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Visit your local library from home

Save time by ordering and renewing your books online

By Ilona Biro

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I love going to the library, especially our local branch with its sunny, open spaces and wonderful children's collection. But as my kids have grown, so too have their schedules. With play dates, school and weekend classes taking up more of their time, I've come to rely on the 'virtual library' — the one that never closes — to feed our reading habits.

About once a month, I log on to the Toronto Public Library's online catalogue and browse through the new book titles and staff favourites. Once I've compiled my short list, I order up our books. A few days later, the phone rings and a recorded message informs me that our books are in. For busy booklovers, it doesn't get much better than this.

Reserve bestsellers from home

In an era of instant gratification, some people don't want to wait for anything — especially a book they're dying to read. According to Toronto magazine editor Tamar Satov, electronic book queues — even for bestsellers — aren't usually that long. Satov uses the library regularly and knows from experience that borrowing "is a lot better than shelling out 35 bucks for a book you discover you don't like."

"I like it because you can put in a request for whatever item you want, and have it sent to your local branch. It's convenient," she says.

Access recommended reading lists

Keeping tabs on your books is easy too. You can access your library account, view items you've checked out, renew overdue items, check the status of books on hold and ask staff a question, all from the comfort of home. While conducting searches, you can also create a temporary booklist, save it on your computer or print it out for future reference.

Once in a while I need a little inspiration, and my local library's Recommended Reading section is full of good bets. Most library sites include regularly updated lists of bestsellers, staff recommendations, classics, science fiction, romance or mystery novels, award–winners, plus a list of all the hot new titles that have just hit the shelves. You can also find hundreds of reading lists on the Web, like KidsReads, and the Vancouver Public Library's booklists for kids.

Search across Canada

Online library services can differ from province to province, and larger libraries may also offer research databases and online staff in addition to the catalogue. Users of The Alberta Library Online can search the province's 200 public, post-secondary and specialty libraries all at once, and obtain interlibrary loans from any of them as well. Similar sites available across Canada are:

In fact, no matter where you live in Canada, there's nothing to stop you from using many of these online libraries, most of which are listed on the National Library of Canada's site. While there, you may want to check out The National Library's AMICUS database. It allows a search of 25 million full records from over 1,300 Canadian libraries, including the National Library. If you can't find it here, you probably can't find it anywhere.

Investigate reference sources

Libraries are constantly improving their sites and services to better serve the public. Andrew Lofft, Electronic Services Specialist for the Toronto Public Library, says their Virtual Reference Library has been very popular since its introduction in November 2002. The service allows users to chat live with librarians during most regular library hours, and get help with their research projects almost instantly. It is a goldmine of free resources — all of which you can browse 24 hours a day. After hours, students can use the library's longstanding Ask a Librarian service and receive answers to their e-mail questions within 24 hours; barring it is not a weekend or holiday. 

Lofft promises many more improvements to the site in the coming months, but it's hard to imagine a better system. Unless they're considering door-to-door delivery.


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Writer, Ilona Biro


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