Soon after the Heggan library signed up for LOGIN, so did the remainder of the county's municipal libraries -- in Monroe, Pitman and Paulsboro -- which were not part of LOGIN, said Bob Wetherall, director of the county library system.

"What you have now, essentially, is a countywide library card," Wetherall said.

LOGIN stands for Libraries of Gloucester/Salem Information Network. It is operated by SirsiDynix, a nonprofit in Huntsville, Ala., and its local members include the county library system and the Gloucester County College Library, library officials said.

The system offers wider and easier access to the catalogs of area libraries than the LOTS system, which Heggan is replacing.

From home, county residents will be able to search the catalogs of all freestanding libraries in the county as well as others. Once all the libraries are integrated with LOGIN, all library cardholders will have full privileges at each one, Wetherall said.

The Heggan library on East Holly Avenue joins the LOGIN system at a cost of about $19,000, which includes an annual fee of about $9,000, Snyder said.

The initial cost to join, about $10,000 for the Heggan library, varies from library to library and usually depends on how many book titles must be entered into the LOGIN system, library officials said.

Although they are all affiliated now through LOGIN, Heggan and all of the library systems remain independent of one another, officials said.

LOGIN breaks through an information barrier for township residents who can't borrow materials from the county system, which Washington Township withdrew from almost two decades ago. Homeowners in member communities of the county system had paid a separate county library tax.

"Now, instead of making a commitment to collect the (county library) tax or to be a branch or an association library, if you're willing to make a commitment to the joint (LOGIN) catalog, that's what opens the doors for you," said Nancy Polhamus, public information director of the county system.

Once it's up and running, Heggan's cardholders will have borrowing, reservation, hold and ordering privileges for all the county library branches -- in Glassboro, Greenwich, Logan, Mullica Hill and Swedesboro -- as well as all other municipally based libraries in the county as their catalogs are added to the LOGIN system.

Additionally, Heggan cardholders will have privileges at Gloucester County College and the Gloucester County Institute of Technology.

Reach Mike Franolich at (856) 486-2467 or mfranolich@camden.gannett.com