Digital Inclusion Week is an annual campaign run by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) that promotes digital equity. It also raises awareness of barriers to digital inclusion, including access and accessibility, and offers solutions to address them.

Toronto Public Library (TPL) supports digital equity through a variety of free services and programs that are available to all Torontonians. 

Digital Inclusion Week programs

Take part in Digital Inclusion Week free programs about artificial intelligence, digital privacy, digital content creation, publishing and more.

Unable to attend a program? Check out these new titles in computer and technology.

Wi-Fi Hotspots

Man stands in front of a row of books holding a borrowable Wi-Fi Hotspot

TPL has been doing a tremendous work connecting Torontonians to the Internet for school, work and everyday life. Internet connectivity plays an essential role in career and personal development in our continuously advancing digital world. To support Toronto’s digital inclusion efforts, we continuously provide 1,000 Wi-Fi Hotspot devices through our Wi-Fi Hotspot Lending program. Individuals and families who do not have internet access at home can borrow one of 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspot devices equipped with an unlimited monthly data plan for up to six months. Wi-Fi hotspots are available to borrow at thirty participating branches with a valid library card.

Wireless Internet Access

The Information Commons on the first floor of Toronto Reference Library, which features public workstations that connect to free wireless internet.

Toronto Public Library provides free wireless internet access at all branches. Public is welcome to access internet using public workstations or personal devices. All public workstations are equipped with Microsoft Office software and can be reserved up to three days in advance.

Learning Centres

Toronto Reference Library Learning Centre one

Learning Centres are equipped with high-performance hardware and photo, video, audio, and graphic design software, and offer free in-person computer classes — no library card required. When there are no classes in session, Learning Centres are available for anyone to use.

Digital Innovation Hubs

Toronto Reference Library Digital Innovation Hub 3D printers

Our 10 Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) provide access to free hardware, design software and free classes. In addition, DIHs offer 3D printing services, allowing you to bring your ideas to life.

Audio Visual Studios

Create a podcast, record a song, make a video for YouTube and more! Our seven Audio Visual Studios are equipped with software and technology for audio and video projects.

E-resources

Mother helping her daughter with homework in a home office. Image courtesy of August de Richelieu

With your library card, access a wide range of e-resources, including article databases, business directories, digital magazines, practice tests and more. Below are some various resources to consider:

• A – Z List of All Databases – All databases in alphabetical order
• Database & Research Tools by Topic – Vast variety of articles, databases, and research tools on various topics including arts, culture, health, and much more
• Digital Comics – More than 5,000 comic books for adults, teens, and children from top publishers
• Digital Magazines – Thousands of magazines from over 140 countries in over 60 languages
• Digital Newspapers – Current news and archived articles
• Digital Video & Music – Numerous music, movies, concerts, plays and TV shows.
• Digital Archive – Photos, maps, manuscripts, digitized books and more
• eBooks & eAudiobooks – Infinite eBook and eAudiobook collection
• eLearning – Online interactive, self-paced courses and streaming video collections
• Homework Help – Live tutoring for grades K-12, various databases to support with research, studies, and test preparation.

Digital accessibility and inclusion

Hand of a partially sighted user on a high-contrast accessible computer keyboard. Image courtesy of Francisclarke

Toronto Public Library is committed to providing accessible and inclusive spaces and services. We strive to ensure we provide the information and technology opportunities in a manner that meet individual needs and support lifelong learning. Here's how the Library supports digital accessibility and inclusion:

Accessibility at Library Branches – The Library has adaptive technology to support digital accessibility, such as computers with screen magnification software, screen reader software, large print keyboards, and large trackball mice. We also have assistive devices you can use in our branches, such as wheelchair accessible furniture, book stands, magnifiers, page turners, and natural spectrum lamps.

Accessible Collections – The Library offers many collections in accessible formats, including digital collections such as ebooks, digital magazines, and digital newspapers. Many of these resources have settings you can adjust, such as font size. We also have accessible physical collections, including Talking Books, Playaways, All-in-one readalongs, Described videos, Closed-captioned videos, and many more.

To learn more about accessibility at Toronto Public Library visit: Accessibility.

Anyone looking for a new job will tell you it's a full-time job in itself. Preparing resumés, writing cover letters, practicing for interviews – they all takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.

Finding a new job can sometimes feel like a solitary and isolating activity, and the library is here to help job seekers. Whether you're looking for a first job or trying to move up the career ladder, our online resources can help guide you throughout the process.

What's below is just a part of what we offer for job seekers. Visit our Job & Career Help page for information about career coaches, interview rooms, employment programs and more.

Note: some resources require you create a free account to use certain features.

Brainfuse

Looking to get some help with your resumé? Submit a draft to Brainfuse and get feedback from a career coach in 24 hours. Once you have fine-tuned your resumé, you can get live help from a career coach before you start sending it out to potential employers.

Brainfuse also lists many local and national job sites once you are ready to begin your search. Career resources are available in the Adult Learning Centre in Brainfuse.

Career Cruising

Learn about different career paths, find out about educational requirements and discover professions that match your interests and skills through Career Cruising. Its employment guides also have useful information on building a resumé, searching for work and preparing for an interview.

Gale Courses

Gale Courses has a variety of online offerings for people looking for a job or contemplating new career paths. The selection of courses includes a Resumé Writing Workshop, Twelve Steps to a Successful Job Search and the Explore a Career series. Courses start monthly and run for six weeks.

HSTalks

The Early Career Development lecture series from HSTalks is for those entering the workforce for the first time. Talks include Transitioning From School to Work: Leveraging Academic Strengths and Beyond the Interviews: Enabling Employers to Preview Your Capabilities.

Learning Express Library

The Career Preparation section of Learning Express Library has information on all parts of the job search process – from searching for a job to negotiating a salary. The test preparation section covers a wide range of sectors from nursing to electricians. The tests are more American-focused but are still a good resource if you want to check your knowledge.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is more than technology and business courses! It has job search videos and courses, such as Job Search Strategies and How to Rock an Interview.

Once you’re in a video or course, the description includes any skills covered by the video/course. Click on any listed skill to find related content. Or try searching for “resumé writing”,”job search strategies” or “interview preparation.”

O’Reilly Learning

O’Reilly Learning might not be your first thought when it comes to resources for helping look for a job, but it does have a topic section for Job Seeking. You can find this topic by typing "job seeking" in the O'Reilly Learning search box. In this area, you'll find subtopics with resources for interviewing, job searching and resumés and cover letters.

Good luck to everyone searching for a job! Drop a comment any of these resources helps you land your dream job.

A bit of honesty at the start: genealogy is not my area of expertise. And when I say “not my area of expertise,” I really mean that my knowledge of genealogical research fits neatly within a single sentence. I know nothing.

This is a chance for us to explore databases and resources together and learn a bit more about where to begin researching our genealogy. Luckily, I already have a good idea where a large section of my family tree begins and that’s with Christian Warner (1754-1833), a distant relative going back many generations.

Using Christian Warner as a starting point, let’s see how easy it is to use these databases to research one’s genealogy.

Ancestry Library Edition

With records from Canada, the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Ancestry Library Edition is the biggest resource you can use for free with a library card. There is one catch: it's only available on library computers.

Knowing the exact name and year of birth for Christian Warner, I’m able to quickly access a full family tree for him, including records, sources and links to other sites with further information. I already learned one thing: Christian’s father was Johannes Wanner, not Warner. This confirms the rumour I had heard about an earlier Germanic origin of the last name.

There are even images of Christian’s grave and a historical plaque. The family tree shows the names of Christian’s children, which I can use to continue this research exercise further. However, Ancestry Library Edition does not allow users to create their own family tree.

Canadiana Héritage

This massive collection in Canadiana Héritage has about 40 million digitized primary-source documents from Canada’s large library of historical records. The amazing thing is that you can search for names and find exact pages or documents, which means research can'take minutes and not hours or days.

For example, I searched for one of Christian’s daughters, Elizabeth, and found this land grant under her name:

Canadiana Online

The sibling database to Canadiana Héritage, Canadiana Online, contains government publications, books, periodicals, newspapers and similar sources.

Having a hard time reading the fine print in old newspapers? The documents are searchable by keywords, so that Ctrl+F will be your best friend!

In my continued search for Christian Warner’s children, not much is known about Mary Fox (née Warner). There are a number of results for both names, but nothing in the Niagara area. Did she and her husband move to Quebec or the Maritimes? It would take more time than I currently have to research that question, but it’s one area to investigate further.

Fold3

Fold3 has access to military records, photos and personal documents starting with the Revolutionary War. Records are available from Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Using Fold3, I quickly found an enlistment card for a Christian Warner during the Revolutionary War. Christian was born in New York, so perhaps he fought for the Continental Army before deciding to come to Canada as a Loyalist.

Genealogy Quebec – Généalogie Québec

Though focussed on Quebec, Genealogy Quebec – Généalogie Québec also has baptism, marriage and burial records from Acadia, New Brunswick, Ontario and the Northeastern US. The database can be used in English or French.

I’m unaware of any ancestors having moved to Quebec, but this database lets me search for records with Mary Fox and her husband John Fox. Nothing comes up, which at least helps me answer the question of whether Mary moved to Quebec at some point.

Globe and Mail Historical Newspaper Archive

The Globe and Mail newspaper has been archived from 1844 to 2019 and can be searched for articles and full-page reproductions in the Globe and Mail Historical Newspaper Archive.

It doesn’t go far back enough for me to research this small section of my family tree, but it highlights any keywords automatically when you open an article. This is a very handy feature when you’re squinting to try and read the tiny newspaper print.

HeritageQuest

HeritageQuest has archival records and primary source documents going back to the 1700s. One nice feature is that it isn’t entirely focused on Canada, the US and other Western countries. If you click the “Search” link and then scroll to the bottom of that page, you will find records from around the world.

HeritageQuest is a little light on Canadian records, so it wasn’t very helpful for my research. But Christian Warner had no result in the Revolutionary War pension files, which would make sense if he fought in the war and then left the US.

Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive

The Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive works the same way as the Globe and Mail archive and covers from 1894 to 2020. One minor difference is that it only has full-page reproductions. It’s a wonderful resource for anyone searching for family history around the Toronto area.

Overall, I was really impressed by how easy it was to use these databases, even though I didn’t know what I was looking for in terms of records or sources. It also showed me the appeal of researching one’s genealogy — it’s a bit like being a detective and searching for clues about how someone lived a long time ago. Some of my leads were dead ends, but there was joy in the journey of discovery.

Looking for more ways to research your genealogy? Check out our Local History & Genealogy page for our Digital Archive, research guides and more.

Let us know in the comments if you discover any interesting facts about your family tree using these library resources!

The warmer weather tends to lead to an uptick in people doing various projects around their homes. Whether it’s fixing a roof or changing something in the bathroom, it’s the season to renovate and repair.

If you’re looking to tackle some work around the house, the library has plenty of digital resources to help you throughout the way (in addition to books about hobbies and home). All of these are free with a library card!

More interested in crafts than home improvements? Check out our blog post about resources for crafting.

Chilton Library

Looking to avoid a trip to the mechanic? Learn to repair and maintain your vehicle with Chilton Library. Find repair manuals, recommended maintenance schedules, and a video library to help guide your work.

Consumer Reports Online

Getting the right tools for the job is important. From faucets and flooring to paints and pressure washers, find recommended products based on Consumer Reports testing.

Flipster

Flipster has more crafting magazines than ones I would categorize as DIY, but it does have Canadian Woodworking and Home Improvement. Recent issues include articles on doing woodwork without a shop and drywall tips.

O’Reilly Learning

Known more for its business and technology resources, O’Reilly Learning also has a variety of books on other subjects. Learn to fix an appliance with Troubleshooting and Repairing Major Appliances (3rd Edition) or find a variety of projects from the publisher Make: Community.

OverDrive

Our OverDrive collection of ebooks has a large assortment of books on home repairs and projects. Whether you’re fixing a deck, redoing a bathroom or refreshing your furniture, there are books on almost every topic imaginable.

Want to start a project but don’t have one in mind? Browse issues of Family Handyman for inspiration!

PressReader

PressReader contains magazines from around the world, including Car Mechanics (UK) and Homebuilding and Renovating. Similarly to Flipster, there are also a number of magazines related to different crafts.

SAMS Technical Publishing

In an effort to reduce waste, more people are going back to repairing items rather than buying new ones. Or maybe you have an old record player or VHS machine that is irreplaceable. Regardless of the reason, SAMS Technical Publishing has repair manuals for thousands of items, from LCD TVs to transistor radios.

Let us know in the comments what projects you tackle using these resources!

One eRead Canada – an online, bilingual and national book club – is back!

Jump to the French version of the post below

This April, Canadians are invited to join people from across the country in reading Tatouine by Jean-Christophe Réhel for One eRead Canada. As part of One eRead Canada, hundreds of Canadian libraries will be making Tatouine available as an ebook and audiobook without waitlists or holds – both in English (translated by Katherine Hastings and Peter McCambridge) and French (ebook and audiobook)!

In Tatouine, a young poet daydreams of leaving his suburban life just outside of Montreal and escaping to the fictional Star Wars planet that gives the book its name. This fantasy helps provide an outlet for the boredom he experiences while working minimum-wage jobs or receiving another treatment for cystic fibrosis. Told through the internal monologue of the unnamed poet, the book mixes melancholy and humour to create a vibrant portrait of living with a disability.

Join the Conversation

While reading the book, people are encouraged to join the online discussion happening with readers from across the country in the One eRead Canada Facebook group or on Twitter @1eRead_unLivrel.

There will also be two online events scheduled during the month:

• April 19: Translators Katherine Hastings and Peter McCambridge in conversation with CBC’s Shelagh Rogers. Register on Eventbrite.
• April 25: Jean-Christophe Réhel in conversation with Radio-Canada’s Émilie Perreault. Register on Eventbrite.

The Time to Read podcast from the Winnipeg Public Library will be discussing Tatouine for their April episode. The episode will be released on April 7 and will be available to listen to online or through any streaming podcast service.

Tatouine also makes a great pick for book clubs! Use the book club guide to help get the conversation started and learn about the background of the novel.

Not in a book club? Tell your friends and family from across Canada to read the book and meet virtually to share your thoughts.

About One eRead Canada

Launched in 2019, One eRead Canada is an annual initiative by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council to promote digital reading through public libraries, while also raising awareness about issues that libraries face in providing access to ebooks and audiobooks.

Further Reading and Resources on Living with Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a chronic illness caused by an inherited condition that affects the digestive system and lungs. In Canada, over 4,300 people are currently living with cystic fibrosis.

As of 2021, the median age of survival was approximately 57 years, meaning half of the children born with cystic fibrosis today are expected to live beyond 57 years. In 1984, the median age of survival was approximately 25 years. The length and quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis continues to improve over time due to ongoing developments in care, research, and treatment options.

Source: 2021 Annual Data Report – The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Registry.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada

A national not-for-profit corporation and one of the world’s top three charitable organizations committed to improving and lengthening the lives of people living with cystic fibrosis.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada National Advocacy Network

This Facebook group provides a place for members from across Canada to connect with each other, stay informed on advocacy initiatives, stay up to date on important Cystic Fibrosis Canada announcements and to discuss key topics related to government relations and advocacy for people living with cystic fibrosis.

Further Reading and Resources on Anxiety and Depression

Mental and emotional wellness is an important part of health. People with cystic fibrosis, and paren'ts or caregivers of children with cystic fibrosis, are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, or both, compared to the rest of the population. Here are some resources to help support people experiencing anxiety and depression.

Anxiety Canada

Anxiety Canada provides self-help resources, articles, videos, interactive tools, podcasts, and apps for adults, youth, and children living with anxiety.

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention – CASP

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, there are many crisis centres available 24 hours a day to talk to you. Call the helpline listed below or contact your closest crisis center.

• Canadian adults: 1-833-456-4566 (24/7) or text 45645 (4 p.m. to midnight ET)
• Quebec residents: 1-866-277-3553 (24/7)
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (24/7) or text CONNECT to 686868

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)

With 330 community locations, CMHA is a nationwide organization that promotes mental health and supports people recovering from mental illness.

Depressionhurts.ca

Mood Disorders Society of Canada has developed a website dedicated to raising awareness and sharing information about depression. They have a wealth of information available to help identify and manage depression.

C’est le retour d’Un livrel Canada – le club de lecture numérique bilingue qui réunit lectrices et lecteurs de partout au pays!

En avril, dans le cadre du club de lecture Un livrel Canada, les lectrices et lecteurs canadiens sont invités à lire le roman de Jean-Christophe Réhel intitulé Ce qu’on respire sur Tatouine (en français – en format numérique and audio) et Tatouine (en anglais). À cette occasion, des centaines de bibliothèques canadiennes offriront cette œuvre en format numérique et audio, sans liste d’attente ni réservations, en version française et anglaise (une traduction de Katherine Hastings et Peter McCambridge)!

Dans Ce qu’on respire sur Tatouine, un jeune poète rêve de quitter sa vie en banlieue de Montréal pour la planète fictive de Star Wars, à laquelle renvoie le titre. Son imaginaire fantastique lui permet de fuir l’ennui d’une vie de misère dans des emplois au salaire minimum, cadencée par la fibrose kystique. Racontée à travers le monologue intérieur du poète inconnu, l’œuvre dresse, avec mélancolie et humour, un portrait éclatant de la vie d’une personne en situation de handicap.

Joignez-vous à la conversation

Pendant votre lecture, prenez part à la discussion en ligne avec d’autres lectrices et lecteurs d’un peu partout au pays via le groupe Facebook Un livrel Canada ou Twitter (@1eRead_unLivrel).

Deux événements auront également lieu en ligne au cours du mois :

• Le 19 avril : une conversation entre Katherine Hastings et Peter McCambridge, qui ont fait la traduction anglaise de l’œuvre, et Shelagh Rogers de CBC. (Eventbrite)
• Le 25 avril : une conversation entre Jean-Christophe Réhel et Émilie Perreault de Radio-Canada. (Eventbrite)

Le balado Time to Read de la Bibliothèque publique de Winnipeg explorera Tatouine dans le cadre de l’épisode qui sera diffusé le 7 avril. Vous pourrez y avoir accès en ligne ou via n’importe quel service de baladodiffusion en continu.

Ce qu’on respire sur Tatouine est aussi un excellent choix pour n’importe quel club de lecture! Servez-vous du guide de discussion pour lancer la conversation et vous renseigner sur la genèse du roman.

Vous ne faites pas partie d’un club de lecture? Invitez vos amis et vos proches d’un peu partout au Canada à lire le livre et conviez-les à une rencontre virtuelle pour échanger entre vous.

L’initiative Un livrel Canada

Lancé en 2019, le club de lecture Un livrel Canada est une initiative annuelle du Conseil des bibliothèques urbaines du Canada visant à promouvoir la lecture numérique par l’entremise des bibliothèques publiques, tout en sensibilisant les utilisateurs aux enjeux liés à l’accès aux livres numériques et audio.

Autres lectures et ressources sur la fibrose kystique

La fibrose kystique est une maladie chronique héréditaire qui affecte le système digestif et les poumons. Au Canada, plus de 4 300 personnes en sont atteintes.

En 2021, l’âge médian de survie était d’environ 57 ans, ce qui signifie que la moitié des enfants nés avec la fibrose kystique aujourd’hui devraient vivre plus de 57 ans. En 1984, l’âge médian était de 25 ans. La longévité et la qualité de vie des personnes atteintes de cette maladie continuent de s’améliorer grâce aux progrès réalisés au chapitre des soins, de la recherche et des traitements.

Source : Rapport de données annuel 2021 – Le registre canadien sur la fibrose kystique

Fibrose kystique Canada

Organisme de bienfaisance national sans but lucratif constituant l’une des trois principales organisations du genre au monde vouées à l’amélioration et au prolongement de la vie des personnes atteintes de fibrose kystique.

Réseau national de défense des droits de Fibrose kystique Canada

Ce groupe Facebook offre un espace d’échange à ses membres de partout au Canada. Il leur permet d’entrer en contact, de se tenir au courant des initiatives de défense des droits, de se renseigner sur les annonces importantes de la part de Fibrose kystique Canada, et de discuter de sujets liés aux relations gouvernementales et à la défense des droits des personnes atteintes de fibrose kystique.

Autres lectures et ressources sur l’anxiété et la dépression

Le bien-être mental et émotionnel est un aspect important de la santé. Les personnes atteintes de fibrose kystique ainsi que les paren'ts ou les proches qui prennent soin d’enfants fibrokystiques sont davantage susceptibles d’avoir des problèmes de dépression ou d’anxiété que le reste de la population. Voici des ressources à l’intention des personnes aux prises avec la dépression ou l’anxiété.

Anxiety Canada

Anxiety Canada propose des ressources d’entraide, articles, vidéos, outils interactifs, balados et applications pour les adultes, les jeunes et les enfants vivant avec l’anxiété.

Association canadienne pour la prévention du suicide – ACPS

Si vous êtes en danger immédiat, composez le 911.

Si vous ou l’un de vos proches avez des pensées suicidaires, sachez qu’il existe de nombreux centres de crise qui sont accessibles 24 heures sur 24. Appelez la ligne d’assistance ci-dessous ou contactez le centre de crise le plus proche pour obtenir de l’aide.

• Adultes canadiens : 1 833 456-4566 (en tout temps) ou par SMS au 45645 (entre 16 h et minuit HE)
• Résidents du Québec : 1 866 277-3553 (en tout temps)
• Jeunesse, J’écoute : 1 800 668-6868 (en tout temps) ou envoyer le mot PARLER au 686868

Association canadienne pour la santé mentale (ACSM)

Présente dans plus de 330 communautés, l’ACSM est une organisation pancanadienne qui fait la promotion de la santé mentale et soutient les gens en rétablissement d’une maladie mentale.

Depressionhurts.ca

La Société pour les troubles de l’humeur du Canada a créé un site Web consacré à la sensibilisation et au partage d’information sur la dépression. On y trouve une foule d’informations pour aider à dépister et à gérer la dépression.

Sewing machine from Fabrication Studio at North York Central Library

I have to give credit to my mother-in-law for inspiring this post. She is often working on multiple projects at once – usually a mix of knitting, painting, jewelry making and quilting – depending on what is interesting to her at the moment. Her ability to switch, ahem, seamlessly between disciplines leaves me in awe, especially as my one notable craft was hand-sewing a small pillow the size of a whoopie cushion in Grade 7 or 8. The pillow was perfectly fine, except for the felt Nike logo stitched on top – backwards.

Being someone who does a lot of crafts, she loves that she can easily use her library card to download crafting magazines and get ideas for her next project. She could be at home or her cottage, it could be morning or evening – all she needs is her tablet and she is set.

Seeing as I’m not someone who does crafts, it might not have occurred to me to do this post without her. Once I started looking, it was amazing how many different online resources we had related to crafts.

So whether you’re a beginner crafter or a multi-tasking wizard like my mother-in-law, I hope you’ll find some inspiration from the magazines, videos, courses and books that we offer about different crafts!

Flipster Magazines

Use Flipster to find magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Woodworking and Threads. Back issues are available for many titles, including Martha Stewart Living.

Gale Courses

Do your friends and family tell you to turn your hobby into a business or side hustle? If so, you should check out the Start Your Own Arts and Crafts Business course offered through Gale Courses.

Hoopla

Did you know Hoopla has a large selection of streaming videos from Craftsy? From quilts to patternmaking and bags to baskets, there is plenty to explore – all available on-demand! I’m going to learn to make a sourdough loaf and see if I can finish writing this post before it’s done.

PS. We also have Craftsy DVDs!

Kanopy

Kanopy offers streaming videos, including a small selection of craft videos about topics such as sewing, woodworking and doll-making. Like Hoopla, all videos are available on demand!

OverDrive

Like an overflowing drawer of fabric or beads, OverDrive has lots of resources to help with your projects. Browse thousands of craft books or find crafting magazines like Simply Crochet, The Knitter and Popular Woodworking.

PressReader

If you’re looking for more magazines, PressReader has crafting periodicals like Cross Stitcher, Simply Sewing and Crochet World. There are also craft magazines in different languages, including French, Spanish and Italian.

Other Library Resources

• Browse our newest nonfiction books about crafts and hobbies
• Visit our Fabrication Studio to use a sewing machine, serger, fabric cutter and more.

Let us know in the comments what crafts and projects you want to tackle!

Original photo by Anna Demianenko on Unsplash.

If you have been holding out and delaying the transition from the OverDrive app to Libby, the time has come to finally make the switch. The OverDrive app will officially be retiring on May 1st. The app was removed from app stores last year and is heading into the sunset for the newer and sleeker Libby.

The Libby app by OverDrive offers many features not available in the OverDrive app, including easy set up for new users, a single bookshelf for all loans and holds, push notifications and more customizable options like Dark Mode.

Luckily, moving from the OverDrive app to Libby is easy – and we’re here to help!

Note: if you use a Kobo that allows for direct downloads, nothing is changing for you. Anyone with the legacy OverDrive for Windows or OverDrive for Mac desktop programs can continue to download audiobooks. Hurrah!

Step-by-step guide for getting set up with Libby

1. Download Libby.

2. Get your library card.

3. Open Libby and answer “Yes” that you have a library card.

4. You can'then search for a library.

5. Simply type in “toronto” and TPL will come up. You do not need to choose a branch.

6. Then press “Sign In With My Card.”

7. Enter your card number and PIN (usually the last four numbers of your phone number).

8. Libby will then give you the option to take any books saved in an OverDrive wish list and sync them to Libby in a tag. Learn more about adding wish lists to Libby.

9. You’re done! Time to start borrowing books and placing holds. And maybe reward yourself with a cookie.

Additional resources

If something didn’t work properly or you need more help, here are some resources that might help:

• The Libby Help website contains help videos that provide detailed information on using the Libby app.
• Upgrade to Libby has more information on making the switch from the OverDrive app to Libby.
• Libby FAQs can help answer other questions you may have on the switch to Libby.
• Monthly Getting Started with Libby webinars offered by OverDrive. Libby users from any library system can attend to learn how to use the app.
• For one-on-one help from Toronto Public Library staff, you can schedule a Book-A-Librarian appointment at a local branch. We also offer tech help programs at many library branches.
• If your device is not compatible with Libby, you can still have the Libby experience through libbyapp.com.

It is almost impossible to read the news right now and avoid financial topics. The cost of everything from groceries to house prices continues to dominate headlines, causing people across the city to take a closer look at their finances. The library is here to help with financial information available for free from resources you can access from home. All you need is a library card!

Besides these resources, the library also has:

• Personal finance books
• Personal finance programs
• Financial empowerment advisors
• Job and career help

Here are five personal finance resources you can access from home or anywhere else:

1. Gale Courses

Gale Courses is perfect if you would like an instructor-led course that you can complete at your own pace. Courses start monthly and take roughly 24 hours to complete. Gale Courses has six courses available under Personal Finance and Investments, including Where Does All My Money Go? and Keys to Successful Money Management.

Need some extra motivation to complete a course? Sign-up with a friend and keep each other on track with weekly check-ins!

2. Kanopy

Even if you are already familiar with Kanopy as a way to stream movies and TV shows, it may surprise you to learn that there are business and finance videos available. These include videos about retirement, covering topics such as preparing for retirement and life after retirement.

3. LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is another popular resource that many might not expect would have personal finance resources! In fact, there are over 30 courses about personal finance. These courses include subject matter such as budgeting, credit, and managing your money during a financial downturn.

4. O'Reilly Learning

Tucked away in the Business section of O’Reilly Learning is the Personal Finance collection, which contains over 600 books and audiobooks. The books in O’Reilly are always available, so you never have to wait!

5. Consumer Reports Online

Think that Consumer Reports just has buying advice for cars or appliances? Think again! Consumer Reports also has a Money section filled with great articles about financial topics such as leasing vs buying a car and how to save as prices rise.

Unfortunately, their reviews on banks and insurance companies only focus on American companies, so stick to the articles for the most useful advice.

Imagine this scene: It’s a Saturday night, around 7:30pm. You hear the rustling of people settling into seats. Musicians are tuning their instruments and warming up. The house lights fade to black and a spotlight appears on stage. The show has begun. And you’re enjoying it all from the comfort of home, cozy under a blanket with some snacks and a nice beverage.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

I know what some of you are thinking – there’s nothing like seeing a play or performance in person. I agree! That being said, there are some advantages to enjoying the arts at home:

1. Cost. Going to the theatre or a concert can be expensive, especially if you add in transit or parking, maybe a pre- or post-show meal or drink, or perhaps a babysitter. Watching a performance at home through the library is free!

2. Choice. Yes, Toronto has a wonderful art scene and there is something happening every night, but the library has performances from around the globe. Watching streaming performances also means being able to see productions that will often never happen again.

3. Convenience. Imagine being able to choose when a show would start or to tell the actors to pause so you could get more snacks. Then not have to crawl over anyone to get the snacks or wait in line.

4. Have I mentioned the snacks?

Here are some options to enjoy the arts at home with your library card:

Audio Drama: L.A. Theatre Works Collection

Listen to radio dramas performed by leading actors including George Clooney, Hilary Swank, and Laurence Fishburne.

BBC Literary Adaptations in Video

Enjoy over 160 productions of famous literature from the BBC. Includes productions Pride and Prejudice, Miss Marple and Alice in Wonderland, as well as works by Charles Dickens and Shakespeare.

Medici.tv

Medici.tv has a wonderful selection of on-demand and live performances of classical music, jazz, opera and ballet. Search by artist, composer or work, or browse the vast catalogue. There are also documentaries and master classes with all-star instructors.

National Theatre Collection

Stream performances from the UK’s National Theatre archives. Includes All My Sons with Sally Fields and Bill Pullman, Small Island with Leah Harvey, and A Streetcar Named Desire with Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster.

Royal Shakespeare Company Collection

Watch over fifty productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company covering a wide range of Shakespeare’s works. Notable performers include David Tennant, Sir Anthony Sher and Paapa Essiedu.

Theatre in Video

Over 150 productions are available through Theatre in Video, including musicals and highlights from the Stratford Festival. There are also documentary clips, including tv shows and interviews, to go behind the scenes and learn about how the magic of the theatre comes to life.

Want to enjoy these offerings, but don't have a library card? See if you're eligible for a Digital Access Card or visit a library branch to sign up.

The past couple of years have seen many major news stories related to investing. There was the pandemic crash and recovery, the popularity of meme stocks, speculative investing in NFTs and cryptocurrencies, rising inflation leading to interest rate hikes, and now fears of a recession. New investment platforms with little or no fees have also helped created a group of DIY investors who are getting into the market for the first time.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash.

There are also more ways than ever to get investment advice. Traditional news outlets, social media platforms, investment firms, podcasts, and friends and family are some places you might turn if you're trying to understand what to do with your investments. But who knows what they are talking about and who is giving bad advice?

Below are six resources related to investing that you can get access to for free with your library card. To get started, I would recommend choosing one company that you want to research and then look up that company in each resource. That will let you compare what each resource has to offer and get different perspectives on the company at the same time.

Don't have a library card? Sign up for one online or visit your local branch. And remember that the library also has a wide range of investment books that you can borrow, as well as investing and business courses through LinkedIn Learning, HSTalks and Gale Courses.

Business Source Complete

Use Business Source Complete to research company and industry profiles before you invest. The profiles and reports contain valuable information such as key competitors, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, key facts and more. Business Source Complete covers businesses around the world, including Canada.

Financial Post Advisor

Financial Post (FP) Advisor focuses on public and private and companies in Canada, so this is an essential resource for anyone that likes to invest within the country. Coverage includes investor reports that break down the financials of a given company, industry reports, dividend history and more.

MarketLine

MarketLine provides a very comprehensive platform that covers investment opportunities around the globe. MarketLine provides analysis of specific companies and industries, including industry analysis within specific countries. It also does a great job at including recent news items related to companies or sectors, as well as an Influencer database that highlights people leading innovation in select industries. MarketLine is also very easy to use with excellent features, like the SWOT analysis page in a company profile.

Mergent Intellect/Mergent Online

Mergent Intellect and Mergent Online differ in two ways. Intellect has more private company information and has a more appealing interface, while Online provides a greater depth of information. Doing a side-by-side comparison by researching the same company will help you decide with one meets your needs.

Value Line

Value Line has been providing investment research and analysis since 1931. This resource only has companies listed on US exchanges, but it still provides a lot of useful information. Value Line rates companies in areas such as Safety, Timeliness and Financial Strength, then provides a quick comparison on how that company compares to other companies in the same industry.

If you are still new to investing, the Investment Education section will help you learn the basics and get started.

Wall Street Journal

Stay up to date on the latest business news with free access to the Wall Street Journal. You will need to create a free account, but then you will get free access to the Wall Street Journal for 72 hours. Once that time has expired, you can go back and sign out another pass for 72 hours.

PressReader also contains the Wall Street Journal newspaper and other business papers.

Hello and welcome to all the students that have started attending post-secondary schools in Toronto! I hope you are starting to settle into the school year and making new friends. You may not be aware, but everyone going to school in Toronto can get a free library card. All you have to do is bring the correct identification to your nearest library branch and staff will be able to make you a card in a couple of minutes.

Once you have a library card, you will be able to access everything the library has to offer. That includes Museum + Arts Passes, Digital Innovation Hubs, and, of course, books, movies and music. There are free online courses from LinkedIn Learning and Gale Courses, you could learn a language with Mango Languages, or use the Adult Learners section of Brainfuse for writing or resume help.

The library also provides access to databases that you can use at any time of the day from wherever you are. These databases are great for doing research in academic journals, newspapers, magazines and reference books. Most databases offer similar features, including the ability to download articles as PDFs for offline reading. They also usually provide citations in different formats, making it handy to pull together the sources you used.

Academic OneFile

Academic OneFile is a great resource to start your research because it covers a wide range of subjects. The academic journals in the database cover the sciences, humanities and social sciences. About 80% of the sources are academic in nature, so it is for people studying in university or college.

Check out Getting Started with Academic OneFile for a guide to using the database.

JSTOR

Along with Academic OneFile, JSTOR is another great starting point when doing your research. JSTOR specializes in academic journals, books and research reports, so the resources are best for college or university students. It also has a collection of primary sources from academic institutions around the world.

The advanced search is handy as it lets you limit your search to only journals in specific subjects. There are also 3+ million images that can be used for educational or scholarly purposes. For more tips, see Getting Started with JSTOR.

Canadian Business and Current Affairs

If your project or research relates to Canada, Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) is the database for you. It is more than a business database, though. CBCA also covers Canadian studies, culture, literature, government and more. Resources inside CBCA include scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines and more.

Canadian Periodical Index

Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q) includes over 1,300 Canadian periodicals with full-text articles going back to 1983. This is a great database to use if you want to search in a wide variety of Canadian newspapers and magazines from the past forty years. CPI.Q also stands out because it includes some French periodicals.

SAGE Journals

Many students are familiar with JSTOR or Academic OneFile, but don’t skip SAGE Journals when doing your research. The science, humanities and engineering journals in SAGE Journals are not in any other database. This database has over 1,000 journals published by SAGE, including some Canadian resources.

MIT Press Direct

MIT Press Direct is a little different from the other resources in that it publishes full-text ebooks rather than articles. The books published by MIT Press are mostly research-based and intended for an academic audience. The big benefit to these ebooks is that you can download them as a PDF without any special software or having to set up an account.

Learning Express Library

Thinking about taking the LSAT, MCAT or GMAT? Learning Express Library is a test-preparation resource for a wide range of tests and exams you might need depending on your future plans.

Other Library Resources

Check out our other blog posts for even more resources you can access with your library card. These include online resources to boost your professional skills, resources for learning English, and a guide to historical archives.

Posted on behalf of Kinda K.

Whether you’re a writer, student, history-enthusiast, or researching your local family history, Toronto Public Library’s digital newspaper archives are here to help. You may already know about our digital newspaper resources like PressReader, NYTimes.com or the Wall Street Journal, but you may not have heard about our historical news archives.

Your library card provides access to both the Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive and the Globe and Mail Newspaper Archive. Both archives have articles and full-page reproductions going back to the 1800s.

Common projects using the archives are exploring genealogy, gathering research for school or work-related projects, or even finding photos of loved ones in past editions of papers! Stories, editorials, marriage, birth and death notices are scanned and posted as originally published, making these archives ideal for anyone looking to research family history in and around Toronto.

To access our digital resources you will need an active library card. If you don't have one, here's how you can get a library card by visiting one of our open branches or try signing up online for a Digital Access Card.

Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive

The Toronto Star archive dates back to 1894, and despite being labeled as historical, users are able to access papers up to approximately three years back from the present. A tutorial video is available to provide users with a rundown of its features, including Basic & Advanced Search and options for Printing, Saving, and Sharing.

Searching in the Toronto Star archive will yield full-page scans from any relevant issues with highlights indicating the search terms. One tip for streamlining your research process is to use quotation marks around any words that should appear together. For example, searching “Hurricane Hazel” will lead to more accurate results.

Globe and Mail Historical Newspaper Archive

The Globe and Mail archive dates from 1844 to approximately three years back. Like the Toronto Star, a tutorial video is available for users of the archive that goes over its basic features.

The Globe and Mail is different because it is scanned by individual articles instead of full pages. Because of this, results pop up by article as opposed to by page. It is still possible to get a full-page view by pressing on the Full Page option at the top of the document viewer.

Additionally, the same Printing, Saving, and Sharing options are available for the Globe and Mail. Once again, use quotation marks for search terms that go together.

Let us know what you are up to with our Historical Archives!

If you have used any of the resources discussed in this post, let us know below. And, as always, please speak to library staff if you need help. When it comes to archives, the Toronto Star Newspaper Room (located in the basement of the Toronto Reference Library) is an especially helpful space with knowledgeable staff in all areas newspaper-related.

Are you looking for a job, trying to get ahead in your career, or thinking about changing industries? Maybe you are looking for a way to give your resume an extra boost or prepare for a big interview. Or you could be a small business owner trying to figure out how to take your business to the next level.

Whatever your situation, the library has a wide variety of options for you to upgrade your skills and give your career a boost. All of these resources are available online and accessible at any time of the day. Most important, they are also free to access with your Toronto Public Library card!

LinkedIn Learning

With over 16,000 courses, it is hard to summarize everything you could learn from LinkedIn Learning! There are four main subject areas in LinkedIn Learning that breakdown into more specific topics. The Business subject area includes courses on marketing, accounting, sales and human resources, plus courses on being an entrepreneur and running a small business.

The Creative section covers topics like graphic design, animation, web design and photography, as well as different software applications like Photoshop and AutoCAD. In the Technology area, you will find courses on cloud computing, IT security, and mobile, software or web development. 

The Certifications section helps with preparation for over 30 professional certification exams, such as Adobe, AWS, Google, Linux and Microsoft.

O'Reilly Learning

Tired of using that outdated book on Python you got from a friend? O'Reilly Learning has the latest books, videos, courses and audiobooks from major business and technology publishers. Like LinkedIn Learning, O'Reilly covers too many topics to name all of them here but leans towards coding, software development, data systems, and networking.

The best thing is that all titles are available to stream at any time with no waitlists! If space in O'Reilly isn't unavailable when you try to sign in, try again in 15-30 minutes and a seat will probably have opened up.

HSTalks

HSTalks focuses on two subject areas broken into different collections – the Biomedical & Life Science Collection and the Business & Management Collections. Each collection contains video lectures, case studies and interviews from leading experts from around the world with new content added on a regular basis. The lectures and case studies are often geared towards people who already have some understanding of the topic, so they are ideal for someone looking to stay up to date with the latest research and trends in either subject area. 

Gale Courses

Gale Courses offers unlimited access to instructor-led online courses for anyone looking for a more traditional learning experience. There is a broader range of courses than the other resources already mentioned. Subjects include business, legal systems, arts, writing, teaching and more! Courses start monthly and run for six weeks with two lessons released every week.

SAGE Video

Content from SAGE Video covers four topics: business and management, counseling and psychotherapy, leadership, and nursing. The videos are aimed at university and college students, instructors, and researchers. The videos are a mix of case studies, documentaries, lectures, interviews and more. They also have premade playlists for anyone looking to quickly jump into a topic.

Photo of the Bloor/Gladstone Branch by Steven Evans. Used with permission.

If you're a newcomer to Toronto, finding time to improve your English can be hard. You may be working, in school, or both. Classes for English as a second language (ESL) learners may not be offered at a convenient time or might be costly if taken from a private school.

Luckily, Toronto Public Library (TPL) has many online resources to help. You can improve your English at any time and from any place. Best of all, these are all free when you have a library card. Library cards are free to get if you are living, working or studying in Toronto. Find out how to get a library card.

Learning Express Library

Need to study for the TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or GED test? Get practice exams for each of those from Learning Express Library and you can study from home at your own pace. Learning Express Library also has tutorials, practice sets and ebooks to help improve your writing skills and grammar. Everything is free, but you do need to create an account. This will help track your progress as you complete any courses or tests.

Road to IELTS

More in-depth IELTS tutorials and practice tests are available through Road to IELTS. In fact, there are two different versions of this database. The General Training resource is aimed at those taking the General test for secondary education, a work experience or training program. The Academic Training resource is for anyone taking the Academic test for post-secondary education like university or college, or for a professional institution. Both the Academic and General resources have interactive activities and study tests to help you prepare.

Tense Buster

If you're looking to improve your English grammar, Tense Buster is the resource for you. It has five different levels to choose from and each level contains different tutorials to practice your grammar. Not sure which level is right for you? Start with the multi-level test to find out your current level, then explore the lessons in that category.

Mango Languages

Mango Languages also has English as second language courses. The nice part about these courses is that they are available in over twenty languages, so the instructions can be in languages such as Arabic, Mandarin or Somali. 

Brainfuse

Know a child or teen who needs help learning English? Brainfuse has an ESL section for grades K to 12 with a wide range of resources for all language levels. Once you're in Brainfuse, go to SkillSurfer and then select the ESL category. Brainfuse also has online tutors available daily from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Tutors can help with all subjects, not just English.

Scottish Highlands. Photo taken by author.

Summer is here and for many people that means one thing – it is time for a vacation! Whether you are planning on staying close to home or heading on a plane to destinations unknown, the library can be with you for every kilometre of your journey.

I'm one of those people that loves the pre-trip planning almost as much as the trip itself. If you're like me, hopefully some of these wonderful resources from the library will help make travel preparation even easier!

Travel Books on OverDrive

Planning your trip or want a guidebook for your vacation? Our collection of travel books available through OverDrive includes titles from publishers such as DK, Fodor's, Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Moon and Rick Steves. Make sure to download the Libby app on your phone or tablet so you can easily carry around a digital travel book and save some more room in your luggage for souvenirs!

Prefer to take the physical book with you? Browse the latest travel books in our collection.

Moon U.S. and Canadian Rocky Mountains Road Trip by Becky Lomax

Covering sights and cities from Calgary to Denver, this is all you'll need for a summer road trip through the majestic Rocky Mountains. Includes national parks in both countries, such as Banff, Yellowstone and Glacier.

Tokyo Like a Local by DK Eyewitness

City guides like this one are great for uncovering the gems that most guidebooks don't have the space to include. This series from DK Eyewitness has guides for cities ranging from Nashville to Berlin.

Sustainable Escapes by Lonely Planet

Whether you're trying to travel with the planet in mind or just looking for some travel inspiration, this guide features a wide range of vacation ideas with a focus on sustainability. With nearly 180 locations featured, there is something for everyone!

Mango Languages

Looking to pick up some basic vocabulary before you start your trip? Mango Languages will get you ready with courses in more than 70 languages. The app is simple to use and perfect for being able to learn on the go.

The Great Courses

The Great Courses might not seem like a source of travel inspiration, but they have some wonderful videos on places all around the world. The Great Tours series has courses ranging from Washington DC to the African Safari. Looking to do some armchair traveling? Check out Understanding the World's Great Structures, The World's Greatest Geological Wonders, or Exploring the Mayan World.

The best way to access these is through the Great Courses Bingepass from Hoopla. This will allow accessing hundreds of courses using only one checkout! The Great Courses are also available from Kanopy, where one checkout gives 30 days access to a single course.

PressReader

Want to be able to talk with the locals about current events or find out the latest hot spots? PressReader has newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries that will help you learn all about your destination. The PressReader app even allows for offline reading – perfect for long drives or flights.

Travel the World with Your Library Card

Looking to get access to all these wonderful resources? Our website has all info you need about getting a new library card or renewing an expired card. If you're going into a branch, be sure to ask the staff to point you towards the travel book section while you're there!

Bon voyage!

Good news! Your Toronto Public Library card now gives to access to over 3,500 full-text ebooks through MIT Press Direct. These research books cover topics such as economics, technology, science, philosophy and more. The best part is that these books are always available – there are no waitlists or limits on how often you can access the titles. The books are available in PDF format with no digital rights management, so no extra software or account is necessary. Simply download the chapter(s) you wish to read and you're all set!

Here are some recently published titles available from MIT Press Direct that caught my eye (you will need a library card or Digital Access Card to access these):

From Big Oil to Big Green: Holding the Oil Industry to Account for the Climate Crisis by Marco Grasso

Does Big Oil have a moral obligation to make reparations for the harms done by fossil fuels? Marco Grasso thinks so. Looking at climate change through a moral framework, Grasso argues that oil companies must lead the way in decarbonization efforts to make up for the harm they have caused the environment.

The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle

This science fiction novel was originally published in 1923. Billed as "the first-ever novel about a cyborg," the plot involves a machine-enhanced man from the future visiting 1920s England. In the future, all men have been cast out from physical reality for being too violent and sexist.

The Digital Closet: How the Internet Became Straight by Alexander Monea

Can algorithms have a heteronormative bias? This book argues that straight culture has pushed 2SLGBTQ+ content to the fringes of the internet. Monea looks at the overlapping pressures from culture, politics and technology that have caused this situation.

The Paren't Trap: How to Stop Overloading Paren'ts and Fix Our Inequality Crisis by Nate G. Hilger

A combination of social science research, historical case studies and journalistic investigation, The Paren't Trap argues what many us already know – that paren'ts are overworked and under-supported. Hilger not only believes that paren'ts are being setup to fail, but that this is also harming the future success of their children

Toronto Public Library achieved a new milestone and became the first library system in the world to reach 50 million checkouts through OverDrive. The 50 millionth loan was A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson.

It is fitting that the 50 millionth checkout is by an acclaimed Canadian author. A Town Called Solace was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail, CBC Books and The Daily Telegraph. Set in Northern Ontario in 1972, it tells the story of three individuals at different stages in life who live near each other in the small town of Solace. The book is a quiet journey through their lives as they become intertwined by tragedy.

TPL first provided access to OverDrive in 2007, when a mere 3,608 items were borrowed. It took five years for all-time checkouts to reach 1 million in 2012. In 2021, TPL circulated 9.8 million digital items through OverDrive to over 230,000 library cards. TPL has also led the world in annual OverDrive circulation for nine consecutive years.

These are the most borrowed books of all-time in TPL’s OverDrive collection: 

Top 10 eBooks

1. The Goldfinch
2. The Girl on the Train
3. Becoming
4. Educated: A Memoir
5. Where the Crawdads Sing
6. The Handmaid’s Tale
7. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
8. Gone Girl
9. Little Fires Everywhere
10. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Top 10 Audiobooks

1. You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
2. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
3. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
4. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
5. Becoming
6. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
7. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
8. 1984
9. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

This April, hundreds of participating Canadian public libraries will offer unlimited access to The Break by Katherena Vermette in eBook and eAudiobook formats. The Break will be available to TPL cardholders in English (OverDrive) and French (Cantook Station), without holds or waitlists, throughout the entire month.

In The Break, a young Métis mother looks out her window and notices someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — and alerts the police to a possible crime. Through shifting narratives, a powerful story about the lives of people living in Winnipeg’s North End unfolds. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to read a book focused on Indigenous voices, and to connect and discuss the same book with people across the country.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to join the discussions happening in the One eRead Canada Book Club Facebook group as well as on Twitter (@1eRead_unLivrel). To make the digital book club experience even better, you’ll get the chance to attend live virtual conversations. On April 20, Katherena Vermette and CBC host Shelagh Rogers will discuss The Break. On April 21, Mélissa Verreault, the French translator of The Break, and Radio-Canada host Marie-Louise Arsenault will also be in discussion. We hope to see you there!

Support Resources for Indigenous Persons

Hope for Wellness Helpline – 1-855-242-3310

The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada.

National Indian Residential School Crisis Line – 1-866-925-4419

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides support for former Residential School students. Access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the National Crisis Line.

Native Youth Crisis Line – 1-877-209-1266

Available 24/7 throughout the US and Canada.

Talk4Healing – 1-855-554-HEAL (4325)

Talk 4 Healing is a culturally grounded, fully confidential helpline for Indigenous women available in 14 languages all across Ontario.

Support Resources for All

Assaulted Women’s Helpline – 1.866.863.0511

The Assaulted Women’s Helpline offers a 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line to all woman who have experienced abuse. They provide counselling, emotional support, information and referrals in over 200 languages.

Crisis Services Canada – Suicide Prevention Service – 1-833-456-4566

If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, the Canada Suicide Prevention Service is available 24/7.

Kids Help Phone – 1-800-668-6868

Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, confidential support to young people in English and French.

Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres – 1-855-628-7283

There are 37 treatment centres across Ontario dedicated to providing comprehensive, trauma-specific care and treatment to victims/survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Program – 1-866-887-0015

Get 24/7 multilingual support service for male survivors of sexual abuse, both recent and historical.

Further Reading

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls – Report and Recommendations

Un club de lecture virtuel bilingue national pour tous les amoureux de littérature!

Dès la semaine prochaine, à partir du 1 eravril, il sera possible de télécharger Ligne Brisée de Katherena Vermette en format numérique et audio, gratuitement et sans passer par une liste d’attente, auprès des centaines de bibliothèques publiques au pays qui participent au club. En effet, pendant tout le mois d’avril 2022, l’ouvrage sera accessible en anglais (OverDrive) et en français (Cantook Station) – sans réservation ni liste d’attente – à tous les titulaires de carte des bibliothèques participantes.

À travers les différents points de vue de ses personnages, l’auteure raconte de façon générale la vie des habitants du quartier North End de Winnipeg. Ligne Brisée peut certainement vous aider à mieux saisir et comprendre les particularités du pays et la vie de vos concitoyens de tous les horizons, d’un océan à l’autre. Ne manquez pas cette occasion de lire gratuitement un ouvrage canadien porteur de voix autochtones et d’échanger en parallèle à son sujet avec des gens de partout au pays.

Si ce n’est pas déjà fait, nous vous invitons à prendre part à la conversation sur la page du groupe Facebook d’Un livrel Canada et à suivre le club sur Twitter. On vous attend! Et pourquoi ne pas enrichir votre expérience en participant à des conversations virtuelles en direct? Le 20 avril, Katherena Vermette, l’auteure de Ligne Brisée, et l’animatrice de CBC Shelagh Rogers discuteront de l’ouvrage. Le 21 avril, ce sera au tour de Mélissa Verreault, la traductrice du livre en français, et de l’animatrice de Radio-Canada Marie-Louise Arsenault. Nous espérons que vous serez des nôtres!

Ressources de soutien pour les Autochtones

Ligne d’écoute d’espoir pour le mieux-être – 1-855-242-3310

La Ligne d’écoute d’espoir pour le mieux-être apporte une aide immédiate en offrant du counseling et des services d’intervention en cas de crise à tous les peuples autochtones au Canada.

Ressources de soutien pour tous

Fem’aide – 1-877-336-2433

Fem’aide offre aux femmes d’expression française aux prises avec la violence sexiste, du soutien, des renseignements et de l’aiguillage vers les services appropriés dans leur collectivité 24 heures par jour, sept jours par semaine.

Fem’aide peut également répondre aux demandes de renseignements faites par les proches des femmes victimes de violence.

Jeunesse, J’écoute – 1-800-668-6868

Jeunesse, J’écoute est le seul service national 24/7 qui offre des services bilingues (anglais et français) d’intervention professionnelle, des ressources et du soutien par texto aux jeunes.

Services de crises du Canada – La prevention du suicide et le soutien – 1-833-456-4566

Si vous pensez au suicide, vous êtes inquiet(e) d’un(e) ami(e) ou d’un être cher, le Service Canadien de Prevention du Suicide (SCPS) est disponible 24 heures par jour, 7 jours par semaine.

Services de soutien aux survivants de sexe masculin victimes de violence à caractère sexuel – 1-866-887-0015

Obtenez, 24 heures sur 24 et 7 jours sur 7, un service de soutien multilingue aux survivants de sexe masculin victimes de violence à caractère sexuel, récente comme ancienne.

Lectures complémentaires

Enquête nationale sur les femmes et les filles autochtones: disparues et assassinées – la rapport et recommandations.

Torontonians love OverDrive – a lot. In 2021, Toronto Public Library circulated almost 10 million ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines through OverDrive. It was the ninth straight year that TPL led the world in total OverDrive circulation.

In lending out millions of ebooks and audiobooks every year, we have learned many tips and tricks along the way and are excited to share them so that everyone can up their OverDrive game. If you are brand new to OverDrive, you may want to check out our OverDrive guides and OverDrive FAQs before continuing.

Place Lots of Holds – Then Suspend Them

Have you ever gone on OverDrive only to discover that you have to place a hold on everything you want to read? It happens to all of us at some point. The key to having a steady supply of books is to place lots of holds, then suspend them until you are looking for something to read. I like having a mix of books on hold so that there is always something that suits my mood. Only placing holds on true crime books is not much help when you want some feel-good fiction.

OverDrive lets you place 30 holds and holds can be suspended for 180 days. They will automatically become active when the suspension expires, but can always be suspended again. Just unsuspend your hold whenever you are ready and wait for the next copy to be returned.

Maxed out your 30 holds? Add books to your wish list in OverDrive or tag them in Libby. This is especially useful for books that are available but you do not want to read right away.

When to Find New Books

Have you ever searched for a new book on the TPL website and found a print copy but no digital copy? The simple explanation is that print copies are purchased ahead of the publication date, but digital copies on OverDrive are usually only purchased once the book is published.

If there is a book you really want to read, the important thing to know is its publication date. (Find the publication date online from Indigo, your local bookstore, or the published.) For popular books and best sellers, they are usually available in OverDrive later that day or the next day. The most important thing is to search in OverDrive or the Libby app as it takes an extra day or two for books to get added to the library catalogue. Set a reminder for yourself and you should be able to get near the top of the holds list.

If the book is not showing up a week after publication, you can suggest a title be purchased. Unfortunately, not all publishers make their books available through OverDrive, so it might not be possible for TPL to get an electronic copy.

Browse on Your Computer, Then Read on Your Device

If you find it difficult to browse and search on your device, you can always use a computer to browse the OverDrive website, place holds and check out books. Then simply use your device to download the book and start reading! The Libby app syncs your account all by itself and you can adjust the settings for the app so it automatically downloads your books.

If you are using the OverDrive website to place holds and check out books, just be aware that some file types will not work on all devices. A file type that is not compatible with Libby will not appear in the app.

Pay it Forward and Return Your Books Early

Finished reading your book? Do the next person in line a favour and return it early! Yes, OverDrive books automatically come off your account when they are due, but that means the next person is waiting for your book to be returned even if you are done. Books can be returned through the OverDrive website, in the Libby app or on a Kobo eReader with direct downloads. The next person waiting sends their thanks!

Change can be scary, especially when talking about OverDrive, our biggest collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks. So, let me start with two important words: don’t panic. OverDrive isn’t going anywhere. In fact, anyone already using the Libby app can stop reading – I won’t be offended.

"studying" by scottfeldstein is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

What is changing?

As of February 23^rd, the OverDrive app will no longer be available to download from the Apple, Google and Microsoft app stores. The OverDrive desktop software will also be removed from the OverDrive website. Anyone looking to download the OverDrive app will have to download Libby instead.

Libby, which was launched in 2017, offers many features not available in the OverDrive app, including easy set up for new users, a single bookshelf for all loans and holds, push notifications and more customizable options like Dark Mode. To get started using Libby, check out our guide to using the Libby app.

What does this mean for anyone currently using the OverDrive app?

Nothing at the moment. The app will continue to work as normal for the time being. Eventually, the app will officially be retired and everyone will have to use the Libby app, but OverDrive has not said when that will take place. Don’t worry – there will be plenty of notice before the retirement party.

What is staying the same?

• The OverDrive website
• OverDrive software built into Kobo eReaders
• The OverDrive app will remain available for the Kindle Fire as Libby is not available on this device

Where can I find more info?

For more information, read the FAQ on the OverDrive website.

Your library card gives you access to several streaming video options, from BBC classic movies to kids’ cartoons to meditation videos. Today, we’re looking at some of the feature films available on Hoopla.

What is Hoopla?

Hoopla is a platform that we subscribe to for digital movies, music and comics.  You can access up to eight Hoopla streams or downloads per month, free with your library card. For more information, read our Getting Started Guide.

We’ve scoured Hoopla for some of the most exciting movies on offer right now. Here are eight that you might want to check out this month, depending on your mood.

Are you in the mood for…

…a smart, intense buddy comedy?

Blindspotting (2018) Directed by Carlos López Estrada, starring Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal

Daveed Diggs is Collin, an Oakland furniture mover trying to keep his chaotic best friend Miles (Rafael Casal) from getting him thrown back in jail. A complex, witty, intense, elegantly executed story about friendship, race, police violence and trauma. 

…a gentle, moving family drama?

The Farewell (2019) Directed by Lulu Wang, starring Awkwafina and Shuzhen Zhao

Awkwafina charms as Billi, a New Yorker drawn into a family conspiracy. Her beloved grandmother in China has been diagnosed with terminal cancer; her paren'ts stage a fake wedding so that they can all gather with Nai Nai one last time, without letting her know she’s dying. A gentle portrait of familial love amidst cultural differences, overcast with anticipatory grief.  Tissues recommended.

…a giddy, fast-paced screwball classic?

His Girl Friday (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell

This delightful newsroom classic’s dialogue famously clocks in at 240 words per minute — more than twice the speed of most movies. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russel make 1940s Hollywood stardom look ridiculously fun.

Bonus: This movie counts as a bonus view! If you watch it in November 2021, it won’t count towards your eight-title limit.

…an entertaining, thought-provoking monster thriller?

The Host (2006) Directed by Bong Joon Ho, starring Kang-Ho Song and Ko A-Sung

Years before Bong Joon Ho won'the Oscar for Parasite, he was applying his critical sociological eye to the classic creature feature. It turns out you can say a lot about a society by showing how it reacts to a murderous mutant river monster in its midst.  

…a poignant, infuriating-but-inspiring coming-of-age story?

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) Directed by Desirée Akhavan, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane and Forrest Goodluck

1990s teen Cameron is caught in the backseat of a car with her girlfriend. Her paren'ts pack her off to a gay conversion therapy camp. Spoiler alert: she doesn’t convert, but she does make some new friends. Thoughtful, beautifully acted, sometimes upsetting.

…a scary, dreamy, oddball classic?

Night of the Hunter (1955) Directed by Charles Laughton, starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Billy Chapin

Robert Mitchum is memorably terrifying as a sinister preacher who makes a living murdering wealthy widows. An astonishing, weird, expressionistic classic.

…a different scary, dreamy, oddball classic?

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Ivana Baquero and Sergi López

The eleven-year-old stepdaughter of a Fascist captain in Franco’s Spain escapes into a fascinatingly creepy fictional world. A greatest-of-all-time fantasy film for grownups.

…an uplifting, delightful coming-of-age story?

We Are the Best! (2013) Directed by Lukas Moodysson, starring Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin and Liv LeMoyne

Three oddball, irrepressible tweens form a punk band in this charming, upbeat, naturalistic Swedish coming-of-age story. 

Related links

Toronto Public Library in Books and On the Screen

Introducing Kanopy

Stream Theatre Online

If you're a professional in the fields of marketing, accounting, HR , finance, business strategy or management, you're in luck. Your library card now gives you access to two new online resources for business research: Business Source Complete, and home access to CARDonline. 

Business Source Complete

Stay on top of the latest business research. Business Source Complete is a database that gives you access to business journals, company and industry profiles, SWOT analyses, country reports, business videos, case studies and conference papers. It includes over 1,000 global Open Access journals. In some cases, articles are available through Business Source Complete before they appear in print. There's in-depth, full-text coverage of many available journals: Harvard Business Review is full-text from 1922, Fortune is from 1992, Forbes from 1990 and Rotman from 2013. 

You can save articles, share links with other library cardholders, and set alerts for new articles on a given subject. Available titles range from the mainstream (Bloomberg Business Week) to the extremely niche (Australian Journal of Emergency Management). There's something for every interest. Browse a complete list of Journals.

Pro tip: Want to see if we have a particular journal in one of our databases? Use our Online Magazine, Newspaper & Journal Title Search (available in the Articles & Online Research section of tpl.ca). 

Here are a few examples of the kinds of articles you can find in Business Source Complete (you'll need to log in with your library card number and PIN to read them): 

Harvard Business Review, Nov. 1, 2021: How to Succeed Quickly in a New Role by Rob Cross, Greg Pryor and David Sylvester (PDF)

Fortune, Oct./Nov. 2021: Welcome to the TikTok Economy by Jeffrey M. O'Brien and Joe Torino (HTML, PDF, Flipster eMagazine)

Forbes, Oct./Nov. 2021: The Croesus of Crypto by Steven Ehrlich and Chase Peterson-Withorn (HTML, PDF)

Rotman Management Magazine, Fall 2021: Strategic Foresight: How to Think Like a Futurist by Amy Webb (HTML, PDF)

For more information on Business Source Complete, read the Getting Started Guide. 

CARDonline – now available from home

CARDonline is a database of Canadian advertising rates, data and media planning information for advertising, marketing, public relations and communications professionals. Previously, it was only available in person at research and reference libraries. It is now available from anywhere, if you log in through the Toronto Public Library website with a valid library card.

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Niche Market Research Tools & Resources

Free Personal Finance & Investment Research Tools

Free Training Videos for Professional Skills Development

If you have an older Apple device such as an iPad, iPhone or Macbook (running the operating system iOS 9 or earlier), you might be getting error messages when you try to use the OverDrive website, the OverDrive app or the Libby app:

Here’s why: After September 30, 2021, the web certificate provider Let’s Encrypt stopped supporting certain older operating systems and browsers (learn more). Let’s Encrypt certificates are used to create secure connections on many websites and apps, including those from OverDrive.

This internet-wide security change has resulted in a security warning for some OverDrive users (as well as users of many other websites and apps). 

What’s the impact on you?

If you’re using an older Apple device such as an iPad running the iOS 9 operating system, you’re most likely to be affected by this change. You may see a security warning or a “your connection is not private” message when using Libby, the OverDrive app, or your library’s OverDrive website.

If you ignore the security warning and continue to access OverDrive, your data could be compromised, since we can’t verify that you are connecting with a legitimate server. Please note that neither TPL nor OverDrive controls the message displayed within the security warning, and messaging may vary based on your platform and browser.

What should you do?

If you get this error message, you should update your operating system or browser version (if an update is available). All Apple iOS devices that were released after 2012 can update to iOS 10 or newer, which will work after this change. Here are steps to help you update your iOS operating system.

We’re sorry for this interruption to OverDrive services. Apple has discontinued support for its older models due to the latest internet safety standards, and unfortunately, there isn’t much TPL or OverDrive can do in these situations.

Questions? Contact answerline@tpl.ca. 

Looking for in-depth, up-to-date business and finance news? You’re in luck! The digital edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is now available, in English, Chinese and Japanese, with your library card or Digital Access Card.

How to get it

There are two ways you can access the Wall Street Journal: on a library computer in a branch, and on your own computer, tablet or phone.

On a library computer

The WSJ is always available on library computers in branches, with no login required. You can find it under “Articles and Online Resources” on any library computer’s start page. Or open a web browser and go to tpl.ca/wsj (note: this address will only work on library computers).

On your own computer or device

To access the WSJ from a computer or mobile device:

1. Go to tpl.ca and search for “Wall Street Journal”. Select Access Online. You can also browse for the Journal on our Digital Newspapers page or our A-Z List of Databases.
2. You’ll be prompted to create an account with your name, email address, and password.
3. Once you’re done, you’ll have unlimited access to the Journal for three days. When the three days are up, simply log in through the library website again, using the login credentials you created in step 2, for three more days of access — and so on.

Features

When you’re logged in to the WSJ, you can:

• Save articles and videos to your account to refer to later. Select the bookmark icon underneath the article’s byline or at the bottom right of the video screen. To retrieve saved items, open “Saved Content” under “My Account”.
• Share articles using the curved arrow button under the byline. Articles shared in this way won’t be blocked by a paywall for the people you share them with. 
• Access podcasts on business, money, technology, news and more. 
• Create a stock watchlist to keep track of your investments. Select “Watchlist” under “My Account” to get started.
• Sign up for email newsletters on a variety of topics, including news roundups, networking opportunities and multi-week courses on fitness and investing, delivered to your inbox. Select “Newsletters & Alerts” in “My Account”.

Note: WSJ apps are not included with library access — but the Journal’s mobile site offers the same features and content as the apps.

Have you discovered any other useful features of your WSJ account? Let us know in the comments!

Related posts

• Good News! Your library card now gives you access to NYTimes.com
• Read today’s newspaper online with PressReader
• What’s new in digital magazines

You might already be aware that you can read a huge variety of international digital magazines on both OverDrive and PressReader with your library card. But did you know that we have another platform with a collection of specifically Canadian magazines? 

It's called Flipster, and you might be surprised by the range of local magazines you can find on it. There's something for everyone — from Black Girl's Magazine (by and for tweens) to Cycle Canada (for motorcycle afficionados) to Majesty (for fans of the Royal Family). 

Here's just a sampling of the 52 magazines you have to choose from — or log in with your library card or digital access card to explore them all:

Adbusters

The Vancouver-based magazine that initiated the Occupy Wall Street movement and Buy Nothing Day still feels surprisingly fresh and subversive. A few minutes spent browsing its pages might make you realize how strange it feels to read an entire magazine with no ads anywhere in sight. It may make you wonder why that's such a rare experience.

Brick: A Literary Journal

The Summer 2021 issue is a mix of essays, short fiction, art and poetry. It includes a prose poem by Trickster series author Eden Robinson, pandemic-inspired collages by novelist Camilla Gibb, and a transcript of Eleanor Wachtel's interview with cartoonist Chris Ware, among other delights. Well worth your time. 

Broken Pencil

This venerable (26-year-old!) magazine about zines and independent culture is still going strong. The Summer 2021 issue does a deep dive into UFO and conspiracy zines of yesteryear. Writers Joshua Bell and Donna Kossy lament the way old, fun conspiracy theories have been overtaken by new, toxic, more potent ones. There's also a clever piece on using mail art to prevent illegal rent hikes. Punk's not dead! It's just asleep by 11, because it has an early day tomorrow.

Canadian Cycling

Did you know that Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo likes to go biking in Tuscany? Neither did I — but I found out from Canadian Cycling. Features on interesting Canadians (E. R. nurses, in addition to Cuddy) who cycle, recipes by prominent cyclists, tips for beginners and gear reviews round out this issue.

Canada's Local Gardener

You can browse gardening tips in Better Homes and Gardens all you want, but if the featured plants won't grow north of Zone 6, what's the use? Canada's Local Gardener has the scoop for those of us who have to adapt to shorter growing seasons. In addition to a feature on begonias and a piece on the British Royal Family's favourite plants, this issue offers tips on growing your own wheat and potatoes, and building an earth-sheltered greenhouse. 

Quill & Quire

Quill & Quire has been following — and guiding — the Canadian literary conversation for 80 years. This issue features articles on the new focus on joy in books by equity-seeking authors. There's also a profile of francophone author Marie-Claire Blais, and the usual broad selection of reviews, including a feature on Omar El Akkad's new book, What Strange Paradise. (And for those in need of help, there's even a regular advice column from celebrated author, playwright and TPL staffer Brian Francis.)

Today's Paren't 

Paren'ting today involves a lot of decision-making: about how to carry your baby, how to furnish your kids' rooms, where and when to play outdoors, what and how to feed your kids, when to have kids, how to deal with their emotions, and how to respond to the inevitable judgment of your fellow paren'ts. But not to worry! Today's Paren't has advice for all of it, much of it incorporating recipes, detailed instructions and buying guides.

Toronto Life

Toronto Life is a key source of delightful inside dirt on the crimes, scandals and backroom deals that keep our city humming along. And sometimes, like in this month's issue, it's the place you go to find truly useful information, like where to get strawberry mochi ice cream sandwiches this summer. 

The Walrus

Conceived as the Harper's Magazine of the North, The Walrus features meaty articles by some of Canada's leading writers. In this issue, Waubgeshig Rice reflects on life as an Indigenous Leafs fan. Sharon Butala writes about the loneliness of ageing, in an essay that will be anthologized in her new book this fall. And there's short fiction about a Sasquatch-like cryptid by Charlotte Gill. 

Did we miss your favourite Canadian magazine? Let us know in the comments!

Edit: Corrected "Canadian Cycling" in intro to "Cycle Canada" – Sept. 13, 2021

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

EFFECTIVE MAY 23, 2021

TPL introduced the latest version of the Account in 2017 and has supported two versions since that time.

The Old Account portion of our Account service is based on outdated technology that can no longer be integrated with other more modern portions of the website.

Our current, modern Account service does allow these integrations, enabling us to continue to update our site with features and functionalities unavailable with the old version – for example the option to create saved lists of library items.

We’re sorry for the frustrations this may cause, and thank you for your understanding as we continue to evolve and modernize our services.

Access your account via our updated, mobile-friendly version where you can view your card expiry date, save items to lists, option to turn off images when printing and more.

Si vous êtes passionné de la littérature en français, vous serez ravi de découvrir Cantook Station.

Cette collection numérique a au-delà de 5000 livres et livres audio accessibles en ligne avec votre carte de bibliothèque.

Les adultes et adolescents y trouveront des romans et bandes dessinées en tous genres, ainsi qu’une sélection de non-fiction. Pour les jeunes, on offre des albums, premières lectures, premiers romans et romans, ainsi que des bandes dessinées et des livres documentaires. Des listes thématiques vous aideront à explorer la sélection, mettant en vedette des auteurs franco-ontariens, la littérature autochtone, et bien davantage.

Les livres de Cantook Station sont compatibles avec de nombreuses liseuses et tablettes. Les applications mobiles Aldiko ou Pocketbook eReader sont conseillées pour les ouvrir.

Livres audio

Pour ceux et celles qui préfèrent leurs lectures racontées à voix haute, Cantook Station a une collection importante de livres audio. Ici encore, vous trouverez des œuvres pour enfants, adolescents et adultes. Ces livres audio sont disponibles en diffusion, en direct de votre navigateur internet – aucun logiciel ou appli requis.

Voici quelques livres et livres audio notables de la collection :

Villes de papier de Dominique Fortier

Cette exploration de la vie de la poète Emily Dickinson a ébloui des lecteurs et lectrices au Canada et à l’international. Disponible en livre et livre audio.

Les dragouilles de Maxime Cyr et Karine Gottot

Voyagez autour du monde avec les dragouilles, ces petites bêtes cornues et espiègles au croisement du dragon et de la patate. Vous trouverez la série au complète dans notre collection.

Kukum de Michel Jean

Le roman passionnant de Michel Jean, inspiré de la vie de son arrière-grand-mère. Disponible en livre et livre audio.

Sergent Billy de Mireille Messier

La vraie histoire d’un brave héros de guerre… qui était un chevreau!

Le K ne se prononce pas de Souvankham Thammavongsa

Lauréat du Prix Giller en 2020, découvrez l’immense talent Souvankham Thammavongsa, traduite ici par Véronique Lessard.

Autopsie des fantômes de Philippe Charlier

Cette histoire du surnaturel est une invitation à voyager dans l’autre monde, à la rencontre de ceux qui croient aux fantômes, ceux qui réfutent leur existence, et ceux qui cherchent la vérité.

Les enfants sont rois de Delphine de Vigan

À travers l’histoire de deux femmes aux destins contraires, le nouveau roman de Delphine de Vigan explore les dérives d’une époque où l’on ne vit que pour être vu.

Le monstre du Lac Baker de Denis M. Boucher

Le lac Baker du Haut Madawaska serait-il infesté par un monstre? Trois jeunes écoliers acadiens (et leur chien) plongent dans leur première enquête!

Mes ruptures avec Laura Dean de Mariko Tamaki

Lorsque Frederica Riley est sortie avec Laura Dean, la plus populaire, drôle et attirante fille du lycée, ce fût l’un des plus beaux jours de sa vie. Depuis, tout a changé…

Dans le ventre du Congo de Blaise Ndala

L'histoire de la princesse Tshala Nyota Moelo, qui nous plonge au coeur du « village congolais » de l'Exposition universelle et internationale de Bruxelles de 1958.

Avez-vous déjà exploré Cantook Station ? Partagez vos avis dans les commentaires ! 

Toronto Public Library Board – Meeting No. 5
Tuesday, May 25, 2021, 6:00 p.m. to 7:20 p.m.

Dial-in information

<!--

Meeting access information will be provided in advance of the meeting.

Members of the public may access the meeting via Webex at the following link:
https://tpl.webex.com/tpl/onstage/g.php?MTID=e8c84a84341209593b08f2330de65e106
passcode: Welcome

Once logged in, click on the audio button to either listen to the call over your computer or have the system dial you back.

Members of the public may also access the meeting by telephone by dialing:
647-484-1596, followed by the Access Code: 129 222 7231

This meeting will be presented with live captioning. To view the captions, please follow this link: https://link.ai.media/session?plink=TPL

A caption viewer will open in a new window or tab. You can adjust the settings using the gear icon in the upper right corner. The captions will show when the meeting starts.

Land Acknowledgement Statement

Toronto Reference Library is on Indigenous land. This is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations Confederacy), the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Toronto Public Library gratefully acknowledges these Indigenous nations for their guardianship of this land. We’d also like to remind and reaffirm, as Torontonians and Canadians, our accountability to these Indigenous nations, and to all Indigenous peoples and communities living in Toronto.

This land is also part of the Dish with One Spoon territory, a treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations Confederacy), the Anishinaabek and allied nations, to peaceably share and care for this land, its waters, and all of the biodiversity in the Great Lakes region. All those who come to live and work here are responsible for honouring this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect.

Members:

• Councillor Paul Ainslie
• Sarwar Choudhury
• Andrea Geddes Poole
• Sue Graham-Nutter
• Jonathan Hoss
• Jennifer Liu
• Alison Menary
• Councillor Gord Perks
• Alim Remtulla

Agenda and Reports

(Revisions marked with two asterisks**)

1. Call to Order
2. Declarations of Conflicts of Interest
3. Approval of Agenda
4. Confirmation of April 13, 2021 City Librarian’s Performance Review Committee Meeting Minutes (PDF)
5. Confirmation of April 13, 2021 City Librarian’s Performance Review Committee Meeting Closed Meeting Minutes
6. Confirmation of April 26, 2021 Toronto Public Library Board Meeting Minutes (PDF)
7. Confirmation of April 26, 2021 Toronto Public Library Board Closed Meeting Minutes
8. Approval of Consent Agenda Items
   All Consent Agenda Items (*) are considered to be routine and are recommended for approval by the Chair. They may be enacted in one motion or any item may be held for discussion.
9. Business Arising from the Minutes
10. * City Librarian’s Report
11. Communications
12. **Presentations
    • Intellectual Freedom Challenges – 2020 Annual Report
      Anthony Nolan
13. TPL Board Education – Career Coaches in Residence Program

Item for Information:

14. Audit Year-End Report – December 31, 2020 – Toronto Public Library Board (PDF)
    Kevin Travers, CPA, CA, Lead Audit Engagement Partner, KPMG LLP, in attendance

Items for Action:

15. 2020 Audited Financial Statements – Toronto Public Library Board (PDF)
    Kevin Travers, CPA, CA, Lead Audit Engagement Partner, KPMG LLP, in attendance
16. Operating Budget Monitoring Report – March 31, 2021 (PDF)
17. Capital Budget Monitoring Report – March 31, 2021 (PDF)
18. *Integrated Pest Management – Award of Contract (PDF)
19. *Bayview Branch Lease Extension (PDF)

Item for Information:

20. (a) **COVID-19 Update Verbal

20. Intellectual Freedom Challenges – 2020 Annual Report (PDF)
21. *Accounts Written off in 2020 (PDF)
22. *Board Resolutions – Status Report (PDF)
23. Adjournment

About Board Meetings

Closed Meeting Requirements:
If the Toronto Public Library Board wants to meet in closed session (privately), a member of the Board must make a motion to do so and give the reason why the Board has to meet privately (Public Libraries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.44, s. 16.1).

Attendant Care Services can be made available with some notice.

Not all Board documents are available electronically. All documents are available from the City Librarian’s office. Please contact Philippa Williamson at 416-393-7215 or pwilliamson@tpl.ca

Have you learned to code, use Excel or do graphic design lately? Then you may know that your library card gives you free access to Lynda.com. Lynda.com is an online learning platform with over 7,000 instructional videos in subjects such as coding, software, marketing, graphic design and management. 

In 2015, LinkedIn, the career-focused social network, acquired Lynda.com. Over the past couple of years, they've been adding Lynda.com's videos to a platform they call LinkedIn Learning. And now, it's our turn to make the move. On April 29, 2021, our Lynda.com platform will switch over to LinkedIn Learning for Library. 

What does this mean for Lynda users? All good things.

More languages

One limitation of Lynda.com was that its videos were only available in English. LinkedIn Learning for Library offers all the same content as before, plus 9,000 more videos in English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish, in an updated, easier-to-use interface.

Keep your progress

Already learning in Lynda.com? When you log in to LinkedIn Learning for Library for the first time, your course history will move over with you. You'll be able to carry on with your courses uninterrupted. 

Maintain your privacy

You won't have to create a LinkedIn account in order to continue learning. You'll only need to enter your library card number and PIN to log in — just like you did with Lynda.com. And LinkedIn for Library won't store any personal data — only your card number, your PIN and your course progress.

Please note that your Lynda.com account will be temporarily unavailable on the day of the switch (that's Thursday, April 29th).

There is one slight downside: the commercial version of LinkedIn Learning lets you automatically share course completion certificates on your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn Learning for Library won't provide this service, even if you have a LinkedIn account, because it doesn't store your personal information. On the plus side, you still get access to all the old and new videos on the platform, without having to give up your data. And you can still post on LinkedIn that you've completed courses — it just won't happen automatically.

More updates are coming: LinkedIn Learning will make its mobile app compatible with the library platform soon. In the meantime, you'll be able to access the mobile web version of the platform via your phone or tablet.

What do you think of this change? Let us know in the comments!

Do you want to learn more about playing the stock market? Trying to sort out your RRSPs from your TFSAs in time for tax season? Whatever your personal finance needs, we have free information and expertise for you.

Databases

Anyone who wants to do in-depth stock market research will find these financial databases useful:

Value Line

Value Line is a great place to start learning about investing. It's a financial database featuring rankings of over 6,000 large to mid-cap stocks, 18,000 mutual funds, and 200,000 options, convertibles, and special situation investment opportunities. Stock quotes are updated daily, with a 15-minute delay. Other statistics including overall U.S. Stock Exchange performance are updated daily, while rankings are updated weekly. Value Line also offers company, industry, and market reports and commentaries, along with educational articles, a glossary of investment terms and investment tools.

Getting Started with Value Line

FP Advisor

FP Advisor is a collection of databases from Financial Post Data, among other sources. It offers many of the same features as Value Line, but with a Canadian focus. It features financial and operational information on Canada's top 450 publicly traded companies, including mid-cap and large cap companies. It also offers historical, investor and industry reports.

Getting Started with FP Advisor

Programs

From January to March, we're hosting online programs to help you learn more about personal finance. Here are a few upcoming live events:

Holistic Wealth: How to Find Happiness and Prosperity after Loss, with Keisha Blair, February 9, 1 pm

Retirement Planning During a Pandemic with Mike Drak, February 23, 7 pm

How To File A Simple Tax Return, March 17, 2 pm

See all upcoming personal finance programs

And here are some recorded videos of past events:

• Make Tax Your Hero
• TFSAs: What You Need to Know
• Effective Tax Strategies
• Beat the Bank: The Canadian Guide for Simply Successful Investing
• Niche Market Research for Entrepreneurs

Reading Lists

Start the new year right! Join One eRead Canada,the first national, bilingual (English and French) digital eBook club. More than 600 public libraries, from St John’s to Nanaimo to Whitehorse, will take part. This year, we'll be reading the exquisite and celebrated novel Vi by Kim Thúy.

From January 1 to 31, 2021, 85 per cent of all public libraries in Canada will offer free, unlimited access to Vi by Kim Thúy, in eBook and eAudiobook formats.You can borrow Vi on OverDrive (English) and Cantook Station (French), without holds or waitlists.

Vi is a masterful novel about the lives and experiences of Vietnamese refugees in Canada. This is your chance to have a taste of Vi’s life. Read about her escape from Vietnam. Hear about her first love. Witness her journey of self-discovery in a story that will take you across the globe from Vietnam to Canada to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The author will take part in a live Q&A on Facebook on January 19 (in English) and January 20 (in French) at 7 pm. She'll discuss some of the many themes that arise from this moving work. Until then, you can connect with readers across the country by joining the One eRead Canada Facebook Group. You can also take part on social media by using the hashtag #1eReadCanada. Every week in January, we will post a discussion question about the book.

One eRead Canada also supports the Canadian Urban Libraries Council’s ongoing campaign, eContent for Libraries. Libraries want to work with the big publishers to establish fair pricing models that can benefit everyone and ensure equitable access to digital content such as eBooks and eAudiobooks. Collaborative library initiatives like One eRead Canada introduce readers and listeners to new books and authors, positively impacting sales of digital content – to the benefit of publishers, authors and readers.

Prenez part au premier club de lecture numérique bilingue national en janvier 2021

Commencez la nouvelle année de la bonne manière! Prenez part à Un Livrel Canada, le premier club de lecture numérique bilingue national (anglais et français) mettant en vedette le roman exquis et célèbre Vi de Kim Thúy. Des lecteurs de St John’s à Nanaimo à Whitehorse ainsi que plus de 600 bibliothèques publiques prendront part à ce club de lecture simultané.

Du 1er au 31 janvier 2021, 85 pourcent de toutes les bibliothèques publiques du Canada offriront un accès gratuit et illimité à Vi de Kim Thúy, dans les formats numérique et audionumérique. Le livre sera disponible, sur OverDrive et Cantook Station, dans les deux langues – sans liste d'attente – avec rien d'autre que votre carte de bibliothèque.

Ce roman magistral sur la vie et l’expérience des réfugiés vietnamiens au Canada a été finaliste pour le Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général en traduction en 2019 et sélectionné pour le Prix Scotiabank Giller en 2018. Vous aurez l’occasion d’avoir un aperçu de la vie de Vi; lire – en anglais ou en français – son évasion du Vietnam, entendre parler de son premier amour et être témoin de son voyage de découverte de soi pendant une histoire qui vous emmènera à travers le monde, du Vietnam au Canada jusqu'à la chute du mur de Berlin.

L'auteure participera à une séance de questions-réponses en direct sur Facebook le 19 janvier en anglais et le 20 janvier en français à 19 heures pour discuter de certains des nombreux thèmes qui découlent de ce travail extrêmement émouvant. En attendant, vous pouvez commencer immédiatement à vous connecter avec des lecteurs de partout au pays en rejoignant le groupe Facebook Un Livrel Canada ou en utilisant le mot-clic #UnLivrelCanada. Chaque semaine en janvier, nous publierons une question sur les thèmes, les personnages et sur vos impressions générales du livrel.

En plus d'être une expérience de lecture simultané bilingue dans tout le pays, Un Livrel Canada souligne la campagne en cours du Conseil des bibliothèques urbaines du Canada, #NumériquePourLesBiblios. Les bibliothèques veulent travailler avec les grands éditeurs pour établir des modèles de tarification équitables qui peuvent profiter à tous et garantir un accès équitable au contenu numérique tel que les livres numériques et audionumériques. Les initiatives en collaboration des bibliothèques comme Un Livrel Canada présentent aux lecteurs et aux auditeurs de nouveaux livres et auteurs, ce qui a un impact positif sur les ventes de contenu numérique – au profit des éditeurs, des auteurs et des lecteurs.

You've set a new record! This year, Torontonians borrowed more than 8 million ebooks. That's compared to 6.6 million in 2019.

Each year for the past five years, Toronto Public Library has lent more ebooks than any other library system in the world. (Last year, Los Angeles and Wisconsin came second and third, respectively.) We're aiming for the top spot again in 2020 – stay tuned!

This year, there was a significant spike in ebook borrowing starting in March, when library branches shut down. Overall, ebook usage is up about 32% over last year. 

The eight millionth ebook borrowed was Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom, a 2005 novel about Saxons battling Vikings that the Observer called "like Game of Thrones, but real". Cornwell's Saxon Stories series, of which this is the first volume, was adapted for television under the title "The Last Kingdom" by the BBC starting in 2015, and acquired by Netflix in 2018. The last season was released this July. 

There's something for everyone in our ebook collection!

If you'd like to see, in real time, what ebooks people are borrowing, take a look at our OverDrive dashboard.

Keep reading, Toronto!

Edit: Last year's third-most-ebook-circulating library system was incorrectly identified as Singapore. In fact, it was the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium. We regret the error.  

Lynda.com is now LinkedIn Learning! LinkedIn Learning will have similar courses to those listed below.

Lynda.com offers over 3,500 video courses on various subjects including web design, software development, photography, business skills, graphic design, audio, music, video editing and much more. Dozens of courses are added each week, so you can always find something new to learn! These self-paced, online tutorials are all free to use use with a TPL card. To follow the links below to these courses, you will need to sign in with your library card. Course descriptions are all from Lynda.com.

Check Out these Recently Added Courses:

Communication Foundations

"This course helps you communicate better in a variety of professional situations, including meetings, email messages, pitches, and presentations. Instructors Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes introduce the four building blocks of communication—people, message, context, and listening—and show how they apply in different circumstances."

Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is the ability to think reflectively and independently in order to make thoughtful decisions. By focusing on root-cause issues critical thinking helps you avoid future problems that can result from your actions. In this course, leadership trainer and expert Mike Figliuolo outlines a series of techniques to help you develop your critical thinking skills."

Writing a Resume

"Finding a great job starts with writing a great resume, one that speaks to your personal and professional strengths. Learn how to write a resume that stands out and makes employers take notice."

Help Yourself: Tech Tips

"If you are interested in troubleshooting your own computer issues, this series is the answer. The tips are equally useful to end users, small businesses that perform their own IT, and enterprise IT help desks that want to reduce Level 1 service tickets. Instructor Dan Gookin focuses on the Windows PC, covering topics related to hardware, networking, security, and the operating system itself. No preexisting knowledge is required."

Marketing Your Professional Service

"Marketing any kind of professional service—from legal representation to music lessons—requires a certain finesse. As you're selling your expertise and time instead of a tangible product, your marketing content must quickly establish that you're trustworthy, highly skilled, and able to tackle a pressing problem."

Learning Python

"Python—the popular and highly readable object-oriented language—is both powerful and relatively easy to learn. Whether you're new to programming or an experienced developer, this course can help you get started with Python."

Photoshop for Web Design

"Working in web design involves creating UI (user interface) elements—icons, graphics, wireframes, and mockups. Adobe Photoshop provides the capabilities needed to make these design elements transition smoothly and easily to production. In this course, learn how to use Photoshop for modern web design workflows."

Creating Your Personal Brand

"Your personal brand is your reputation and legacy. A strong personal brand can lead to job and career opportunities. A weak personal brand leaves you liable to be passed by. In this course, personal branding expert Lida Citroën helps you identify what your personal brand is now and align it with the brand you want for yourself in the future."

Microsoft Collaboration: SharePoint, Teams, and Groups

"Learn how to create organization-wide systems of collaboration using Microsoft SharePoint, Teams, and Office 365 Groups. Instructor Gini von Courter dives into each of the programs, showing you how to create systems for asynchronous collaboration, such as file sharing, as well as communication-based collaboration that's targeted to specific members or groups inside an organization."

Wish you had easy access to TPL’s digital collections but don’t yet have a library card? If you live in Toronto and you’re over the age of 13, you can now quickly and easily register for the new TPL Digital Access Card. With it, you get free instant access to all of TPL’s digital collections – including ebooks, eaudiobooks, emagazines and newspapers, streaming movies and music, databases and more! 

You can register for a Digital Access Card by completing the online application. You will be asked to provide your name, Toronto address and other information.

If your information can be fully validated by the online system, you will be issued a Digital Access Card that expires in one year.

If your information can not be fully validated, you will be issued a temporary Digital Access Card that expires in 30 days. In order to continue accessing digital resources and services, you will need to visit a branch with identification and have your temporary Digital Access Card number converted to a full-service card.

You will receive confirmation of your registration in an email, along with your new Digital Access Card number. Use it to log into your account and to access all of TPL’s digital resources. 

If you’d like to place holds or borrow physical library materials, you’ll need to visit us in-person at one of our branches to convert your Digital Access Card to a full service TPL library card.

At this time, the TPL Digital Access Card is available to Toronto residents 13 years and older who do not have an existing TPL library card. We will work on extending eligibility to children and those who are not residents but work or go to school or own property in Toronto. 

All set up with your new digital card? Be sure to read up on 38 Ways to Use the Library from Home which has great suggestions from our staff. Have fun!

Still have questions or having trouble registering? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help you!

Attention indie writers: wondering what to do with your NaNoWriMo masterpiece? Or do you have a manuscript you'd love to share with library users?

You're in luck! With three library services — BiblioBoard, Pressbooks and the Indie Author Project — you have all the tools you need to format your book and share it with the world.

Here's how to publish your book and share it with library readers, in three easy steps:

1. Create a BiblioBoard account.

BiblioBoard is a digital library of self-published ebooks. It features books by local authors as well as a selection of  the best indie ebooks from across North America, curated by readers at Library Journal.  (See the Indie Author Project, below). 

Creating an account is free. You only need to make up a username and password — all other information is optional. And it gives you access to thousands of self-published ebooks, as well as to the Pressbooks publishing service.

2. Use your BiblioBoard account to log in to Pressbooks.

Pressbooks Public is online software that lets you design and format any kind of ebook, including:

• PDF: for print or print on demand
• EPUB: for Apple iBooks, Nook, Kobo and most other ebook platforms
• MOBI: for Kindle
• Webbook: your book in website format, either private or public

Pressbooks Public is free to use. It provides professional-looking templates for formatting your book. There's a detailed user guide and a collection of videos to help you get started.

3. Submit your formatted book to the Indie Author Project.

The Indie Author Project is a publishing community built to help libraries find and share the best indie ebooks. The Indie Author Project partners with curators, including readers from Library Journal. These readers vet every book submitted. They select some titles for distribution across North America via BiblioBoard (see above). But if your book is not selected, or you only want to distribute it locally, you can still include it in Biblioboard's Indie Ontario collection!

Submitting your book takes a few simple steps. It costs nothing. And you'll retain copyright, so if you want to publish somewhere else later on, you're free to do so.

Do you have a manuscript you're burning to share? Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month? Let us know in the comments!

Whether you're in school or mid-career, sometimes you're going to run into new situations where you don't know what to do. Now, we have a resource you can'turn to for guidance. SAGE Video is a collection of educational videos for students and professionals in the following areas:

• Leadership
• Business & Management
• Counselling & Psychotherapy
• Nursing

Leadership

Being a leader presents issues that cut across all professions. For every leader, from small business owners to Fortune 500 CEOs, theatre directors to firefighters, SAGE Video offers advice and inspiration. Topics covered include:

• Leadership contexts: Video profiles of leaders illustrate issues in leadership in the science, education, health and arts sectors, among others.
• Leadership styles: Case studies and interviews explore different forms and styles of leadership, from the democratic (a worker's cooperative) to the autocratic (a fire station). 
• Leadership in practice: Leaders from school principals to CEOs talk about how to create a positive work environment.

Business & Management

Are you a budding entrepreneur? Trying to grow a family business? Have you run into an ethical problem at work? Or maybe you need to learn more about the nuts and bolts of marketing, accounting or human resources. SAGE Video has hundreds of case studies, lectures and interviews for every interest and situation. Here are a few examples:

• Human Resource Management: Leadership coach Tyrone Pitsis talks about how he would handle a narcissistic CEO. 
• Corporate Social Responsibility: Staff at tech startup Freeformers explain an innovative training system that serves people in need while building employee skills. 
• Accounting: A video takes a deep dive into Apple's 2010 balance sheet to illustrate some key elements of accounting.

Counselling & Psychotherapy

For new counsellors, therapists and coaches, and those who want to expand their skills, SAGE Video offers a wide range of training materials on subjects including:

• Listening and counselling skills: Videos of people emoting let you practice reading nonverbal cues.
• Multicultural counselling: Recorded counselling sessions help you to learn about navigating cultural differences with clients.
• Client groups: A series of tutorials introduces trauma-informed therapy practices.

Nursing

Nursing demands complex skills, from the practical — dressing a wound — to the abstract — navigating a health care system's structures and protocols. SAGE videos offers hundreds of videos covering all of these considerations and more:

• Clinical nursing skills: Instructional videos demonstrate nursing skills such as assessing wounds, administering medication and taking vital signs.
• Ethics: Case studies and lectures explain how to avoid negligence and maintain patient confidentiality.
• Working with vulnerable populations: Interviews with nursing professionals introduce topics such as caring for the elderly, achieving equitable treatment for LGBTQ2s+ populations and forensic nursing.

All videos are free with your library card, and come with downloadable transcripts and citation tools.

Do you miss theatre? What would you give to watch Benedict Cumberbatch staggering across the stage in a loincloth and horror makeup as Frankenstein's Monster? Or Gillian Anderson swanning around in a pink kimono as Blanche Dubois?

Leah Harvey and CJ Beckford in the National Theatre's Production of Small Island

Or Leah Harvey and CJ Beckford in Small Island (above)?

Now you can do all of the above, from the comfort of  home using your library card, thanks to our Streaming Theatre Collections.

National Theatre Collection

Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus. Gillian Anderson in A Streetcar Named Desire. James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors! The National Theatre Collection offers 30 plays, plus scripts, costume designs and mor. Here's the trailer for Benedict Cumberbatch's turn in Frankenstein:

Broadway HD Collection

A small but intense collection of 19 Broadway classics. Includes some surprising star turns. A very young Dustin Hoffman as a nebbishy writer in Journey of the Fifth Horse. Orlando Bloom as a dirtbike-riding Romeo. And of course there are musicals. Here's the trailer for David Horn's Tony-winning 2017 production of Indecent:

Theatre in Video

For actors (and fans): A grab bag of nearly 600 instructional videos, interviews, and full-length performances. Learn about theatre safety and how to block a scene. Discover classical Japanese puppets. Watch four different Hamlets and a documentary about Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty.

The Royal Shakespeare Company Collection

Attention, students! Watch over 40 different Shakespeare plays, including school favourites like Hamlet and King Lear. Includes closed captions, transcripts and citation tools. (And if they don't have the play you need, check the other collections. There's Shakespeare all over the place!)

Audio Drama: L.A. Theatre Works Collection

If you like theatre and podcasts, you'll love this collection of 300+ plays in streaming audio from the archive of L.A. Theatre Works. (Myself, I started with two plays by Tom Stoppard – Arcadia and The Real Thing – and now I'm hooked. Up next: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's dinosaur adventure play, The Lost World.)

Performance Design Archive

For researchers, designers and true theatre addicts: take a deep dive into the archive. Browse thousands of watercolour sketches of sets and costumes, from the 17th century through to the present day. Search for productions, designers and time periods. This is the first comprehensive, international collection to cover all aspects of theater production design, including scenic and set design, lighting design, sound design, costume design and makeup.

Theatre in Context

And still more for researchers. Do you like ephemera? Here are 40,000 pages of reference works, encyclopedias, images, flyers, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks and other resources.

Image credit: Edu Grande (edgr/CC0)

Does anyone else have fond memories of second-hand record stores? Flipping through crates of old vinyl, finding music you didn't even know you wanted? 

Naxos Music Library is the closest digital thing I've found to that sense of discovery. Naxos has been collecting, organizing and digitally distributing classical, jazz and world music since the 90s. And it shows — both in its slightly clunky interface, and in the amazing depth and breadth of its collections.

And now, we've added Naxos Music Library (World): 13,000+ additional albums to stream, download, and sort into playlists for your computer, phone or tablet.

What you'll find

We offer three separate collections from Naxos:

Naxos Music Library

Over 150,000 albums, mostly classical, from over 950 record labels. This includes Sony Classical, RCA Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and hundreds more. More about the Naxos Music Library:

• searchable by composer, artist, album, work, record label, and keyword
• browsable by genre (look under "Pop and Rock" for scads of movie soundtracks)
• includes a music dictionary, aural training programs, music appreciation courses and graded music exam playlists
• classical workout playlists (there's one for weights that runs from O Fortuna to Ride of the Valkyries. Yesss!)
• hours-long playlists of kid-friendly classical music, including lullabies 

Naxos Music Library (Jazz)

Nearly 20,000 albums, by over 32,000 artists, from over 400 labels. Highlights include:

• the Nina Simone playlist you didn't know you were craving (not to mention 17 full Nina Simone albums)
• four volumes of mixtapes from Stax Records
• tasteful jazz Christmas party soundtracks
• playlists by instrument – all the great piano, trumpet, and saxophone players

NEW: Naxos Music Library (World) 

We've just started offering this collection of over 13,000 albums from all over the world. Some things you might stumble upon while browsing:

• Thousands of albums from around the world, browsable by continent and region. 
• The entire Smithsonian Folkways collection, including albums by Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and Dave Van Ronk, 1960s Russian language learning LPs, a 1950s bongo drum instruction album, and far too many other gems and curiosities to mention.

How to access Naxos Music Library

You can explore all three Naxos Music Library collections on your computer. Just sign in to your TPL account with your library card number and PIN, select Access Online, and wait for the redirect:

• Naxos Music Library
• Naxos Music Library Jazz
• Naxos Music Library World

But if you have a smartphone or tablet, we recommend accessing Naxos Music Library through its apps. This way, you can'take your music with you, download tracks for offline listening and even create your own playlists. 

Using a Naxos app on a smartphone or tablet

1. Access the Naxos collection you want, using your library card number and PIN.
   • Naxos Music Library
   • Naxos Music Library (Jazz)
   • Naxos Music Library (World)
2. Create a Naxos account (this is the tricky part!)
   • On the Naxos home page, select Playlists. 
   • On the Playlists page, select Sign Up, and create a username and password.
     Tip: You'll have to sign up for each Naxos collection separately, but you can use the same username and password each time, if you like.
3. Download your preferred Naxos app(s) for iPhone or Android.
   • NML iPhone | Android
   • NML (Jazz) iPhone | Android
   • NML (World) iPhone | Android
4. Sign in to the app with the account you created in step 2, and start browsing!
   Tip: If you don't use your Naxos app for a number of months, you'll have to log in through the Naxos site again. 

Have you found anything amazing or unexpected in Naxos Music Library? Let us know in the comments!

Related links

• Listen: Naxos Music Library discussed on TPL's Shelve Under: Podcast
• Stream Live Classical Concerts and More with Medici.tv

SAGE Video is an educational resource that provides access to over 3,000 streaming videos in the fields of business, management, education, social sciences, psychology, nursing and more. These videos are developed with leading academics and practitioners who are experts in their fields.

Image in the public domain via Pixabay.

A Toronto Public Library card is all you need to gain access to these educational and informative videos!

You can access SAGE Videos directly through our website, from our eLearning page or from the A-Z List of Databases.

The content is presented in a variety of formats depending on your needs and preferences. This includes: interviews with experts, lectures, quick reference definitions, tutorials and observational footage.

Here are some of the SAGE Videos features:

• Ability to browse content by collection and by subject
• Quick search and advanced search options
• Search by subject collection, genre type or format
• Summary of each video 
• Mobile friendly
• Option to Copy and paste citations in APA, Chicago, MLA, or Harvard formats
• Downloadable transcript to PDF format
• Closed captioning and keyboard-controlled shortcuts for accessibility
• Create an account with Sage Video to save your content and create lists

Have you tried SAGE video? What do you think of it? Tell us below in the comments!

Edited July 2, 9:45 am to update the availability date from June 30 to July 31

Edited January 1, 2023 to reflect that SAGE Video is now offered continually.

This post is no longer being updated. Visit our eBooks & Online Content page for digital books, movies, magazines and more! – August 17, 2022

Here's a quick guide to all of the online services you can use with your library card. And now, if you don't have a library card, you can register online for a Digital Access Card that gives you access to everything listed below! 

For Kids

Need ideas for songs, games, stories, crafts, activities – and help with schoolwork? We've got you covered.

Ready for Reading

We've created a collection of songs, stories, activities and games to help your little ones aged 0-5 develop their early literacy skills. 

TPL Kids

Fun polls, contests, jokes and riddles, and a Wonder Wall of kid-submitted questions and answers for school-aged children. Plus: check out the blog for recommended reading and fun activities, written for kids by our librarians!

TPL Kids' Programs on YouTube

From story times to maker activities, our kids' YouTube channel has fun, educational online programs for kids aged 0-12.

TPL Kids' Programs on Crowdcast

Catch live puppet shows, virtual book clubs, STEM programs and much more — or watch the recordings later!

TPL's Growing a Reader Blog

Ideas and resources for paren'ts on developing a love of reading in kids, by TPL librarians.

OverDrive Kids

An amazing collection of ebooks and educational videos – including readalong books with audio, books in sign language, and more.

Cantook Station Jeunesse

French-language ebooks for kids of all ages.

Kanopy Kids

Watch fun and educational videos, including Sesame Street, Franklin and Friends, and more.

Hoopla Kids Mode

Select "Kids" at the top of the Hoopla page to browse only kid-friendly music, movies and comics. You get 8 Hoopla plays per library card per month.

Brainfuse

Free, live online tutoring for students from kindergarten to Grade 12. 

Dial-A-Story

Children's stories in over 16 languages, available over the phone. Dial 416-395-5400.

TD Summer Reading Club Activities

Canada’s biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages, interests, and abilities. Their site has jokes, colouring sheets, trivia and more that you can enjoy all year 'round!

Online Books

If you don't have enough books at home, here's an easy way to stock up:

OverDrive eBooks & eAudiobooks

This is the best place to start: a massive collection of ebooks, audiobooks and videos. Includes collections for kids and teens, as well as small collections in Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese. Borrow up to 30 items at a time; place up to 30 holds.

Pro tips:

• For most readers, the easiest way to use the OverDrive collection is with the Libby ereader app on your phone or tablet.
• Want to read something right away? Browse the "Always Available Audiobooks" and "Best Bets – 7 Day Loan" collections. Or choose a collection to browse, and select the "Available Now" filter.

Cantook Station

French-language ebooks and eaudiobooks available from Franco-Ontarian, Québecois and international publishers. 

O'Reilly Learning (formerly Safari Tech books)

The latest ebooks and videos from major technology and business publishers. Always available – no holds required.

Biblioboard

Self-published ebooks by local and international indie authors.

Online Book Clubs

Discover new books, have fun, connect with your fellow readers.

TPL Reading Challenge

Download our challenge and read 12 books in 12 categories. Join your fellow readers to discuss what you're reading in our Facebook Group.  

Online Book Clubs

A variety of live, online book discussion groups for adults and teens, all interests. Registration required.

Movies and Music

If you get tired of reading (as if!), it's always good to have something to watch or listen to as a backup.

Kanopy

Stream from a great collection of classic films, world cinema, documentaries and popular movies. You get up to eight plays per month, per library card. 

Hoopla 

Current and popular movies and music. 8 plays per library card per month. 

Streaming Theatre Video Collection

Includes videos from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre (featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein!) and more. 

BBC Literary Adaptations in Video

BBC TV series based on literary classics. Yes, it includes the Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth as Darcy (AND the Hamlet with Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius).

Medici.tv

Stream unlimited classical and jazz concerts, ballets, operas, music documentaries and musical master classes from around the world.

Naxos Music Library

Music spanning medieval to modern in three distinct collections: classical, jazz, and world music. (Note: Naxos can accommodate 100 users at a time. If you're turned away, try again in a little while.) Download the apps for music on the go!

Newspapers and Magazines

Stay current on the news or find magazines that support your favourite hobby. (Or your celebrity addiction – we won't judge).

OverDrive Magazines

Current and recent issues of popular magazines including The Economist, the New Yorker, Cosmopolitan, and many more.

PressReader

Full-page images of current and recent newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries, in over 60 languages. Includes the Toronto Star, the Los Angeles Times, and the Guardian.

NYTimes.com

Current news and archived articles from the New York Times.

Flipster Magazines

Current issues of popular magazines including The Atlantic, Maclean’s, Chatelaine and more. (Note: some titles have limited availability; if the one you want isn't available, wait a little while and try again.)

The Wall Street Journal

Business and finance news from the Wall Street Journal.

Comics

Did you know we have digital comics too? All kinds: single-issue comics and original graphic novels.

OverDrive Comics

DC and Marvel superhero comics, Archie comics, Harlequin Romance comics, and many more. Borrow up to 30 at a time; place up to 30 holds. 

Hoopla Comics

Always-available comics including Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and more. As of March 20, we have increased your Hoopla credits to 8 items per library card per month. 

Online Learning

Keep your brain occupied! Feed your interests or take the time to learn a new skill.

LinkedIn Learning for Library (formerly known as Lynda.com)

Video courses on software development, business, design, photography and more. 

O'Reilly Learning (formerly Safari Tech and Business Books Online)

Video courses and ebooks on technology and business topics. (Note: O'Reilly can accommodate 45 users at a time. If you're turned away, try again in a little while.)

SAGE video

Streaming video provides lectures, case studies and interviews with experts in the fields of business, management, psychotherapy, and nursing.

HSTalks

Lectures with slide presentations by leading experts on business, management, and biomedical and life sciences.

Gale Courses

Instructor-led, 6-week courses on accounting, college readiness, creative writing, American Sign Language, and much more. 

Mango Languages

Interactive courses in 71 different languages, including English as a Second Language.

Brainfuse Adult Learning Centre

Live, one-on-one help with academic and career goals, including high school equivalency preparation, résumé writing, citizenship test prep and more.

The Great Courses

Audiobook collections of university-level lectures on a huge range of topics, delivered by professors.

Research Tools

JSTOR

Archive of articles from scholarly journals for arts, sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Digital Archive

Instant access to rare historical photos, maps, books and more.

Genealogy Research

Heritage Quest

Additional resources for genealogical research, always available from home. Includes over 500 databases representing more than 60 countries.

Fold3

More genealogical research resources, including military records and much more.

Personal Finance Research

Value Line

A financial database featuring rankings of over 6,000 large to mid-cap stocks, 18,000 mutual funds, and more. Stock quotes are updated daily

FP Advisor

Financial and operational information on Canada's top 450 publicly traded companies.

Podcasts

Need something new to listen to while puttering around the house? These podcasts were created and curated by library staff.

Live Mic: The Best of TPL Conversations

Curated discussions and interviews with some of today's best-known and yet-to-be-known writers, thinkers and artists, recorded on stage at one of Toronto Public Library's 100 branches.

Shelve Under: Podcast

Join library staff for discussions with writers, public figures, library workers and other notable people.

Writers Off the Page

A biweekly series produced and curated by Toronto Public Library, celebrating 40 years of the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA). Episodes feature recorded on-stage interviews, readings or panel discussions with some of the 20th century's best-known writers and thinkers.

Online Programs

Want to see your favourite authors, learn something new or connect with other readers? We have online programs!

Live & Online Program directory

From author talks to book clubs to webinars to story times, this is the place to find live and recorded online programs from your library. 

The Appel Salon on YouTube

Over 500 videos of past onstage interviews with today's leading writers and thinkers.

TPL on Crowdcast

Catch a live discussion, or watch recordings of past programs. We have collections of programs for kids and youth, programs on culture and innovation, and more.

Need help? Have questions? You can contact our Answerline service by email, at answerline@tpl.ca or by phone at 416-397-5981. Did you know that Toronto Public Library has permanently ended late fines for everyone?

Edit: Online Book Clubs added, Mar. 19, 2020

Edit: Let's Learn Tech Online removed (temporarily unavailable) Mar. 23, 2020

Edit: Libby and OverDrive app links added Mar. 25, 2020

Edit: Ancestry and JSTOR added Mar. 26, 2020

Edit: Time limit added to Kanopy Kids April 1, 2020

Edit: Answerline email added April 7, 2020

Edit: Kanopy promotion expiry dates updated April 9, 2020

Edit: Ancestry promotion expiry date updated April 9, 2020

Edit: Temporary digital Overdrive card added April 15, 2020

Edit: Online Programs added May 11, 2020

Edit: Streaming Theatre Collection added May 15, 2020

Edit: Ancestry Library Edition home access extended May 19, 2020

Edit: Ancestry Library Edition home access extended, some expired services removed June 23, 2020

Edit: Safari Tech Books name changed to O'Reilly for Public Libraries, June 24, 2020

Edit: Added SAGE videos, July 7, 2020

Edit: Ancestry Library Edition home access extended; Online Programs section revised, July 14, 2020

Edit: Added TD Summer Reading Club, Naxos Jazz and Naxos World Music, July 23, 2020

Edit: Added Summer Wonder, July 27, 2020

Edit: Expiry dates for various databases (Ancestry, SAGE, Streaming Theatre Collection) adjusted, August 14, 2020

Edit: Updated to reflect reopening plans, August 17, 2020

Edit: Updated information about fines and returning books, August 24, 2020

Edit: Added online book clubs, updated summer kids' program links, added kids'/paren'ts' blogs, added Answerline phone number, extended Ancestry home access, updated cover image, September 25, 2020

Edit: RBdigital Audiobooks removed (they've migrated to OverDrive!), October 21, 2020

Edit: Replaced Summer Wonder videos and Storytime videos entries with TPL Kids' Youtube Channel, October 26, 2020

Edit: Removed references to Instant Digital Card, November 9, 2020

Edit: Added reference to new permanent Digital Access Card, November 12, 2020

Edit: Extended Ancestry.com's at-home access to March 31st, 2021

Edit: Updated Reading Challenge, added One eRead Canada, December 23, 2020

Edit: Added links to Crowdcast channels, January 4, 2021

Edit: Added note about RBDigital Magazines' migration to OverDrive, January 12, 2021

Edit: Removed One eRead Canada and RBDigital Magazines, added Seniors Tech Help, January 28, 2021

Edit: Added BBC Literary Adaptations in Video; changed O'Reilly for Public Libraries to O'Reilly Learning, Feb. 8, 2021

Edit: Extended Ancestry Library Edition to June 30th; added links to Heritage Quest and Fold3 genealogy databases. Added links to personal finance databases. Mar. 1, 2021

Edit: Updated expiry for Seniors' Tech Help program, Mar. 15, 2021

Edit: Added LinkedIn Learning info, Apr. 22, 2021

Edit: Ancestry home access extended, May 20, 2021

Edit: Removed the beginning sentence "While Toronto is under lockdown, we want to make sure that you're stocked up with things to read, watch, listen to, learn and do.", January 7, 2022

Edit: Updated the 2020 Reading Challenge image to the 2022 image, January 7, 2022

Edit: Removed Seniors Tech Help, Ancestry Library Edition and OverDrive app. Updated section on fines forgiveness, Medici.tv and link to online book clubs. Added The Wall Street Journal info, July 21, 2022

Adding the library website to the home screen on your phone is a convenient way to get quick access to searching, your account, and other library services and information.

Here’s how to do it:

iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Safari web browser on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Navigate to tpl.ca.
3. Tap the Share icon (the square with an arrow pointing out of it) at the bottom of the screen.
4. Scroll down to the list of actions and tap Add to Home Screen. (If you don’t see the action, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit Actions, then tap the plus sign next to the Add to Home Screen action. After that, you’ll be able to select it from the Share Sheet.)
5. Type a name (e.g. “TPL”) for the site link. This will be the title that appears below the TPL icon on your Home screen.
6. Tap Add in the top right corner of the screen.

The TPL website icon will appear in the next available space on your device’s Home screen. To move it like you would any other app, press and hold its icon and then tap Edit Home Screen, and you’ll be able to drag it to your desired location. When you’ve placed it where you want it, tap Done.

Android

1. Open the Chrome web browser on your Android device.
2. Navigate to tpl.ca.
3. Tap the Menu icon (the three stacked dots) at the top right of the Chrome window.
4. Tap Add to Home screen.
5. Type a name (e.g. “TPL”) for the site link. This will be the title that appears below the TPL icon on your Home screen.
6. Tap Add.

The TPL website icon will appear on your device’s Home screen. You can move it around or put it in a folder the same way you would with other apps on your Home screen.

Last Thursday, just before midnight, somebody borrowed Toronto Public Library's six millionth ebook of 2019. 

This is a new record for us; in 2018, Torontonians borrowed more ebooks than anyone else in the world, at just over five million. We've beat our own personal best!

The six millionth ebook borrowed was Realms: The Roleplaying Game Art of Tony DiTerlizzi. DiTerlizzi is a fantasy artist who is known for illustrating the Spiderwick Chronicles series of children's books, as well as his work on fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

Delightfully, the book includes images like this:

There's something for everyone in our ebook collection.

If you'd like to see, in real time, what ebooks people are borrowing, take a look at our OverDrive dashboard.

It's mesmerizing!

Keep reading, Toronto!

Are you involved with a Canadian nonprofit or charity? Are you looking for funding? You might be interested in Grant Connect. 

Grant Connect is a fundraising research platform that helps you to sort through thousands of foundations, corporations and government programs to find the right funders for your organization.

You can research more than 11,000 Canadian foundations, 560 corporate giving programs, 370 government grant programs, and 120 American foundations that make grants to Canadian organizations, as well as more than 200 other grants.

You can find prospects using thousands of search criteria and filter results by cause, population, region, type of support and more. You can view detailed profiles of potential funders, and identify connections between funding prospects and your own network. And you can search over 1.25 million grant records, totalling over $41 billion in giving. To learn more about how it works, check out these videos: 

• Navigate a funder profile
• Find funders using global search

Grant Connect is available for free with your library card, but only on library computers.

To access it:

• Come in to any Toronto Public Library branch
• Open a Chrome browser (Grant Connect works best in Chrome)
• Browse for Grant Connect under Articles and Online Research, or search for it in our catalogue.

Multinational publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster) have recently made it much harder for public libraries to buy and lend ebooks.

Publishers set limits on how long we can keep copies of ebooks. Now we have to re-purchase them every two years and pay a very high price – generally four to six times higher than the print price. This means we will not be able to buy as many copies of ebooks​, and you will have to wait longer.

Libraries strongly oppose these practices. It’s our job to offer you equitable access to content in the format you want. These publishers are jeopardizing our ability to do so.

While physical books are still popular, readers are borrowing more and more ebooks. We will not be able to keep up with demand if multinational publishers don’t change their business practices. The digital divide will widen because this will impact the people who rely on us the most – including people with limited incomes and people with disabilities.

In addition, Macmillan has just introduced a troubling new policy – an embargo. Effective Friday, November 1, 2019, public libraries will only be able to buy one copy of any new Macmillan ebook, and will have to wait eight weeks before we can buy additional copies. This means you’ll have to wait much longer for new ebooks​, like Conversations with RBG by Jeffrey Rosen and The Russian Job by Douglas Smith, and by authors you love including Louise Penny and Jonathan Franzen.

In response, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, Urban Libraries Council, American Library Association, public library leaders and other key stakeholders have joined together in opposition to this policy that will only make a bad situation worse.

Note: this blog post has been edited; two book titles have been changed, and an expired petition has been removed.

Have you ever wished you could jet off to Switzerland to attend a music festival in the Alps? Or take a master class in your instrument with a world-famous musician? 

We've got the next best thing.  Medici.tv is an online channel offering streaming video of classical music concerts, operas and ballets, both live and on demand. It also features master classes by leading musicians as well as music documentaries. The site is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. Subtitles are offered for some programs. 

With your valid Toronto Public Library card, you can view over 150 live events every year, broadcast from venues including Carnegie Hall, the Bolshoi Theater, the Opéra National de Paris, and many more. All live streams are also available to replay. To find them, you can go to tpl.ca/medici, or search for "medici" in our online catalogue.

Here are some examples of the kind of content you can expect from Medici.tv:

Toronto Public Library's first podcast, Shelve Under: Podcast, just wrapped up its first season – and we'd like to know what you thought of it.

The most recent episode, Shelve Under: Flâneur, features host Christina Wong in conversation with Toronto Star columnist and avid walker Shawn Micallef.  Previous episodes have featured improv/anxiety coach Cameron Algie, Maker Festival programming director Eric Boyd, Metro Morning host Matt Galloway, novelist Vicki Essex, and many behind-the-scenes library staff. 

If you've listened to an episode – or more! – we'd love to hear from you. We've created a short survey to find out what you think of the podcast, and what you'd like to hear more of. 

Thanks for your insight – and thanks for listening!

Take the survey

The rainbow pillars at Yorkville Branch.

Since Toronto's first officially recognized Gay Pride day in 1991, Toronto Public Library has boasted a strong and growing collection of books, movies and magazines for the LGBTQ2S+ community. While we offer these materials at every library throughout the city, our Yorkville Branch houses a collection with a special focus on these items.

This year, in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, in consultation with our employee-run Pride Alliance, the library has decided to rename this collection The Pride Collection. In addition, we've made the collection easier to explore online.

Visit the Pride Collection webpage to browse the latest books on gender studies, civil rights, Queer theory, paren'ting, arts, health and more for LGBTQ2S+ and allied readers. Get staff recommendations on the best LGBTQ2S+ books for children, adults and teens. Better still, visit Yorkville branch to browse the full collection, including magazines and DVDs. 

Note: This blog post is no longer being updated. For the current limit of monthly borrows through Hoopla, please visit tpl.ca/hoopla.

Starting July 1, 2019, we'll be reducing the number of Hoopla Digital items you can borrow from eight per month to four. 

We know you love videos, so we are trying to diversify the services we offer. In 2017 we added Kanopy, a streaming service for classic movies, indie films and documentaries. And soon we will be launching Medici.tv, which gives access to live performances of classical music, opera and ballet.

But these services are expensive for us to provide. Reducing the Hoopla plays will allow us to maintain the service and continue to offer other products, to give you a broad range of content to choose from.

In addition to your four Hoopla items per month, you still have access to eight Kanopy videos per month, as well as unlimited OverDrive videos and educational videos from HSTalks, and – coming soon – unlimited access to Medici.tv. We also have a huge collection of physical DVDs, including movies that would be difficult to find on a streaming service. 

Here are some movies from sources you might not have explored yet: 

Kanopy Digital Video

New: Kanopy Paramount Pictures Collection

OverDrive Digital Video

OverDrive videos based on kids' books

The Great Courses: Complete downloads from OverDrive 

DVDs of films you can't stream on Netflix 

This post is part of Digital Literacy Week at Toronto Public Library, a week-long celebration of Toronto's digital skills and technology capabilities.

This year, Digital Literacy Week is all about connecting people with opportunities: helping you to learn new digital skills and apply the ones you've got, in order to succeed in the changing world of work. 

Here are a few of the resources we offer. You might also want to check out our classes, activities and other services. 

Digital Resources

Lynda.com

Lynda.com features thousands of video courses on business and technical topics, all free with your library card.

Safari Tech and Business Books Online

Safari lets you access over 50,000 ebooks on technology, digital media and business. 

Gale Courses

Gale Courses offers free, online, instructor-led courses on a wide variety of topics, from accounting to database management to creative writing.

HSTalks

HSTalks offers video lectures by world experts in the areas of Business & Management, and Biomedical & Life Sciences.

Learning Express Library

Learning Express Library offers free practice tests for the LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, SAT, GED and many more.

Career Cruising

Career Cruising lets you learn about different careers, find out what training you'll need (and where to get it), and search for Canadian jobs. 

Books

The "For Dummies" series

Straightforward handbooks on everything from Excel to Blockchain. Available in print and ebook formats.

See all "For Dummies" books 

Children's Books

For a quick, basic introduction to a complicated topic, try a kids' book. We have books that introduce children to coding concepts, STEM principles and more. 

Browse children's computer programming books

Books About Careers, Technology and the Changing Workforce

Thriving in the Gig Economy: How to Capitalize and Compete in the New World of Work

by Marion McGovern

All formats

The Lessons School Forgot: How to Hack Your Way through the Technology Revolution

by Steve Sammartino

All formats 

Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World

by Clive Thompson

All formats

Make a Nerdy Living: How to Turn Your Passions Into Profit with Advice from Nerds Around the Globe

by Alex Langley

All formats

Harvard Business Review's 10 Must Reads on AI, Analytics and the New Machine Age

What is Chilton’s Auto Repair?

Chilton’s Auto Repair is an online database of information about car and truck maintenance and repair. It provides vehicle-specific information in the following four categories, though not all categories are available for all vehicles:

• repair
• labour estimating
• maintenance
• bulletins/recalls

How to access Chilton’s

1. Start from the Chilton’s Auto Repair page on the Toronto Public Library website.
2. Click the Access Online button.
3. Sign in with your library card number and PIN/password.

How to search for your vehicle

Use the Vehicle Selector menu to choose the year, make, and model of your car or truck.

Click Select.

Next, choose the type of information you want from the menu.

Types of information available

Repair

This section contains repair manuals for different vehicle parts and systems. By drilling down through the menus (e.g., Brakes > Hydraulic System > Cleaning, Inspection, and Adjustment), you can find detailed instructions and diagrams for specific parts of the vehicle.

Maintenance

Click on “Maintenance” to get maintenance schedules in either of two ways.

1. Use the Vehicle Configuration Filter to specify the vehicle.
2. Click on “full chart list.” Select a configuration by clicking on View Chart. Then select an operating condition (at the bottom) to get to the chart.

Enter mileage in the search box above the maintenance chart or click on “Look ahead” to advance to the next maintenance period. This feature isn’t available for all vehicles.

Good news: it's now possible to renew your library card through the TPL website.

Library cards expire every year, and until recently, you had to visit a library branch in person to renew your card.

Who can renew online

Online card renewal is available for adults and teens with standard TPL accounts.

Children and people with non-standard account types (temporary, non-resident, etc.) still have to renew their cards in person so we can verify account details.

If your address or name has changed, you will not be able to renew online. Please bring identification to a library branch to renew your card.

How to renew online

You can renew your card online starting 30 days before the card's expiry date and at any time after that, including after the expiry date has passed.

If you're eligible to renew online, you'll see an alert in your account with a link to start the renewal process.

Follow the steps to complete your online card renewal:

1. Pay any outstanding fines on your account.
2. Confirm your name and address.
3. Provide an email address and telephone number if we don't already have them in your account.

Why do library cards expire?

Library cards expire every year so we can:

• Check that your contact information is current
• Confirm that you are still eligible for a library card
• Collect payment for any outstanding fines on your account

More information

For help and more details about the card renewal policy, see the Online Card Renewal FAQ.

Are you an indie/self-published author based in Ontario? Do you have a novel burning a hole in your hard drive? From April 1 to 31, you can submit it to the Ontario Author Project for a chance to win a cash prize and promotional opportunities. 

Prizes

The winners of this contest will receive:

• $500 each in adult and young adult categories
• Honors at the Public Library Association Conference 2020 reception in Nashville
• Opportunities to promote your book(s) at Ontario public libraries
• Inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal.

Eligibility

Each book that is submitted to the contest must be:

• Independently published
• For adults or young adults (all fiction genres welcome)
• Written by an Ontario resident
• Available in either ePUB or PDF file.

How to Enter

Starting April 1st, you will be able to submit your novel via the Ontario Author Project page. 

The Ontario Author Project is presented in partnership with Library Journal and Biblioboard. 

Are you a student or a professional in business, medicine or science? Does your thirst for knowledge go beyond TED Talks? Do you need detailed, expert information, but lack time? 

Then HSTalks are for you. This curated collection of online lectures with slide presentations features thousands of in-depth talks by global experts, including professors, business leaders and Nobel laureates. There are two collections: Biomedical & Life Sciences, and Business & Management, so you can keep up to date on the latest developments in your field, whether you're a manager, a pharmacist, an entrepreneur or an oncologist.  

Here's a small sample of the kinds of lectures that are available through HSTalks:

The Business & Management Collection

Teams and learning in organizations, Prof. Amy C. Edmondson – Harvard Business School, USA.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain, Dr. Garrick Hileman – University of Cambridge, UK.

Cultural differences in decision making, Prof. Elke Weber – Princeton University, USA.

The Biomedical & Life Sciences Collection

Compression of morbidity: postponing human aging, Prof. James Fries – Stanford School of Medicine.

The role of genetics in adaptation of agriculture to climate change, Prof. Roberto Tuberosa – University of Bologna, Italy.

Emotion and Cognition, Dr. Elizabeth Phelps – New York University, USA.

Need more information?

• Watch a Video Tutorial. 
• Read our Getting Started Guide. 

Digital audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in the world of books. It's not hard to see why – you can listen to them while you're commuting, exercising, doing housework, or going to sleep. Even if you have a hard time reading print or holding a physical book, you can still listen to audiobooks.

But not everybody has a device they can use to download audiobooks. And not everyone has the technical knowhow to manage apps and downloads.

That's where Playaways come in! These are audiobooks that come pre-loaded onto their own devices. They're light, they're sturdy and they're simple to use. All you need is one AAA battery and your own set of headphones or speakers, and you're ready to go – you don't even need a wifi connection. You can borrow them for three weeks and renew them up to three times, just like any other audiobook. 

We have hundreds of Playaway titles for you to listen to. You can browse through a list of Playaways to place on hold or go and browse them in person at the following library branches: 

• Agincourt 
• Albion 
• Armour Heights 
• Bayview 
• City Hall 
• Deer Park 
• Don Mills 
• Eatonville 
• Eglinton Square 
• Fort York 
• Leaside 
• Locke 
• Long Branch 
• North York Central Library 
• Richview 
• Runnymede 
• S. Walter Stewart 
• Toronto Reference Library 
• Weston 

Do you have any questions or suggestions about Playaways? Let us know in the comments!

Note: This blog post has been modified. More locations have been added to the map and the list.

via GIPHY. Image description: A boy returns a book to a friendly librarian. The caption reads: "eBooks: Return when done and share the fun!"

You're not imagining it – waiting lists for some of the most popular ebooks and eaudiobooks are getting longer. These formats are incredibly popular in Toronto, and as more and more of you discover the pleasures of e-reading, that trend is only going to continue. There are some things that you can do to help make holds lists shorter and free up your books for the next person on the list.

Return When Done

If you've finished reading an ebook before it's due, you can return it. Your device must be connected to the internet for the return to work.

• In the Libby app, select Shelf, then select the item you want to return. Finally, select Return to Library.
• In the Overdrive app, open your Bookshelf then tap and hold on the book cover. The option Return to Library will pop up at the bottom. 

Reduce Long Holds Lists

Here are some ways to reduce wait times for everyone:

• If you don't need an ebook anymore, you can cancel your hold. For example, if you place holds on both the print and the ebook copy, and the print copy comes in first, consider cancelling your hold for the ebook.
• To keep track of long lists of books you're planning to read eventually, instead of placing them on hold, you can use the Saved List function in the library catalogue, or the Wish List function in Overdrive.

Thank you for reading our public service announcement! If you have any questions about ebooks, holds or the like, please let us know in the comments.

GIF source: The Librarian, by Holmes Films Inc., courtesy of The Prelinger Archives.

Here's a bold hypothesis: Toronto has the most voracious readers in the world.

Does that sound like we're bragging? Consider the numbers: we borrowed 5.6 million ebooks and eaudiobooks in 2018 – more than any other library users, anywhere. 

According to a press release from Rakuten OverDrive, Toronto was one of only two library systems that circulated more than 5 million ebooks last year. (The other system covers the entire state of Wisconsin.) 

We read a lot of print, too. In 2017,  Torontonians borrowed over 24 million physical items (such as books and DVDs). That's more per capita than any North American library system serving a comparable population. 

Our last ebook landmark came in August, when Toronto became the first city in the world to have borrowed over 20 million ebooks. 

And yet, in spite of our enormous appetite for books, there are certain important titles that aren't available to library users in an ebook format. Canadian public libraries are currently running a national campaign to raise awareness of this important issue. Imagine how much we would read if we could access every title we wanted!

Here's a look at the most-borrowed ebooks for the first two weeks of January, 2019:

Educated, by Tara Westover  (ebook) – 4,425 downloads in two weeks.

(Not available as an eaudiobook)

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo (eaudiobook) – 1,482 downloads in two weeks.

You Are a Badass, by Jen Sincero (eaudiobook) – 507 downloads in two weeks.

The Wife, by Meg Wolitzer (eaudiobook) – 443 downloads in two weeks.

Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan (ebook) – 400 downloads in two weeks.

Did you contribute to Toronto's high ebook-borrowing numbers last year? Let us know in the comments!

Raise your hand if you're one of the hundreds of Torontonians who've committed to producing 50,000 words this National Novel Writing Month. (Now stretch your arm up and over, and repeat on the other side. Look up from the screen and blink your eyes a couple of times. You got this.)

We have good news! When you've completed this superhuman feat, you can now publish your book and let friends and family – and even strangers! – borrow it from the library, using BiblioBoard.

And even if you're not trying to write a whole book in under 30 days, you can still benefit: BiblioBoard is a platform for anyone who wants to read – or write – self-published ebooks.

BiblioBoard for Readers:

Now, you can browse BiblioBoard's curated collections of indie ebooks. With sections for literary fiction, local authors, romance, mystery, horror, science fiction and fantasy, there's something for every interest.  BiblioBoard's ebooks are curated by Library Journal staff through their Self-E program – so you can easily find high-quality, recommended reads by indie authors from Toronto and across the U.S. and Canada. And, if you create a Biblioboard account and download the mobile app, you can read unlimited indie ebooks on your phone or tablet.

BiblioBoard for Writers:

Are you an indie author? Would you like people to be able to find your ebook in the library? Now you can make that happen. Library Journal's Self-E program lets you submit your ebooks to BiblioBoard so they're available at participating libraries across Ontario. Furthermore, if Library Journal's team of curators selects your ebook as a noteworthy title, it could also be featured in collections across the U.S. and Canada.

Here's a small sample of the broad selection of indie ebooks available through BiblioBoard (account sign-up required)

Chimerascope, by Douglas Smith

This collection of fantasy and science fiction was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Sunburst, the Aurora, and the CBC Bookies. 

Reckless Wager, by Christy Carlyle

A Victorian romance, set against the backdrop of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Identity Crisis, by Debbi Mack

This first installment in a popular mystery series was a New York Times ebook bestseller. 

Salted, by Aaron Galvin

Salted is the first installment of a young adult fantasy series set under the ocean, in the world of selkies.

Need more information? Check out our Getting Started Guide.

Do you have a novel or screenplay in you that's just waiting for a little encouragement? 

Gale Courses to the rescue! This online learning resource, available through Toronto Public Library, offers a series of instructor-led online creative writing classes, for free.

Classes are six weeks long, and are led by published authors. Topics include:

• Advanced Fiction Writing
• Beginner's Guide to Getting Published
• The Craft of Magazine Writing
• Writeriffic: Creativity Training for Writers
• Writing for Children
• Write Your Life Story
• Write Fiction Like a Pro
• Writing Essentials
• Publish and Sell Your Ebooks
• How to Make Money from Your Writing

Gale Courses also offers online courses in a wide range of other subjects, including American Sign Language, Real Estate Law, Accounting Fundamentals and Human Anatomy. Browse topics to find the courses that are right for you.

Need more information? Check out our Getting Started Guide.

Interested in other online learning opportunities? Learn more about eLearning at the library. 

Fall is here and you may be thinking about homework assignments. If you are a student up to Grade 12 Brainfuse can help you with tough homework questions. Connect with a qualified live tutor and use the interactive whiteboard to write, draw or copy/paste your specific homework question. Tutors are available daily from 2 to 11 p.m., excluding holidays when the library is closed.

If you need help brushing up on a particular subject, such as Grade 10 Data Management or Grade 11 Physics, check out the Skill Surfer section to find practice quizzes aligned with the Ontario curriculum. You need to set up a personal account with a Username and Password to access the practice tests found in the Skill Surfer section or to upload a document to the Writing Lab for some feedback.

Visit the Getting Started with Brainfuse page for more information. 

To see an example of Brainfuse in action, please read Need Homework Help? We've Got You Covered!

Good luck with your studies!

You asked for it, and now we’ve got it! Starting today, you can opt in to keep a record of your borrowing history in your account on the library website.

To start using borrowing history:

1. Sign in to access the new Borrowing History section of your account.
2. Click the Turn On Borrowing History link.
3. Wait until you return an item you’ve borrowed. As soon as the item is checked in at the library, it will show up in your borrowing history.

Important points to note:

• You must opt in to start keeping track of your borrowing history. The library doesn’t keep a record of items you have borrowed unless you turn on this feature.
• Borrowing history starts on the day you opt in. We don’t have a record of items you borrowed before you started using this feature.
• Borrowed items will only show in your history after you have returned them. While you still have them checked out, they appear in the Checkouts section of your account.
• eBooks are not included. You can find your eBook borrowing history in the OverDrive site or app.
• A few other types of library items (magazines, uncatalogued paperbacks) aren’t included, mainly because the records don’t have enough detail to be useful.
• Once items appear in your borrowing history, they can’t be deleted.

See Borrowing History help for more information about how this feature works.

How to send account feedback

We always appreciate receiving feedback about the library’s online account interface. If you have comments about the design or functionality, suggestions for improvement, or reports of technical problems, please email us at:

feedback@torontopubliclibrary.ca

If you’re reporting a problem, it helps to include the following information:

• Your library card number
• Information about your device and browser
• As much detail as possible about what happened when you encountered the problem – the steps you took, messages on the screen, etc.

It also helps if you include a screenshot.

<!--

What's new

We're happy to introduce borrowing history as an opt-in account feature.

• Review our borrowing history help information
• Send feedback or questions about borrowing history to feedback@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Other types of feedback

Use the options on the library’s main Contact Us page if:

• You think you have returned an item that is still listed in your checkouts
• You have a question about overdue fines or other charges
• You have feedback about aspects of library service other than the online account

Account help information

Our help pages have answers to common questions about managing your checkouts, holds, and other account information:

• Renewing materials
• Manage your holds
• Account notifications
• Library fines and fees

Old account

We know some people prefer to use the older version of the account, and it is still available. You can access the old account from the top of the new account screen or by going directly to www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/oldaccount.

On July 31, 2018, Toronto Public Library became the first library in the world to lend over twenty million ebooks.

"We've always said Toronto was a city of readers," says Maria Cipriano, the library's Senior Collections Specialist responsible for ebooks. "This proves it."

In 2007, Toronto Public Library started its first digital collection. There were 25 ebook titles, including Astrology for Dummies, a book on Joan of Arc, an eerily prescient (and somewhat ghoulish) book titled "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse", and 17 travel guides.

A year later, the collection had grown to 1,500 titles, which had been borrowed nearly 30,000 times.  By 2017, it had reached over 170,000 titles, which were borrowed over 4.6 million times that year.  Cipriano, who has been responsible for the collection since 2011, says that ebooks, eaudiobooks and evideo accounted for about 18 % of the library's circulation last year.

She shared the twenty most popular TPL ebooks, but warns that the numbers can be misleading. "If a book costs less, it might circulate more, because we can buy more copies."

Asked what titles stand out for her in the top twenty, she says, "The pivotal moment for ebooks was Fifty Shades of Grey, in 2011." That title has been borrowed 9,305 times, coming in sixth on the list. Its combination of popularity and risqué subject matter drove public interest in ebooks as a format. "Because it was an ebook, you could read it on the subway without anyone noticing. If ever there was a book that was meant for ebook publication, it was that one." 

Here are Toronto Public Library's 20 most-borrowed ebooks of all time:

1. The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (2014) – borrowed 19, 156 times

2. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (2013)- borrowed 13, 876 times

3. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (2012) – borrowed 12, 633 times

4. The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith (2013) – borrowed 10, 237 times

5. You Are a Badass, by Jen Sincero (2013) – always-available audiobook borrowed 9,916 times

6. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James (2011) – borrowed 9,305 times

7. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr (2014) – borrowed 9, 227 times

8. The Racketeer, by John Grisham (2012) – borrowed 9,107 times

9. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo (2014) – borrowed 8, 789 times

10. Inferno, by Dan Brown (2013) – borrowed 8,769 times

11. A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin (1997) – borrowed 8,501 times

12. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (2005) – borrowed 8,228 times

13. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain (2012) – borrowed 8,085 times

14. All My Puny Sorrows, by Miriam Toews (2014) – borrowed 7,749 times

15. The Nest, by Cynthia d'Aprix Sweeney (2016) – borrowed 7,428 times

16. Do Not Say We Have Nothing, by Madeleine Thien (2016) – borrowed 7,327 times

17. The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton (2013) – borrowed 7,123 times

18. Fifty Shades Darker, by E. L. James (2011) – borrowed 7,055 times

19. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson (2017) – borrowed 7,042 times

20. David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell (2013) – borrowed 7,033 times

See borrowing statistics and watch ebooks borrowed in real time on our Overdrive dashboard.

Photo by Janne Räkköläinen. Licensed under Creative Commons.

At the library, we want you to have access to all the news, all the time, when and where you want it. That's why we provide online access to:

•  PressReader  – 7, 000+ international newspapers and magazines including the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Washington Post and the Times of India
•  RBDigital Magazines  – Hundreds of major magazines, including the New Yorker, the Economist and the Atlantic
•  Flipster eMagazines  – Even more Canadian and U.S. magazines including Macleans, Toronto Life and Time
•  OverDrive Magazines – Including New York Magazine, Newsweek, and Bloomberg Business Week

But we haven't had access to the juiciest plum in the North American daily journalism basket – until now. That's right: Twitter browsers, Facebook scrollers and news junkies of all types, rejoice – your library card now gives you free access to the New York Times online, at NYTimes.com!

Access includes all articles, the Book Review, the Cooking app (iOS only) and the Magazine (but not the crossword; this is not a perfect world).

How to access NYTimes.com:

• If you're using a library computer, you don't have to do anything at all – just go to nytimes.com and enjoy your free access!
• If you're using your own device:

1.     Go to tpl.ca/nytimes
2.     Log in with your library card number and PIN
3.     Create an account (select Other/Non-Academic User)

You'll get a 3-day pass that you can renew as many times as you like.

Need more info? Check our Getting Started Guide for complete instructions.

Enjoy all the news that's fit to print!

Students enrolled in summer school can get online homework help with Brainfuse. Professional tutors can help students up to grade 12 with math, reading, science, social studies and language arts.

To get help:

• Go to Live Tutoring on the Brainfuse site.
• Select your grade and subject from the drop-down list.
• Use the interactive whiteboard to write, draw or copy/paste your specific homework question.

Tutors are available daily from 2 to 11 pm, excluding holidays when the library is closed.

New: "Summer Camp" Section

A new Summer Camp section can help elementary, junior high and high school students keep their math and science skills sharp over the summer months. Summer Camp includes lessons, activities, games and flashcards.

(Note: you can't type directly on the lessons within the Summer Camp section.)

The bad news: we'll no longer have access to 350 online streaming Criterion videos after this Friday.  (Please read this post for all the details we've got.)

The good news:

a) You'll still have access to 50 of the most popular Criterion films through our (seriously excellent) Kanopy streaming service. (Don't worry, we still have 8 1/2. And The Great Dictator. And The 400 Blows, and Pather Panchali… it'll be okay.)

b) You've got a whole week left to binge-watch all the Criterion movies you can handle.

To help you get started, here are a few films that I am personally planning to binge-stream this week (library card login required):

Grey Gardens, dir. Ellen Hovde,  Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer

"Meet Big and Little Edie Beale: mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, and reclusive cousins of Jackie Onassis. The two manage to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, New York, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot. An impossibly intimate portrait, this 1976 documentary by Albert and David Maysles, codirected by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, quickly became a cult classic and established Little Edie as a fashion icon and philosopher queen."

A Brief History of Time, dir. Errol Morris

"Errol Morris turns his camera on one of the most fascinating men in the world: the pioneering astrophysicist Stephen Hawking."

El Norte, dir. Gregory Nava

"Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It's a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava's groundbreaking El Norte (The North), the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism."

Carnival of Souls, dir. Herk Harvey

"Herk Harvey's macabre masterpiece gained a cult following through late night television and has been bootlegged for years. Made by industrial filmmakers on a modest budget, Carnival of Souls was intended to have the 'look of a Bergman" and "feel of a Cocteau," and succeeds with its strikingly used locations and spooky organ score."

Stranger Than Paradise, dir. Jim Jarmusch

"Rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and visiting sixteen-year-old cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) always manage to make the least of any situation, whether aimlessly traversing the drab interiors and environs of New York City, Cleveland, or an anonymous Florida suburb. With its delicate humor and dramatic nonchalance, Jim Jarmusch’s one-of-a-kind minimalist masterpiece forever transformed the landscape of American independent cinema."

Daisies, dir. Vera Chytilova

"Maybe the New Wave's most anarchic entry, Věra Chytilová's absurdist farce follows the misadventures of two brash young women. Believing the world to be "spoiled," they embark on a series of pranks in which nothing—food, clothes, men, war—is taken seriously. Daisies is an aesthetically and politically adventurous film that's widely considered one of the great works of feminist cinema."

Cronos, dir. Guillermo del Toro

"Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers… Featuring marvelous special makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy."

Which Criterion movies will you watch this week? Let us know in the comments!

It makes us as sad as it makes you to announce that the Criterion Collection will no longer offer video streaming services to libraries, starting June 29, 2018. We know how much you loved being able to watch their huge selection of cinema classics; but the vendor has chosen not to renew their license with public libraries.

But don't despair. You can still stream any film in the Criterion collection for the next week – and we have some other options for you as well:

You can still borrow Criterion films on DVD from the library – 619 of them, to be exact. 

And our newest video streaming service, Kanopy (which is worth exploring in its own right), still offers 50 of the most popular Criterion movies. Here's a list: 

8 1/2, by Federico Fellini

Ashes and Diamonds, by Andrzej Wajda

Beauty and the Beast, by Jean Cocteau

Bicycle Thieves, by Vittorio De Sica

Black Orpheus, dir. Marcel Camus

Breathless, dir. Jean-Luc Godard

Cleo from 5 to 7, dir. Agnes Varda

Fires on the Plain, dir. Kon Ichikawa

Fists in the Pocket, dir. Marco Bellocchio

Floating Weeds, dir. Yasujiro Ozu

Haxan, dir. Benjamin Christensen

Ikiru, dir. Akira Kurosawa

Il Posto, dir. Ermanno Olmi

Ivan the Terrible, Part 2, dir. Sergei Eisenstein

Journey to Italy, dir. Roberto Rossellini

Jules and Jim, dir. Francois Truffaut

Knife in the Water, dir. Roman Polanski

L'Avventura, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

La Notte, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni

La Strada, dir. Federico Fellini

Le Samouraï, dir. Jean-Pierre Melville

M, dir. Fritz Lang

M. Hulot's Holiday, dir. Jacques Tati

Miss Julie, dir. Alf Sjoberg

Modern Times, dir. Charlie Chaplin

Pandora's Box, dir. G. W. Pabst

Pather Panchali, dir. Satyajit Ray

Playtime, dir. Jacques Tati

Purple Noon, dir. René Clément

Pygmalion, dir. Anthony Asquith

Rashomon, dir. Akira Kurosawa

Richard III, dir. Laurence Olivier

Seven Samurai, dir. Akira Kurosawa

Summer With Monika, dir. Ingmar Bergman

Summertime, dir. David Lean

The 400 Blows, dir. Francois Truffaut

The Battle of Algiers, dir. Gillo Pontecorvo

The Great Dictator, dir. Charlie Chaplin

The Lord of the Flies, dir. Peter Brook

The Rules of the Game, dir. Jean Renoir

 The Seventh Seal, dir. Ingmar Bergman

The Virgin Spring, dir. Ingmar Bergman

Tokyo Story, dir. Yasujiro Ozu

Ugetsu, dir. Kenji Mizoguchi

Umberto D., dir. Gillo Pontecorvo

Umbrellas of Cherbourg, dir. Jacques Demy

Viridiana, dir. Luis Buñuel

Vivre Sa Vie, dir. Jean-Luc Godard

Wild Strawberries, dir. Ingmar Bergman

Lynda.com is now LinkedIn Learning! LinkedIn Learning will have similar courses to those listed below.

Lynda.com offers tutorials led by industry experts on a variety of technical and business topics.

Here is a small sample of some new online courses recently added.

Social Media Marketing: Managing Online Communities

Learn how to turn an online audience into an engaged community.

Career Clinic: IT Insights

This career clinic provides advice for those entering into the IT field alone with tips on keeping skills sharp and current.

Learning MATLAB

A beginner level course on MATLAB, a popular programming language used by scientists and engineers.

Photoshop for Teaching and Learning

This intermediate level course teaches key Photoshop techniques.

HTTP Essential Training

Reviews key terminology, headers and flow of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Excel: Tracking Data Easily and Efficiently

This intermediate level course reviews how to build an Excel spreadsheet to track any type of data.

 Yammer 2018 Essential Training

 Learn how to use Yammer to communicate and collaborate with your colleagues.

Related posts

• Learn online with Lynda

LawDepot is no longer available. Please visit eResources & Research for other resources and databases available with a Toronto Public Library card. – July 8, 2024

LawDepot provides do-it-yourself legal forms relating to wills, powers of attorney, bills of sale, residential lease agreements, landlord/tenant notices, marriage and family and more. The forms are specific to the province of Ontario and Canada. There is no limit to the number of forms that you can use.

All you need to get started is a valid Toronto Public Library card and a personal account. Read our Getting Started Guide for more information.

RBdigital audiobooks and magazines are no longer available. Check out tpl.ca/downloads for current information about our digital collections. (Sep 19, 2022)

If you borrow RBdigital magazines (formerly Zinio) or RBdigital audiobooks (formerly OneClick), you can expect to see some changes. A new, merged RBdigital website will be all you need to access both your magazines and audiobooks.

About the new website:

• It combines RBdigital magazines and RBdigital audiobooks in one place.
• Audiobooks will appear at the top of the site. Scroll down to find magazines.
• When you check out a magazine, the RBdigital reader will open in a separate tab, and you can read it in your browser.
• You can now see what you have borrowed under 'Checked Out'. (This replaces 'My Magazine Collection').
• The 'My Account' section of the site now includes your wishlist, holds, history, recommendations, profiles and settings.

Zinio for Libraries app to be replaced

If you are currently using the Zinio for Libraries app, you will need to replace it with the RBdigital app. There have been no changes to the RBdigital app for customers who have already been using it. 

The Zinio for Libraries app will be available only until April 17, 2018. The RBdigital app combines the former OneClickdigital audiobook app with the Zinio for Libraries magazine app, so you can access audiobooks and magazines in one app.

When you install the RBdigital app, you can log in with the same credentials used for your Zinio for Libraries app. Magazines that you have previously checked out will move over to the new RBdigital app, but you will need to re-download them.

The new online account is now the default version you see when you use the “Account” link on the TPL website.

Why is there a new account?

We developed the new account for several reasons:

• Over 36% of all website visits now come from mobile devices, and that number continues to climb. The old account was difficult to use on a small screen.
• We are able to add features to the new account, including frequently-requested options like saved lists and borrowing history (coming soon).
• 
The software for the old account application is out of date and no longer supported. It cannot be updated. Updating software is important for security.

Known issues

We actively work on the new account and will be improving the experience, adding features and resolving outstanding problems.

Some known issues we’re currently working on:

• We have had intermittent problems with signing in, account access, and placing holds. Current status: OK
• Some web browsers (Firefox Fixed, Safari) do not autofill your library card number on the Sign In page.
• If you have magazines checked out, you may find that renewing them takes a very long time and/or results in an error message. The renewals should work in spite of the delay/errors, but we’re developing a fix for this. Fixed.
• If you have suspended a hold, the suspension dates don’t disappear once the hold becomes active again.
• In Internet Explorer, the formatting isn’t right when you print your account information – everything prints much too small. You can'try printing in a different browser until we get this fixed.  Fixed.
• The account layout on tablets needs improving; we’re going to work on this.

Old account

The old account will continue to be available. You can access the old account from the top of the new account screen or by going directly to www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/oldaccount.

Help and feedback

If you need help or have comments or questions about the new account, please email us:

feedback@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Last updated: Tuesday, January 30, 12:00 PM

List of 12 Toronto Public Library branches affected:

We’re adding 30,000 new streaming videos to our collection!

Toronto Public Library is now offering a platform, Kanopy, that lets you stream thousands of feature films, documentaries, international films and training videos, for free, on all of your devices – and all you need to create your account is an email address and a library card.

Here are the details:

• You can access Kanopy films with your smartphone, tablet, PC or Smart TV
• Kanopy is compatible with Roku, Android, iOS and Apple TV
• You have three days to watch each film
• You can access up to eight films a month
• Most films are accessible, with captions and transcripts, and are compatible with screen reader software such as JAWS

To learn more, check out our Getting Started Guide. 

The selection of films is outstanding. It includes titles from producers including the Great Courses and PBS, as well as award-winning indie, documentary and Canadian films. Hundreds of new titles are added each month. Here’s a small sample:

 Maudie

The great Sally Hawkins portrays Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis in this quirky, romantic biopic.

Sign up and start watching "Maudie".

I Am Not Your Negro

An Oscar-nominated documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, "I Am Not Your Negro" explores the continued peril we face from institutionalized racism.

Sign up and start watching "I Am Not Your Negro".

Brooklyn

Saoirse Ronan is torn between two loves – and two countries – in this 1950s tale of an Irish immigrant in New York.

Sign up and start watching "Brooklyn".

Paterson

Adam Driver plays a working-class poet in Jim Jarmusch's "heartfelt" (Washington Post), "intellectually dazzling" (San Francisco Chronicle) movie.

Sign up and start watching "Paterson".

 Marjorie Prime

Eighty-six-year-old Marjorie reconstructs her life with a digital copy of her late husband (Jon Hamm). "…A clever and affecting meditation on memory, bereavement, love and remorse masquerading as a sci-fi movie."  – (Independent (UK))

Anita: Speaking Truth to Power

Twenty-seven years before she began chairing the Hollywood commission on sexual harassment, Anita Hill testified before the US Senate, empowering millions to stand up for equality and justice. 

Sign up and start watching "Anita: Speaking Truth to Power".

The Wave

In this pulse-pounding thriller, a geologist tries to prevent a tsunami from destroying a popular tourist destination.

Sign up and start watching "The Wave".

The Man Who Knew Infinity 

Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire") and Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons star in this inspirational biopic about an early-20th century mathematician whose groundbreaking theories revolutionized the field.

Sign up and start watching "The Man Who Knew Infinity".

Love & Friendship

Dior and I

Some of the resources mentioned in this post, such as RBDigital Audiobooks and Magazines, are no longer available. For the latest in digital books, videos, music and magazines, visit tpl.ca/downloads.

Toronto Public Library has a fantastic selection of digital books (ebooks), audiobooks, magazines, movies, music and television shows that can be downloaded to smartphones and tablets or streamed on desktop computers and laptops. As they are accessible online, they are available even when branches are closed.   

For most items, the downloaded computer file will either disappear or just stop working after the borrowing period has ended. The borrowed book, magazine, music or video does not need to be returned and there are never any fines.

OverDrive — Digital Books (ebooks) and Audiobooks

OverDrive eBooks and Audiobooks is an outstanding collection of fiction and nonfiction books and audiobooks for children, teens and adults. With a valid library card, you can borrow  books and audiobooks for 21 days and up to 30 items at one time.  The maximum number of holds is also 30. OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks can be renewed within three days of the end of the borrowing period. If there are holds on the item, then a hold can be placed at that time instead.

Apple, Android and Windows smartphones and tablets are all compatible with OverDrive. Get the new Libby app or the OverDrive app through the app store for your device (App Store, Google Play, Windows Store). For eReaders, Kobo eReaders are also compatible with OverDrive, but must be used with a desktop or laptop computer. The Kobo Aura ONE is the only Kobo eReader that will allow for downloading of OverDrive eBooks directly to the device through wifi. Amazon Kindles are not compatible with Overdrive in Canada, except for the Kindle Fire Android tablet.  

To get started with OverDrive, visit our Getting Started with OverDrive webpage.  Make sure to pick the "Getting Started Guide" written for your type of device.

Here are a few of the popular eBooks and Audiobooks available through OverDrive:

Hoopla — Movies, Music, Television and Comics 

Hoopla has a great collection of movies, television shows, music, graphic books and comics.  They can be streamed through a web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome etc.) on a computer or enjoyed offline by downloading to the Hoopla app on a Apple or Android smartphone or tablet.

With a valid library card, customers can checkout eight Hoopla items per calendar month.  Television shows and movies are borrowed for 72 hours (three days), music for seven days and graphic books and comics for 21 days.  The full collection is always available to borrow.

To get started with Hoopla, visit our Getting Started with Hoopla webpage.  

Here are some of the popular items available through Hoopla:

RBdigital — Magazines and Audiobooks

RBdigital Magazines (previously named Zinio Magazines) has more than 500 Canadian and international magazines available to borrow. Magazines are available in several languages, including English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Korean.  There are also English-language magazines from India and the Philippines.  You can borrow as many as you like and you can keep them for as long as you want them. Really!

RBdigital Audiobooks (previously named OneClickdigital) is another source of audiobooks available with your Toronto Public Library card.  Like the audiobooks from OverDrive, the borrowing period is 21 days. You can checkout ten audiobooks and have 15 on hold at any one time.  RBdigital Audiobooks cannot be renewed. 

Both the magazines and audiobooks are available for streaming on computers. To enjoy offline, download to the RBdigital app on an Apple or Android smartphone or tablet. 

To get started with RBdigital services, visit our Getting Started with RBdigital Magazines or Getting Started with RBdigital Audiobooks webpages. The same account (and the same app) is used for both services.  

Here are a few of the popular magazines and audiobooks available through RBdigital: 

OverDrive, Hoopla and RBdigital are three of our most popular digital services. Once you have explored these services, make sure to have a look at the others.    

The most recent addition is Kanopy which has thousands of movies and documentaries for adults, including The Great Courses and PBS documentaries. There is also Flipster which has magazines not found in RBdigital, such as Chatelaine, Macleans, People, Toronto Life and Entertainment Weekly.  A list of our Digital Content Services is available on our Downloads & eBooks webpage. 

Do you still have questions or need help using these services? Attend a Downloads and eBooks session at one of our branches or ask at your local branch about the Book-A-Librarian service for one-on-one help.

Related posts:

• Read Today's Newspaper Online with PressReader
• New Gale Courses Available
• What Toronto Read, Watched and Listened To In 2017

It's fun to learn something new. Gale Courses offers six-week interactive courses led by qualified instructors. Over 360 courses are available.

Some new language courses have recently been added.

• Beginning Conversational French
• Conversational Japanese
• Instant Italian
• Speed Spanish
• Speed Spanish II
• Speed Spanish III

Here are some other popular courses that you might be interested in taking.

• Beginning Writer's Workshop
• Grammar Refresher
• Accounting Fundamentals
• Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2013
• Project Management Fundamentals
• Effective Business Writing
• Introduction to SQL
• Drawing for the Absolute Beginner

All courses now work on a mobile device. Getting started is easy.  Course content is updated and new courses are often added, so there's always something new and interesting to learn.

Branches closed Sunday and Monday

All library branches will be closed on Sunday, October 8 and Monday, October 9 for Thanksgiving. More information about holiday hours.

Website maintenance on Monday

The website and other online library services will be available throughout the weekend. However, due to scheduled maintenance, you may experience some disruptions on Monday, October 9 between 2:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.:

• Copies and availability information for books and other library materials will be intermittently unavailable.
• Searching in the old catalogue will not be working.

Other website issues

We have been experiencing some intermittent technical difficulties with website sign-in. Some users have reported the following issues:

• “Stay signed in” not working
• Web browser not remembering the library card number
• Error message (“card number and PIN don’t match”) when card number and PIN were entered correctly

 We’re investigating these issues and hope to have them resolved soon.

As of September 25, 2017

Content problems

• Account content loads extremely slowly (or may not load at all) if you have magazines checked out or fines for magazines on your account.
• The account doesn’t refresh automatically. If you have been signed in for a long period of time, the content you’re seeing may no longer be up to date. Refresh your browser to ensure you’re seeing the current status of items.
• The “Book” default image displays for magazines.
• Non-holdable DVDs do not display a reason why they can’t be renewed.

Browser problems

• There are significant problems using the account in Internet Explorer.
• You may also encounter problems when using older versions of Firefox, Safari, and the Android browser.

If you like to keep up with world news check out PressReader. PressReader provides access to today's newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries in over 60 languages. You will find today's paper and archives up to 60 days, depending on the title. The papers appear in a full-colour, full-page format.

Getting started is easy. You can search by country or language. The creation of a personal account is entirely optional. It allows you to save personalized settings and download newspapers and magazines for offline reading through the PressReader app.

Here is a small sample of some available newspaper titles you will find in PressReader:

The Toronto Star, National Post, Toronto Sun, Le Devoir, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.

(EDIT: The Globe and Mail is now only available on a library computer and not remotely from home.)

Happy reading!

Brainfuse offers live online homework help daily from 2 to 11 p.m. excluding holidays when the library is closed. Professional tutors are available to help with math, reading,  science, social studies and language arts for students in grades K to 12. 

Under Live Tutoring select your grade and subject from the drop down list. Use the interactive whiteboard to write, draw, copy/paste your specific homework question. A tutor will respond shortly and guide you through the steps to help you figure out the answer.

In May and June, the top tutoring subjects requested were Precalculus, Chemistry, Biology, Calculus, High School Writing, Grade 7 Math, Physics, Intermediate Writing, Grade 9 Math, Grade 4 Math and Social Studies.

Brainfuse offers other services to support online learning. The creation of a personal account is needed to use the Writing Lab, SkillSurfer, Send Question, LEAP Learning Platform, and eParachute sections.

Writing Lab

If you need some help with the organization and style of your essay or paper use the Writing Lab. You can expect to hear back with some feedback and suggestions within one business day.

SkillSurfer

SkillSurfer offers a variety of lessons, quizzes and tests that can be taken at your own pace. It includes practice tests to help you prepare for standard tests such as EQAO, the Ontario Secondary School Literacy test or the Academic and Career Entrance Program. It also includes practice tests and quizzes for ESL and Microsoft Office applications at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

If you are looking for online practice tests for math, science, reading, writing and grammar check out Learning Express Library.

Related posts: Take an Online Practice Test with Learning Express Library

RBdigital audiobooks and magazines are no longer available. Check out tpl.ca/downloads for current information about our digital collections. (Sep 19, 2022)

Changes are coming for users of Zinio and OneClickdigital. Beginning June 27, 2017, a new merged RBdigital app will be all you need to access your magazines from Zinio and your eAudiobooks from OneClick. As a result of work on the merged RBdigital app, you may experience some downtime on the OneClickdigital website on the evening of June 26 and morning of June 27.

The new mobile app will:

• combine the OneClickdigital eAudiobook app with the Zinio for Libraries magazine app, so access to eAudiobooks and magazines will all be in one app
• feature improved navigation and native search
• allow in app preview and checkout of titles
• import previously checked out items, but you will need to re-download them to view them

When the new app becomes available on June 27, you will be notified through your current OneClickdigital app to upgrade. You can login with the same OneClick credentials. The new Rbdigital app will have all of your previous checkouts along with stored wishlists, holds and history, but your checkouts will need to be downloaded again.

Zinio for Libraries App

Starting around July 10, Zinio for Libraries app users will receive a notification within the current Zinio for Libraries app alerting them to the availability of the new Rbdigital app. The message will also show a timer indicating when the Zinio for Libraries app will be obsolete (currently planned for September 8).

When you install the RBdigital app, log in with the same credentials used for your Zinio for Libraries app. Magazines that you have previously checked out will move over to the new Rbdigital app, but you will need to re-download them.

Related posts: New for Users of Zinio and OneClickdigital

If you are looking for some reliable online practice tests or to improve academic skills Learning Express Library is the resource for you. It is suitable for students in grade 4 and up, secondary, college and university students and adult learners. Learning Express Library covers reading, writing, math, basic sciences and standard test preparation for LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, GED, Canadian citizenship practice test, TOEIC, TOEFL iBT and more. You can'take timed or untimed practice tests, see your test results and answer explanations.

Learning Express Library is easy to use. You will need to login with a personal account. You can create an account without using an email address.

There are a variety of Centers e.g. Adult Learning, Career, School, College Prep, College, Citizenship, TOEIC and TOEFL iBT. The test centers include practice tests, tutorials and downloadable ebooks to help you learn. Here are examples of some of the test resources found under the main Centers.

Adult Learning Center

• Math Skills
• Reading Skills
• Writing and Grammar Skills

Career Center   

Note: Some career information and occupation tests are U.S. based.

• Learn about a Career
• Practice test for the Canadian Forces Aptitude test
• Job Search, Interview Preparation and Network Skills
• Strengthen your Business Writing Skills
• Success on the Job
• Prepare for the TOEIC

School Center

• Elementary – Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, Writing
• Middle School – Math Skills, Reading Comprehension, Writing and Grammar, Social Studies, Vocabulary and Spelling,
• High School – Logic and Reasoning, Math, Reading Comprehension, Science, Social Studies, Statistics, Trigonometry, Vocabulary and Spelling, Writing and Grammar

College Prep Center

• SAT, AP test preparation

College Center

• Algebra, Basic Math, Calculus, Geometry and Measurement, Trigonometry, Statistics, Logic and Reasoning, Quantitative Comparison
• Reading
• Grammar
• Science
• Prepare for Graduate School Admissions Exams (GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MAT, MCAT)

 Citizenship, TOEIC and TOEFL Center

• Canadian Citizenship Practice Exam
• TOEIC
• TOEFL iBT

GED Test Prep Center

• Pre-GED test basic skills
• GED

                         
Learning Express Library offers something for everyone!

In addition to eBooks, Safari also includes over 3,000 online instructional videos on web development, software programming, graphic design tools and techniques along with training videos for software such as Acrobat, Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Office and more.  You can watch a video from start to finish or just skip to a specific topic of interest.

On the Safari home page, click on the link for Video Courses.  You can browse or search within the results.

 Here are just a few examples of video courses:

Mastering CSS – Second  Edition. Packt Publishing, March 31, 2017.  Learn about CSS best practices to help you create modern and responsive websites.

 10 Best Practices for Quality Software Development.  O'Reilly Media, Inc. October 20, 2016. Learn how to produce quality software in an efficient manner. 

CCNP Routing and Switching. TSHOOT 300-135 Exam Prep. Pearson IT Certification. March 23, 2017. Over four hours of training including sample questions and common exam difficulties.

Conference Videos

Safari also makes available over 200 conference videos.

Here are a few examples:

O'Reilly Software Architecture Conference 2016 – San Francisco, California. O'Reilly Media, Inc. November 17, 2016. The evolution and future of software architecture.

Data Science Primer. Technics Publications. January 3, 2017. This session was recorded live at Data Modeling Zone 2016. Daniel D. Gutierrez is the speaker.

Strata + Hadoop World 2016 – Singapore. O'Reilly Media, Inc. December 20, 2016. A complete recording of the conference's sessions and ten keynotes.

Saturday March 25, 5:30 PM:

There are intermittent problems signing into the website. The library is currently working to resolve this issue.

In the meantime, you can access your account information using the old catalogue.

We hope to have this resolved soon.

Zinio and OneClickdigital are no longer offered through the library. For the latest information on our digital collections, please visit tpl.ca/downloads.

Changes are coming for users of Zinio and OneClickdigital.  

Beginning on March 16, 2017, if you have an account with either Zinio or OneClickdigital, those accounts will be linked.  If you have an account with only one of the two services, an account will automatically be created for you with the other service.  

This is all in preparation for the launch of a new app which will be the only one you will need to access all your magazines from Zinio and eAudiobooks from OneClick.

The new mobile app will:

• combine the OneClickdigital eAudiobook app with the Zinio for Libraries magazine app, so access to eAudiobooks and magazines will all be in one app
• feature improved navigation and native search

 When the new app becomes available, you will be notified through your current OneClickdigital or Zinio for Libraries app to upgrade.

Stay tuned for future updates.

UPDATED: March 10, 4:00 PM

• To sign in, visit account.torontopubliclibrary.ca
• Send feedback to feedback@torontopubliclibrary.ca

KNOWN ISSUES AND BUGS

• A small number of users may experience problems signing into the new account (and library website), please contact the library if you have an issue signing in
• When editing multiple holds or checkouts (“Edit Holds”, “Edit Checkouts”) you may see some items fail with a message “Oops, something went wrong. Try again. If the problem persists, please let us know.”, please retry those items individually, they should succeed or a message about why they failed will display. (e.g. Item has holds for a failed renewal)
• If you are 100% sure about your library card number and PIN and when you sign in repeatedly you get a message saying “There is a problem with either the library card number or PIN. Try again. If the problem persists, please let us know.”, please email us, your account information isn’t properly connected with the new sign in system and we can fix it manually.
• Don’t use this in Internet Explorer 9 and lower: there are known issues 
• Screen readers and voice over will not properly read the screens when you change pages, work is underway to ensure screen readers and voice over work properly
• You will need to sign in a second time to either make an online payment or update your notification settings (i.e. add or change your email address/phone number, select notification options) – this will not be the case when the account goes live
• When using Remember Me: If loading a page and your session has timed out, you will briefly see an error message before the page refreshes. If performing an action and your session has timed out, you will see an error message indicating this however your actions will be retried.

FIXED ISSUES AND UPDATES

• Layout for holds and checkouts has been updated to show more items on the screen
• More prominent “Due Date” information
• A search box now displays on all pages.
• Friendly and (hopefully) clearer messages appear about your account status and during errors
• If you have periodicals (magazines, publications etc.) on hold, checked out, or that have incurred billed charges, your account page loads may be longer than expected
• Sorting includes first articles (an, a, the) (should be fixed now)
• Improvements to page load times for periodicals, still working on this
• Forgot PIN feature NOW available
• More helpful message for sign-in if errors, but more to do
• Item format displays on Charges
• Fixed a bunch of charges display issues
• Help text added to card expiry message
• Updated use of Colour for “Due Today” and “Due Tomorrow”

We continue to update this list as we hear from you as well as the items when they are fixed.

You have long been waiting for better access to the library’s newest nonfiction books. Well today, we have some good news for you.

The library website now has a new way to browse popular nonfiction topics.  We’ve created a larger set of topics to make discovery of new titles easier.  

Nonfiction Topics

• Arts and photography
• Biography
• Business and personal finance
• Careers and job searching
• Computers and technology
• Crafts, hobbies and home
• Food and drink
• Health and wellness
• History
• Music and performing arts
• Paren'ting and relationships
• Philosophy and religion
• Politics, government and law
• Science and the environment
• Social issues
• Sports and games
• Travel

Enjoy the new lists and as always, we’d love to hear your feedback.

The new OverDrive website will launch next Monday, February 13th.  To preview the website click here.

The updated website has been given a fresh new look and key enhancements include a simplified borrowing process and new browsing options. The transition to the new site should be seamless – checkouts, holds and wish lists will not be affected by the change.

More information about the new website and a short video demonstration can be found here.

 Some of the enhancements include:

1.    Faster response time

2.    Auto-complete search functionality

3.    New browsing options

A Subjects link and a Collections menu have been added, allowing you to browse all subjects or explore featured content on the website. 

4.    New availability banners

5.    Renewals feature  (only available upon launch)

You will be able to renew titles within three days of their expiration date (if there are any copies available) by selecting the Request again link on your Loans page.

6.    Audience filter for search results

7.    Account-level content preferences

You can set up filters in your Account settings if you wish to omit titles for certain audiences (.i.e. juvenile books) while browsing or searching. 

If you would like to leave feedback about the new website you can do so here.

Lynda.com is now LinkedIn Learning! LinkedIn Learning will have similar courses to those mentioned below.

Lynda.com makes available a great variety of technology and business-related online courses, free with your library card. About 20-30 new courses are added each week.

Here is just a sample of some new online courses recently added. 

Find and Test Your Business Idea

In this course, Dave Crenshaw helps you determine which new businesses are best suited to you as an entrepreneur, brainstorm ideas, identify which idea is a real opportunity, and create and execute a plan.

Intermediate Acoustic Guitar

If you're an acoustic guitar player looking for a challenge, then this course is for you. Learn about suspended chords, altered tuning, soloing patterns, and more.

QuickBooks Pro 2017 Essential Training

Learn how to create and back up your company's QuickBooks file and quickly set up shop.

Excel 2016: Prepare for the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Exam (77-727)

Demonstrate your advanced knowledge of Excel 2016 by becoming a Microsoft Office Specialist. This course helps you prepare for exam 77-727.

Designing Websites from Photoshop to Dreamweaver 

This course shows you how to turn designs from Photoshop into a fully functioning website using Dreamweaver. Learn how to slice mockups, apply HTML and CSS, test code, and more.

Sculpt a Game Environment

Learn how game artists work with software like Photoshop and ZBrush to create assets used in real-world games, while you sculpt a unique environment of your very own.

CISSP Cert Prep: 4 Communication and Network Security

Prepare for the Communication and Network Security domain of the CISSP exam. Learn about best practices for TCP/IP networking, network security devices, secure network design and management, and more.

Learning LinkedIn

Learn how to build a LinkedIn profile that showcases your professional identity and helps you connect with professionals in your industry.

WordPress Essential Training

Learn how to create your own feature-rich blog or website with WordPress. Find out how to schedule posts, customize themes, install plugins, and more.

Linux: Desktops and Remote Access

Find the most productive way to work in Linux. Learn how to access a CentOS computer via desktop environments, terminal emulators, shells, and remote tools.

AutoCAD 2017: Migrating from Windows to Mac

Review the differences in the Mac and Windows versions of AutoCAD 2017. Learn the nuances that affect your daily CAD usage, and get the most out of your existing knowledge.

 Related Posts:

• Learn Online with Lynda.com

Over 1,000 of you have used and tested the library’s new account since last fall. We’ve received hundreds of comments. Thank you to everyone who responded to using the beta and provided feedback.

There was pretty much a 50/50 split on the design: some really loved it, while others thought there was too much space being taken up by too little.

There was unanimous support for being able to see your library card expiry date and the hours of your hold pickup branch, as well as the improved clarity around dates and other information.

We have used your feedback to make a few changes to the account and today we launched those revisions on the Beta and have opened up the beta to anyone who wishes to try it.

We look forward to more feedback from you and others as we prepare to launch the new account.

Highlights of the changes include:

• less space between items (so you can see more on a screen!)
• more prominent key information (e.g. Due Date)
• messages about your account’s current status when it’s approaching being blocked
• dealing with slowness when you have a lot (A LOT) of items on hold or checked out
• the search box appears on the top
• heavier typeface that is easier to read
• And many other minor tweaks and fixes.

For new beta users, please review the list of Known issues and Bugs for more information about where we're at. As always, we look forward to your feedback and comments.

TumbleBook Library is no longer available. Please see OverDrive's read-along format for children. This growing collection currently has over 1,400 titles which include all the popular Robert Munsch works.

OverDrive eBooks & eAudiobooks for Kids also includes picture books, Sesame Street and Disney titles, beginning readers and chapter books.

It's a great time to brush up on a skill or learn a new one. Gale Courses offers instructor-led online courses on a variety of topics — free with your library card. Take as many courses as you want, whenever you want, as there are no limits. Courses run for six weeks, with two new lessons released every week on Wednesday and Friday. New sessions begin every month. Note these are not credit courses.

Courses cover:

• Computers and Technology – all skill levels from beginner to advanced on specific applications, programming, database management, graphic and multimedia design, networking and web technology
• Career and Professional Development – includes courses relating to accounting, business, entrepreneurship, management, writing and sales
• Personal Enrichment – courses relating to digital photography, arts and personal finance

Getting started is easy. You will need a valid Toronto Public Library card. The creation of a personal account is also required.

The courses include lessons, quizzes and assignments. Each lesson is accompanied by an interactive discussion area where you can post a question to the instructor. You can'take a quiz as many times as you like but you can only take the final exam once. If you take the final exam and get a passing score of 65% or higher, you can download a certificate of completion.

Check out the library's eLearning page to learn about other online learning resources.

There is definitely something for everyone. Let the learning begin!

The Criterion Collection is no longer offered as a streaming service. Explore our current streaming video options or browse the Criterion Collection on DVD.

Attention all cinema enthusiasts! Criterion Collection, a new streaming video service, offers unlimited access to over 350 influential feature and documentary films of Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, John Ford, Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Francois Truffaut, Orson Welles and more. There are no limits to the number of films that can be streamed and all films are always available. It also includes film essays and interviews. Transcripts are available for many films. 

Some of the titles available include:

• Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times
• David Cronenberg's Scanners
• Lasse Hallström's  My Life as a Dog
• Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire
• Ingmar Bergman's All These Women
• Louis Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants
• Abbas Kiarostami's Close-up
• Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre
• Steve James' Hoop Dreams

Please note that Criterion Collection does not include all Criterion film titles. It is a subscription service for libraries. Not all of the Criterion titles are available through this service.

Check out this new streaming resource. It will definitely be of interest to film buffs and cinema studies students and enthusiasts.

Summer vacations often involve quite a bit of car travel. One way to help pass the time on a long drive is to listen to an audiobook. Toronto Public Library has many 'e' audiobooks that can be borrowed and downloaded to computers, smartphones and tablets or transferred (from a computer) onto portable music players like iPods.  

If you are looking for some suggestions for audiobooks to borrow, the Audies, sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA), honours excellence in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.  

Here are some of the 2016 Audie Award winners, listed by category:

Autobiography/Memoir: Ghost Boy: The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body by Martin Pistorius. Read by Simon Bubb

Fiction: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Read by Polly Stone

History/Biography: A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin and Tom Hanks. Read by Bronson Pinchot

Humour: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.  Read by author

Mystery: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. Read by Robert Glenister

Multi-voiced Performance: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.  Read by Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lincoln Hoppe and Jonathan McClain

Narration by Author: Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

Non-Fiction: Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy. Read by Rebecca Lowman

Romance: The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. Read by Derek Perkins

Thriller/Suspense: The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry. Read by Scott Brick

Toronto Public Library has two collections of eAudiobooks — OverDrive and OneClickdigital. Apple and Android apps are available for both services. OverDrive also has a Windows 8/10 app. Both services have desktop software that is needed to transfer audiobooks onto portable music players. Audiobooks checked out from these collections are borrowed for 21 days.  Like eBooks, there are never fines with eAudiobooks. 

If you are new to OverDrive, more information about this digital service can be found on the Getting Started with Library eBooks webpage and on OverDrive's help page. If you are new to OneClickdigital, download the OneClickdigital User Guide and have a look at the help section of the OneClickdigital website. 

Related Posts:

• Best Audiobooks: 2015 Audie Award Winners.

The Toronto Public Library recently added a new digital magazine service called Flipster. Flipster gives access to over 30 magazines, including many popular Canadian and International titles. All you need is a valid library card and a computer, tablet or smartphone. The magazines are always available, you can borrow as many as you like and there are never any fines.

Here are some of the magazines available through Flipster:

Maclean's	People	Entertainment Weekly	Chatelaine	InStyle

Bloomberg Businessweek	Canada'a History	Canadian Business	Ebony	Fortune

Flare	MoneySense	Scientific American	Sports Illustrated	The Walrus

The magazines can be streamed in an internet browser (such as Internet Explorer, Chrome or Safari). A Flipster app is available for free for Android and Apple devices. Magazines can be downloaded to the Flipster app and will stay in the app for 2 days, 7 days or an unlimited amount of time, depending on the magazine. There is full list (PDF) of available magazines, with the borrowing period for each title listed.  

For more information on using Flipster, have a look at our Getting Started with Flipster webpage. 

Related posts:

• Getting Started with Zinio eMagazines
• Android, BBC Good Food, Paris Match and Many More Magazines Added to Zinio
• Bring Zinio eMagazines With You On Vacation

The very popular The Great Courses lecture series is now available on Hoopla!    

The Great Courses are a video series presented by award-winning experts from respected institutions who are selected for their ability to teach. Lectures are available on a wide variety of topics, including history, photography, mindfulness, physics and much more. The Great Courses take the best of university — interesting and comprehensive lectures on fascinating topics — but without the time-consuming homework and stressful examinations.

Here are just a few of the many lecture series available through Hoopla, including The Great Tours: Experiencing Medieval Europe by the University of Toronto's own Professor Ken Bartlett. 

The Great Tours: Experiencing Medieval Europe. Travel through time to the golden ages of Europe's most beautiful medieval cities and discover the sights and sounds of daily medieval life.

Food: A Cultural Culinary History. Travel the world discovering fascinating food lore and culture from many regions. An enthralling journey into the human relationship with food.  

Being Human: Life Lessons from the Frontiers of Science. Understanding our humanity is one of the deepest mysteries in science. Many fields including biology, neuroscience, anthropology, psychology and sociology are starting to reveal more about the mechanisms of human behaviour.

Fundamentals of Photography. Twelve National Geographic photographers teach two lessons each, offering rich insights into how to approach photography. 

How to Stay Fit as You Age. Certified fitness and wellness consultant Dr. Bonura helps viewers create and practice a balanced, adaptable fitness program.  

Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation. Gain a clear understanding of the essence of meditation and how best to practice it in 24 lessons filled with guided exercises, principles and techniques.

The 23 Greatest Solo Piano Works. In addition to learning about these 23 masterworks, watch as three dynamic concert pianists perform live. 

The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGasse Tyson. A journey to the frontiers of the known (and unknown) universe and an introduction to the tantalizing questions being addressed by the world's top scientists.

The Mathematics of Games and Puzzles: From Cards to Sudoku. Using nothing more than a simple grasp of math, you can discover optimal ways to win games and solve puzzles with the speed and accuracy of professional players. 

Thinking About Cybersecurity: From Cyber Crime to Cyber Warfare. An intriguing look at the structure of the Internet, the unique dangers it breeds, and the ways we're learning how to understand, manage and reduce these dangers.

New to Hoopla?  Have a look at our Getting Started with Hoopla webpage and download the Hoopla User Guide. Hoopla videos (television and movies), music and graphic books can are available for streaming or downloading (mobile devices only). Hoopla is compatible with Apple TV and Chromecast.  

Related Posts:

• "Great Courses" Lectures Now Available on OneClickdigital Audiobooks

Zinio is no longer offered through Toronto Public Library. Visit our current selection of digital magazines.

Our Zinio eMagazines Collection has grown again with many new magazines for you to download and enjoy. Zinio eMagazines do not need to be returned and there are never any library fines. 

If you are new to Zinio eMagazines, have a look at our Getting Started with Zinio eMagazines webpage and download our Zinio User Guide.

Here are a few of the new English-language magazines:

• Android Magazine
• BBC Good Food Magazine
• BBC History Magazine
• Entrepeneur
• SkyNews

We also added a number of terrific French language magazines from France including:

• Géo France
• GQ France
• Paris Match
• Vanity Fair France
• Vogue Paris

Related posts:

• New eMagazines Added to Zinio (Including Dr. Oz)
• Zinio eMagazines: New Magazines Added, Including National Enquirer
• Zinio eMagazines: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Many Other Magazines Now Available

OneClickdigital audiobooks are no longer available. Visit tpl.ca/audiobooks to discover other ways to listen to audiobooks.

Do you enjoy attending lectures, but do not have the time or money to go back to school? The Great Courses are for you! The Great Courses is a lecture series by award-winning experts and professors who are from respected institutions and are selected for their ability to teach. It's the best of university – interesting and comprehensive lectures on fascinating topics, but without all the annoying homework and stressful examinations.

The Great Courses have been available in video format for over 25 years. They are now available through our OneClickdigital audiobook collection. These audiobooks can be checked out for 21 days and downloaded or streamed on a computer, smartphone or tablet. If you are new to OneClickdigital, have a look at the library's Oneclickdigital User Guide or the help section of the OneClickdigital website.

Check the library's catalogue see the wide range of courses. Here are just a few:

Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (3rd edition) taught by multiple professors
Crucial questions about our existence have been pondered by thoughtful men and women since civilization began. This course is a comprehensive survey of the history of Western philosophy from its origins in classical Greece to the present.

The Higgs Boson and Beyond by Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology
The search and discovery of the Higgs boson was a triumph of modern physics and was justly celebrated around the world. In this lecture series, Professor Carroll will teach you everything you need to know to fully grasp the significance of this scientific discovery.

Influence: Mastering Life's Most Powerful Skill by Kenneth G. Brown of the University of Iowa
With scientific and sociological experiments, case studies from fields including business and politics, and practical exercises to test your skills, this course will show you how to harness the power of influence at home, at work, at the store, in your social life, and anywhere else you may need it.

Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation by Mark M. Muesse of Rhodes College
In addition to the principles and techniques of meditation, you will learn how to use the skills of meditation to work with thoughts and emotional states and to become deeply attentive to the operation of your mind.

The Rise and Fall of the British Empire by Patrick Allitt of Emory University
Covering four centuries of British power, innovation and influence, the course will provide fresh insights into world history and provide the background of current events in countries that were once part of Britain's empire, from Ireland to China, and in Africa and the Caribbean.

The Great Courses to DVD

Of course, the Toronto Public Library still carries the  The Great Courses to DVD. These DVD sets are checked out for three weeks. As with the audiobooks, the full list of The Great Courses DVD sets are available through our catalogue.  

Here are just a few of the most recent lectures available to borrow with your Toronto Public Library card:

Fundamentals of Sustainable Living by Lonnie Gamble from the Maharishi University of Management
Learn specific techniques to work more efficiently with the energy, water, and food you consume, so that you can live a more balanced and sustainable lifestyle.

Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds by Robert Garland from Colgate University 
By examining two dozen historical events from ancient Egypt through to medieval Europe and Asia, this course investigates a variety of first-hand accounts and secondary sources to experience what it was like to live these events as they occurred. 

Mind-Bending Math: Riddles and Paradoxes by David T. Kung from St. Mary's College of Maryland
Explore the ageless riddles that have plagued our greatest philosophical, mathematical, and scientific minds throughout history. Learn how to break down, examine, and solve these famous quandaries.

Music and the Brain by Aniruddh D. Patel from Tufts University
This interdisciplinary course combines music and cognitive science to explore music as an integral part of humanity. 

Robotics by John Long from Vassar College
Using robot demonstrations, 3-D animations, and other amazing visual aids, Professor Long demystifies the world of robots. This comprehensive course covers both the hard science of how robots work as well as the implications of robots for society.

 Related Posts:

• Browse the OneClickdigital Collection For Many Popular Audiobooks
• Streaming Audiobooks Now Available

Safari is now O'Reilly Learning! O'Reilly Learning still contains the latest books and videos for business and technology.

It is 2016 and technology is everywhere. How do you keep up with the latest developments? Safari Tech & Business Books Online can help.

Safari offers current ebook and videos from major publishers. New titles are generally added on a monthly basis. The publishers determine which titles are available to public library subscribers. 

How to use Safari

1. Make sure you have a valid Toronto Public Library card. 
2. Sign in through the Safari page (tpl.ca/safari) on the Toronto Public Library website.
3. Browse the books and videos. Unlike some other library ebook services, Safari has no waiting lists and no requirement to check books out. All content is always available.
4. Read books or view videos on the Safari site in your web browser. Note: you must be connected to the internet; books and videos can't be downloaded for offline use.

What topics are covered

A wide range of topics are covered including software development, programming languages, digital media and design, web development, mobile apps, UX, certification, entrepreneurship, marketing, customer service, personal investing, finance and more.

Are you an ebook reader, a print book reader, or both? For those of us who borrow both physical books and ebooks from the library, going back and forth between the main library website and the OverDrive ebook service can be inconvenient.

Why do we have to borrow ebooks through a separate site?

Like other libraries, TPL provides access to digital content through third-party vendors. These vendors (OverDrive, Hoopla, and others) negotiate rights with publishers and apply technical restrictions based on the licence agreements. This model places some limits on what libraries are able to do with their digital content.

The good news is that options for website integration exist, and we have started working on ways to take advantage of them.

One-stop search for electronic and print

One of our goals is to make it easier to find both print and ebooks through our main website search. We've always had catalogue records for both types of books, and we've recently done some additional work to make the search more useful.

Ebook availability: holds and copies

The first issue we tackled (in April 2015) was adding a key piece of missing information to our ebook records: the number of copies and the length of the waiting list (number of holds) for each title.

Having the holds and copies information right there on the search results page comes in very handy – you can easily see whether you'll be able to get the ebook right away, and you can compare waiting lists between the print and ebook versions.

Search relevance: bringing ebooks closer to the top of the results list

Another improvement we made this year involved adding data about ebook copies to our search engine's index. The number of copies the library owns helps determine which records appear at the top of your search results. When the search engine didn't know how many ebook copies we had, it would place the ebook records much lower down in results – below specialized formats like large print and talking book, and sometimes not even on the first page of results.

Now that the search engine has access to the number of ebook copies, ebooks turn up much closer to the top of the results – often right after the regular print version.

Future possibilities

These improvements are only the beginning. Future projects may include:

• A single sign-in, eliminating the extra step of signing in to OverDrive
• An integrated account where you can see all your physical and ebook checkouts and holds in one place
• An app that brings everything together – searching (print and electronic), managing your account (print and electronic), and downloading and reading ebooks all in one place

In the meantime, we appreciate hearing your feedback about using ebooks – it helps us set priorities for the future.