Polk City Library’s passport acceptance program draws steady demand and provides modest revenue

Polk City Library is operating as a passport acceptance facility, a service the library reported launching in January 2021 after applying in February 2020. Jamie, a librarian at Polk City Library, said the library verifies applicants' identities, accepts the forms provided by the U.S. Department of State and helps reduce travel and scheduling barriers for local residents.

The program matters because the Department of State lists library facilities as useful passport-acceptance sites for their hours and public access. "A U.S. passport is the most sought off sought after black market document in the world. So you want to make sure that they are who they say they are," Jamie said, describing the Department of State's emphasis on identity verification.

Polk City charges the Department of State’s required execution fee of $35 (collected by the library) plus an optional $15 fee for an in-house photo service. Jamie said the $35 execution fee is retained by the library; after mail and photocopy expenses and required priority mailing, the library estimates roughly $25 net per processed application. The library also handles money collection logistics differently depending on city policy: Venmo and similar payments have been routed through the Friends of the Library because the city initially restricted using Venmo on municipal accounts.

The service expanded beyond early expectations. Jamie said initial volume projections were about 50 applications per year, but demand reached roughly 50 appointments per month at peak; the library curtailed scheduling and currently limits appointments to certain days and no more than five to seven slots per day to preserve staff priorities. The library offers evening and weekend appointments, which contributes to higher usage compared with facilities restricted to weekday business hours.

Operational lessons Jamie highlighted: control the schedule to avoid letting passport work overwhelm library functions; require checks or money orders for the Department of State portion because the federal payment cannot be made by card at the facility; and use an appointment system to manage volume. The library uses an online booking tool and paid scheduling service to let applicants make appointments and keeps physical forms available for patrons who need them.

Jamie said the program brings people into the library, increases visibility of other library services and has become a modest revenue stream for the city general fund (fees are currently remitted to the city). The library also reports receiving site visits and training from the Department of State.

The library’s passport service is ongoing; staff advise other libraries to plan scheduling, payment handling and staff time allocation before launching similar programs.