and one Lulzbot TAZ 6. The Taz 6 can print objects as large as 11 x 11 x 9.8 inches.
The filament we offer is plant-based, recyclable PLA plastic (#7). PLA does not contain BPA and no safety concerns have been raised about using it with food. PLA is not heat resistant.
What colors are available?
A selction is usually available. Ask about availability-- supplies are limited.
Can I print my own 3D object on a library printer?
Currently, only trained library staff can handle the 3D printer, as certain parts become very hot during the printing process.
Can I watch my object being printed?
Not at the present time. Print jobs usually take hours to complete.
Can someone help me with design?
We will be offering classes and programs to help teach 3D design skills during the summer. Programs will be announced soon.
We are also preparing a guide to some of the many online resources available to learn about 3D design and 3D printing.
Can someone help me with design?
We occasionally offer classes and programs to help teach 3D design skills. Check for program availability.
We have also prepared a handy guide to to some of the many online resources available to learn about 3D design and 3D printing.
What does it cost?
3D Printing is free during our initial pilot program.
When will I get my 3D printed item?
Printing times will vary based on size, complexity, and any demand.
How do I start?
Bring your Arcadia Library card, a completed 3D print request form and your design (in STL format) on a USB drive to one of the Library's Tech Aides. We'll take it from there!
Ask one of the Tech Aides at the Library's Computer Desk for details, or email questions to ArcadiaPLCMS@gmail.com.
3D Printing Service Flyer
3D Printing Request Form