Digital Library Services

When libraries closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, our ebook provider, OverDrive, offered a temporary Instant Digital Card. We agreed to make the IDC available so that people in Toronto could still borrow ebooks and audiobooks even if they didn’t have a library card. Now, those temporary cards are expiring. They’ll stop working on September 30th, 2021.

The good news is, you can now sign up for a permanent library card that gives you access to more of our collections! You have two options: a full-service library card, and a Digital Access Card.

Full-service library card

This card gives you access to everything the library has to offer, including:

• print books
• DVDs
• magazines
• ebooks and audiobooks
• databases
• digital video services like Kanopy and Hoopla
• digital music services like Naxos Music Library
• eLearning resources like LinkedIn Learning and O’Reilly Learning

and much more.

To get a full-service library card, you have to go in to a library branch, in person, with a piece of address I.D.

Find out more: tpl.ca/card

Digital Access Card

This is not a physical card. Digital Access Card customers will be emailed a barcode number and PIN that you can use to access all of the library’s digital collections and services, including:

• ebooks and audiobooks
• databases
• digital video services like Kanopy and Hoopla
• digital music services like Naxos Music Library
• eLearning resources like LinkedIn Learning and O’Reilly Learning

and much more.

You don’t need to go into a library branch in person to get a Digital Access Card. You can register online, but you must be 13 years of age or older, and you must live in Toronto.

Find out more: tpl.ca/digitalcard

Your new account

Whichever type of card you choose, you’re probably wondering whether your holds, saved items and borrowing history will carry over from your temporary card to your permanent one. And unfortunately, they won’t. When you get your new library card, whether it’s full-service or digital-only, you’ll have to place your holds again from scratch. We wish we could transfer your account history for you, but technical limitations make that impossible. 

On the plus side, once you’ve got your permanent library card, you won’t have to transfer your holds again! And you’ll have access to so much more of what the library has to offer. 

Questions? Contact Answerline at 416-397-5981, or email answerline@tpl.ca. 

Edit: Updated card expiry date to Sept. 30