US Passport Applications: State Department Bans 1,400 Libraries From Processing Passports — These Rural Americans Are Now Stranded

If you live in rural Pennsylvania and need a passport, your options just got worse.

The State Department has banned roughly 1,400 nonprofit libraries across the United States from processing passport applications. The ban took effect on 13 February 2026, and the fallout is hitting some regions far harder than others.

Why Northeastern States Got the Worst of It

Here's what the State Department didn't advertise: nonprofit libraries aren't spread evenly across America. They're concentrated in specific states — and those states just lost most of their passport access points.

According to American Library Association data cited in a bipartisan congressional letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nonprofit libraries account for 85% of public libraries in Pennsylvania. In Maine, the figure is 56%. Rhode Island sits at 54%, New York at 47%, and Connecticut at 46%.

That's not a minor inconvenience. For families without cars or flexible work hours, it's a barrier.

'We Still Get Calls Daily'

Cathleen Special runs the Otis Library in Norwich, Connecticut. Her library processed passports for 18 years before receiving a cease-and-desist letter last November.

'We still get calls daily seeking that service,' Special told the Associated Press. 'Our community was so used to us offering this.'

The local post office down the street now handles all passport requests. But that same post office used to send people to the library when applicants needed evening hours or had kids who couldn't sit still during paperwork. Special said she doesn't know how the post office is keeping up.

One County, One Courthouse

In Perry County, Pennsylvania, the situation is even more stark.

The Marysville-Rye Library was one of just two passport facilities serving 556 square miles. Now it's gone. That leaves a single courthouse — with limited hours and no weekend availability — as the only option for the entire county.

The congressional letter put it bluntly: residents will now 'travel long distances, take unpaid time off work, or forgo access altogether.'

Timing Couldn't Be Worse

Passport demand has surged since Real ID requirements kicked in last May. Americans who haven't upgraded their driver's licences now face a $45 (£33) fee at TSA checkpoints — or they can just use a passport instead.

Many chose the passport route. And many of those people went to their local library to apply.

The State Department says 99% of Americans live within 20 miles of a passport facility. That sounds reassuring until you're a single parent working two jobs with no car and a child who needs travel documents for a custody arrangement.

The State Department's Argument

Officials claim federal law 'clearly prohibits non-governmental organisations' from collecting passport fees. They cite 22 U.S.C. 214(a)(1) as the legal basis.

But here's the problem: these same libraries operated for decades with State Department approval. They were reviewed, certified, and recertified. Nobody raised concerns until late 2025.

Representative Madeleine Dean, a Pennsylvania Democrat who learned about the ban from a library in her district, called the legal reasoning 'nonsense'.

She's now working with Republican Representative John Joyce on bipartisan legislation — H.R. 6997 in the House and S. 3733 in the Senate — that would amend the Passport Act of 1920 to explicitly allow nonprofit libraries to continue processing applications.

Libraries May Not Survive This

The financial damage goes beyond lost convenience. For some libraries, passport fees made up as much as 67% of their operating budgets. That money paid for staff salaries, children's programmes, and basic operations.

Brooklyn Public Library alone has processed more than 300,000 passports over the years. Multiply that across 1,400 affected locations, and the scale becomes clear.

Without those fees, layoffs are coming. Some libraries may close entirely.

The State Department has promised to 'work to identify new eligible program partners' in affected areas. Whether that happens before more families miss flights, job interviews, or custody hearings remains an open question.

For now, rural Americans are left waiting — and driving.