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1.13. Reserved Barcode Ranges

Last Updated 06/16/2026

Reserved Active Patron Barcode Ranges

This is a list of the ranges of barcodes in use by Cardinal libraries. Over time we've worked to get everyone into their own 14 digit barcode range reserved just for their system. We reserve the shorter numeric barcodes for Student Access accounts because these accounts use their Student IDs for barcodes, and Student IDs are all over the place.  

If you have cards you're actively issuing in other ranges not mentioned here, please reach out to the Cardinal team. If you need to buy new patron cards or need to reserve a new barcode range, we need to coordinate that so that we can reserve a range that isn't already in use. (We also try to keep track of non-Cardinal libraries so that if any of them join, they don't have to rebarcode all their patrons.)

Some libraries have institutional or staff accounts that have short text barcodes to easily pull up the accounts, like 'STORYTIME', 'ILL', or that sort of thing. If you want to make use of these non-numeric barcodes as shortcuts, please add your system's Non-Patron Prefix to the beginning of the barcode. 

Reserved Active Item Barcode Ranges

If you have item barcodes you're actively issuing in other ranges not mentioned here, please reach out to the Cardinal team. If you need a new barcode range for purchasing barcodes, we need to coordinate that so that we can reserve a range that isn't already in use. (We also try to keep track of non-Cardinal libraries so that if any of them join, they don't have to rebarcode all their items.)

Acquisitions Prefixes are the prefixes systems use for dummy item barcodes before the item is shelf ready.