Homeschool benefits and savings in Maricopa
Maricopa Library and Cultural Center (MLCC) gives Arizona homeschool instructors a free Teacher account, separate from their personal card, for borrowing books, audiobooks, CDs, magazines, and preschool and sensory backpacks. Show your Acknowledgement of Intent to Homeschool to open it; library accounts can borrow up to 50 items for 14 days once the first 5 are returned.
Who qualifies
Is a homeschool instructor
MLCC opens a Teacher account for a patron who shows an Acknowledgement of Intent to Homeschool from the State of Arizona, or a current school employee ID.
Lives in Maricopa or Pinal County
Library cards are free to legal residents of the City of Maricopa and Pinal County. Anyone else pays $25 a year.
Brings photo ID with address
Bring a photo ID showing your current physical address. If it does not, add a second document such as a lease, vehicle registration, or utility bill; a post office box is not accepted.
Owes less than $10
Borrowing stops when an account owes $10 or more, and overdue items or missing parts also block new checkouts.
What the account gives you
The limits come from MLCC's circulation policy, which sets borrowing limits and loan periods for all library accounts.
- Items on the first checkout
- 5
- Items out after the first return
- 50
- Loan period for books and audiobooks
- 14 days
- Automatic renewals
- 3
- Overdue fee on books
- $0.10 a day
- Most overdue fees per item
- $5
The policy does not give the Teacher account its own item limit, so ask the circulation desk whether the 50-item limit is shared with your personal card.
How to get the account
- Before you go
Gather your papers
Bring your Acknowledgement of Intent to Homeschool and a photo ID with your current address, or a second document that shows it.
- At the library
Open the Teacher account
Ask at 18160 N. Maya Angelou Drive, Maricopa. You can keep both a personal account and a Teacher account.
- First visit
Start with 5 items
New cards can check out 5 items the first time; after you return them, you can borrow up to 50.
- Each checkout
Return or renew
Most items renew automatically three times unless someone else has requested them. Backpacks cannot be renewed.
- After one year
Renew in person
Resident cards expire one year after they are issued and every two years after that, and must be renewed in person.
What it includes
Included
- Books and audiobooks
- Wonderbooks and Playaways/Whazoodles
- Preschool and sensory backpacks
- CDs and magazines
Not included
- DVDs, except nonfiction DVDs when you have no personal account
- Video games and Launchpads
- Board games and STEM Kits
- Culture passes
Items the Teacher account cannot borrow, such as DVDs, STEM Kits, and Culture Passes, go on your personal MLCC card.
Who to contact about the account
The MLCC circulation desk opens library accounts and answers questions about borrowing limits and holds.
library@maricopa-az.gov 520-568-2926 Circulation policy
Homeschool rules and statewide help in Arizona
Within 30 days of starting, file an affidavit of intent and a certified birth certificate or other authorized ID with the county superintendent. The ID rule exempts homeless pupils. Within 30 days, notify the superintendent if you stop or file a new affidavit if you resume.
Arizona sets these rules:
- Subjects: Reading, grammar, math, social studies, and science required.
- Testing: Arizona does not require standardized testing for homeschoolers.
- Records: Arizona does not prescribe routine academic portfolios or attendance reports; required identity documentation is filed with the county superintendent.
- Teachers: Arizona does not require a teaching certificate or degree to homeschool your own child.
Arizona also has an education savings account that home-educated students can use.
- The Empowerment Scholarship Account pays about 90% of the state funding your child's district or charter school would have received, for curriculum, tutoring, and other approved expenses. Using it is a separate path from homeschooling under state law.
- TheHomeschoolingCompany is an approved vendor for it.
Read the Arizona homeschooling guide See statewide programs in Arizona
Questions parents ask
- Do I lose my personal card with an MLCC Teacher account?
- No. A patron may have both a personal library account and a Teacher library account.
- Can I borrow an MLCC STEM Kit for a science unit?
- Not on the Teacher account. A personal MLCC account can borrow one STEM Kit per household for 14 days, and it cannot be renewed.
- We live outside Pinal County. Can we still borrow?
- Yes, for $25 a year. Non-resident cards expire after one year and must be renewed at the current non-resident fee.
- What does a lost book cost?
- You pay the item's replacement cost plus a $2.00 labeling charge.
Turn support into your child’s next lesson
Books and library resources give your child something to explore. We turn their interests into coursework, so library discoveries can lead to deeper study at home. We are an approved Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) vendor, so your ClassWallet balance can pay for it.
$149/month per child after the trial.
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