Borrowing Guide
Taking something out? Here are the ins and outs of placing holds and borrowing physical and digital content.
Borrowing Physical Items
Borrowing Frequently Asked Questions
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We loan books, board games, passes to local attractions, garden tools, and "Other Things" for three (3) weeks, unless another person has requested them. Items from these categories that have been requested by another person must be returned after one (1) week.
DVDs are loaned for one (1) week, unless another patron has requested them. If there are requests for the item, the loan period is three (3) days. DVD series sets have a three (3) week loan period. If these items are requested by another person, the loan period is one (1) week.
Be sure to return your items on time so other members of our community can enjoy them as well!
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TBPL has turned on automatic renewals! If a book you have signed out isn't required by another person it will automatically renew up to 2 times.
Extended borrowing periods may be arranged for special circumstances such as hospital stays or vacations. Please contact your library branch for more information on extended borrowing periods.
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Most items can be returned to any TBPL branch. After-hour drops are available at all locations.
Exceptions:
- Books from Interlibrary Loan must be returned in person to a branch during open hours.
- Most items from the Library of Things need to be returned in-person to an open branch.
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Full-service Cards for Adults, Youth, and Juvenile accounts can borrow up to 50 physical items. This number (50) includes a maximum of 15 adult DVDs and 10 children's DVDs. They also give full access to our digital collections.
Limit cards for Adult, Youth, and Juvenile accounts can borrow a maximum of 7 physical items. This Card type also has full access to our digital collections.
eService Cards offer digital access only. They provide access to the public computers at all locations in addition to our databases and online collections. This Card type does not provide for borrowing of physical items.
More information on Library Card types can be found in the Get A Card Section of our website.
Place a Hold
Did you know that you can request up to 50 physical items to be placed on hold?
Just log in to your account, search for the item you want and click "Place Hold." You'll be notified by email or phone when your items are ready for pick-up. You have 7 days to pick up your hold(s).
Why buy when you can borrow?
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Our Collection's Got More Than Just Books!
We're More Than Just Books
Attraction Passes
Board Games
Garden Tools
ComicsPlus by LibraryPass
Attraction Passes
Board Games
Garden Tools
ComicsPlus by LibraryPass
Digital Content
TBPL subscribes to a number of Online Resources, some of which have their own borrowing limits and loan periods.
cloudLibrary
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You can check out up to 10 items at a time in cloudLibrary. If you’ve reached your checkout limit, you can choose to return a title early in order to borrow a different title. Materials you have borrowed from the physical library do not count towards this limit.
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Browse and check out eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines right on your mobile device!
To start using cloudLibrary on a smartphone or tablet
- Download the cloudLibrary app from the app store on your device:
- Once your download is complete, open the app and follow the prompts on your screen:
- Select your language, then tap the screen to continue.
- Tap ‘Select Country’ and choose Canada. Tap ‘Select State/Region’ and choose Ontario. Tap ‘Select Library’ and choose Thunder Bay Public Library. Click ‘Next’ when you’re ready to continue.
- Review the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and End User License Agreement, then click ‘Accept’ to continue.
- Enter your Library Card and PIN, then click ‘Log In’ to continue.
- You’re all set! Start browsing or searching the collection to find your next great reading or listening experience.
To start using cloudLibrary on a computer:
- Visit cloudLibrary, opens a new window in your web browser.
- Click the ‘Login’ button in the upper left corner of your screen.
- Enter your Library Card and PIN, then click ‘Log In’ to continue.
- Review the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and End User License Agreement, then click ‘Accept’ to continue.
- You’re all set! Start browsing or searching the collection to find your next great reading or listening experience.
- Download the cloudLibrary app from the app store on your device:
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Fourteen (14) days. After this time period, your item will automatically expire.
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You can place holds on up to 10 items at a time in cloudLibrary. If you’ve reached your holds limit, you can choose to remove your hold from a title in order to place a different title on hold.
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To suggest a physical item, visit this form and provide as many details as you can.
To suggest eBooks and eAudiobooks, we encourage you to submit your purchase suggestion through cloudLibrary in one of the following ways:
- In the cloudLibrary™ web platform, select the Menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner of the screen. Click ‘Filters’, then select ‘Suggest to Library’. Now you can click ‘Browse’ under the Menu to see all titles available to suggest, or tap the ‘Search’ field to search for a title. When you find a title, click on the ‘Suggest to Library’ button.
- In the cloudLibrary™ mobile app, go to the 'Browse' menu, select the ‘Suggestions for Library’ view under ‘Filters’, search for your title or browse under 'All', and click on the ‘Suggest to Library’ button.
When a title you suggested is purchased for the collection, it will come available for you to borrow just like a hold.
cloudLibrary
Registration Open for Reading Buddies
Kanopy and Kanopy Kids
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You'll need your Library card number and PIN to set up your new Kanopy account. Visit "Getting started with Kanopy for public library users" on the Kanopy website, opens a new window for detailed instructions.
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Yes. A list of supported devices is available on their website, opens a new window (see the Mobile and TV Apps section).
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Not at this time. You must have an active internet connection to watch videos. Using your phone’s data plan to stream videos on Kanopy is not recommended.
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There is no limit on Kanopy Kids content, but there is a limit for regular Kanopy content.
"Tickets" are used to play videos on Kanopy. Each month, you are issued 12 tickets from the Library. Your tickets reset on the first day of the month, and unused tickets don't roll over to the next month.
You can see your remaining tickets for the month in the top-right corner of the homepage.
As you browse for titles, you'll see the number of tickets required to watch each title and how long you have to watch it. For episodic titles, like TV series and The Great Courses, you'll also see what content the tickets unlock (e.g., "Season 1" or "all"). On the Kanopy website and Android app, you can filter your search results by the number of tickets required.
Learn more at kanopy.com., opens a new window
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When you start watching a TV series episode, that counts as one credit. All episodes of the series are available under that one credit for the usual access period of 72 hours (three days). After that time, watching an episode will count as another credit.
Registration Open for Reading Buddies
Comics Plus
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Comics Plus from LibraryPass is available through the LibraryPass app. Please search for LibraryPass in the App Store or Google Play to find the correct app.
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You can browse by age range, genre, publisher, or title on the Comics Plus LibraryPass website.
In the LibraryPass app, click on the three lines in the upper left hand corner and use one of the filters to browse the list by Featured, Popular, Just Added, Categories and Publishers.
Learn more about Comics Plus on their website., opens a new window
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No, titles are always available! All comics are available for simultaneous access so there’s no holds or waitlists. All titles are available 24/7. Once you've found a title to read, click the Check Out button, and it will automatically be added to your account. Click the Read Now button to start Reading.
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Checkouts are for seven (7) days. After seven days the comic goes dormant, but stays in your collection, at which point the cover goes dark. If you want to check out the comic again, just click on the cover and it will be available again for another seven days!
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There are two ways to add a title to your shelf:
- When you read a title it will automatically appear on your shelf. Click the 'Read Now' icon on the cover page of the title.
- You can add titles to your shelf without reading them by clicking the '+' icon on the details page of a title.
- You can remove titles from your shelf by clicking the '-' icon in the details page of a title.
ComicsPlus by LibraryPass
We acknowledge that the City of Thunder Bay has been built on the traditional territory of Fort William First Nation, signatory to the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850. We also recognize the contributions made to our community by the Métis people.
