The Irving school district says it is concerned about a decision to charge nonresidents for library cards because of its high number of students who live outside the city limits.
The city's $40 annual fee is modest when compared to Dallas' $250 fee and Fort Worth's $100 fee.
But the Irving Independent School District said that the majority of its students who live in other cities can't afford it.
"Some of those families are the ones that are the most economically challenged, and we have over 900 kids that live outside of the city of Irving that attend our schools and are in our attendance area," Irving ISD spokesman Billy Rudolph said.
The city will charge nonresidents a $10 fee to use library computers.
Sharon Barbosa, a member of the Irving Public Library Board, said the board approved the fee to help defray costs but didn't foresee the consequences.
"I can't believe all of us just simply overlooked the fact that we had a number of students who go to school in the Irving Independent School District and yet they live in the cities of Grand Prairie and Dallas," she said.
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Rudolph said that every Irving ISD student has an ID badge and hopes the city can make exceptions for its students who live outside of Irving.
"Some of these kids live in a place where they get bused to school," he said. "They get bused home. Sometimes, they may take a field trip to the library. Sometimes, their class might go to the public library. And they won't be able to check out books if the rest of the students that have library cards with no charge are able to."
