Can You Borrow a Laptop From the Library? Take-Home and In-Library Rules

Laptop and Chromebook loans by library

These are the programs we confirmed on each library's own page. Eight systems lend a laptop or Chromebook to take home, and six lend one for use inside the building; Miami-Dade and San Diego do both.

From each library's own page, read September 28, 2026 (Chicago, New York and Boston from Internet Archive copies made in May to September 2026). Not stated means the page we read gives no age or eligibility rule.

Taking a laptop home: how it works

Take-home programs work much like a hold on a popular book, with a few extra rules.

• Reserve first. Detroit takes holds in person or by phone and tells you when the device is ready. Miami-Dade allows one hold per account and gives you seven business days to pick up. Fairfax and Long Beach take holds through the catalog, and Long Beach also by phone.
• Kits often include internet. Fairfax's Connect Kit pairs a Chromebook with a hotspot, Long Beach lends a Chromebook, a MiFi hotspot or both, and Detroit and Miami-Dade lend hotspots alongside Chromebooks. For hotspot-only loans, see our guide to library Wi-Fi hotspots.
• One at a time. Detroit, Fairfax, Kansas City, Pratt, San Diego and Miami-Dade let you borrow one laptop or Chromebook at a time.
• Age and residency. Long Beach and Fairfax set 18 as the minimum age, Detroit asks for an adult card, and Enoch Pratt Free Library lends Chromebooks to anyone 13 or older. Detroit lends only to residents of Detroit or Highland Park, and Fairfax to county residents and reciprocal card holders. Miami-Dade verifies the address of eCard holders before a device goes out.
• Need-based kits. Boston's Chromebook kits are for adults who lack the equipment or services they need for their education, and borrowing one confirms that.
• Hand it to a person. Fairfax, Long Beach and Boston say not to use the book drop, and San Diego wants Chromebooks returned in person to a staff member. Fairfax wants the kit back at the branch you borrowed it from, and Long Beach suspends Tech To-Go borrowing for book drop returns.

Laptops you use inside the library

If you only need a computer for an hour or two, in-building loans are quicker. LA County Library's Laptop Express lends a Chromebook for up to 2 hours at participating locations, first-come, first-served, to adult cardholders in good standing. Seattle's FlexTech laptops, at some branches, go out for two hours at a time. Chicago Public Library lends laptops in one-hour sessions, up to two a day, and asks for your library card plus a government-issued or student ID. The New York Public Library lists wireless laptops for 45 minutes, in-library only.

Miami-Dade's in-library laptops last all day, but they shut down 30 minutes before the branch closes and must be back before closing. San Diego lends portable electronics in-house for 2 hours. None of these can leave the building, and Chicago says taking one out will be considered theft.

Late returns, fees and your files

Late laptops get switched off. Detroit makes an automated reminder call 3 days before the due date, and after it the laptop reboots and stops working. Fairfax deactivates the Chromebook and hotspot, Boston disables the Chromebook and puts a block on your card, and Long Beach may deactivate an overdue device.

Replacement costs are real money. Fairfax lists $600 for a Chromebook, $90 for a hotspot and $30 for the bag, plus a $1 a day late fee. Boston lists $300 for a Chromebook including parts, and Enoch Pratt Free Library $186 for a lost or damaged Chromebook with all pieces and the processing fee. Kansas City treats a Chromebook to Go kit as lost at 3 days overdue and bills the replacement cost, then removes the charge if the kit comes back. Long Beach bills the full replacement cost at 21 days overdue.

Your files do not stay. Fairfax sets up its Chromebooks with a Managed Guest Profile that deletes the websites you visited when a session ends, and warns that documents and history are removed when the Chromebook sleeps, restarts or shuts down. Chicago's laptops cannot save documents at all, so save to a flash drive or email files to yourself.

For more on computer time at the library, see our guides to library computer access and free computer classes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Every rule, fee and figure on this page comes from the official page listed here. We read each one on September 28, 2026. The Chicago, New York Public Library and Boston sites block automated readers, so we read those pages from Internet Archive copies made on August 13, September 16 and May 19, 2026.

• LA County Library: laptop lending: https://lacountylibrary.org/laptop-express/
• The Seattle Public Library: laptop lending: https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/reservations-and-requests/flextech-laptops-and-tablet-readers
• Chicago Public Library: laptop lending (Internet Archive copy, August 2026): https://www.chipublib.org/library-laptop-use-guidelines/
• The New York Public Library: laptop lending (Internet Archive copy, September 2026): https://www.nypl.org/help/services/borrowing-materials
• Miami-Dade Public Library System: laptop lending: https://mdpls.org/mobile-device
• Detroit Public Library: laptop lending: https://detroitpubliclibrary.org/service/laptops-to-go
• Fairfax County Public Library: laptop lending: https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/library-technology/chromebooks
• Long Beach Public Library: laptop lending: https://www.longbeach.gov/library/borrow/tech-to-go/
• Kansas City Public Library: laptop lending: https://kclibrary.org/services/borrowing
• Enoch Pratt Free Library: laptop lending: https://www.prattlibrary.org/library-cards/limits
• San Diego Public Library (city): laptop lending: https://www.sandiego.gov/public-library/services/lending
• Boston Public Library: laptop lending (Internet Archive copy, May 2026): https://www.bpl.org/chromebook/
• Miami-Dade Public Library System: Borrowing: https://mdpls.org/borrowing
• Miami-Dade Public Library System: Computers, Internet, Printing and Photocopying: https://mdpls.org/computers