Borrowing Guide
Taking something out? Here are the ins and outs of placing holds, borrowing physical and digital content, and paying fees for overdue items.
Get a Library Card
What will a FREE library card get you? A chance to enjoy instant, endless fun!
Place a Hold
Did you know that you can request up to 50 physical and 30 digital holds?
Just log in to your account, search for the item you want and click "Place a 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).
EPL subscribes to a number of Online Resources, some of which have their own borrowing limits and loan periods.
Digital Content
Job & Career Accelerator
Effective June 11, 2020, EPL’s Board of Trustees passed a motion to discontinue late fees for library materials. Eliminating late fees will permanently reduce barriers to accessing our resources and services. All existing fees are forgiven.
However, if a library item is past 15 days overdue, customers will be notified via mail/email. If a library item has not been returned after 30 days, you will be charged a replacement fee for the lost or damaged item.
If you have 40 items or more overdue (longer than 3 weeks for most items except Hits-to-Go), you will be unable to borrow any more items, place holds or access eBooks, eAudiobooks or any other digital content.
Customers who are able to pay their fines are encouraged to pay it forward and make a donation to the Library at epl.ca/give. Funding for EPL builds foundations for early literacy, increases digital literacy, provides services for newcomers and job seekers and so much more.
FAQs
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Most items can be borrowed for up to three weeks, except Hits-to-Go items (which are one-week borrowing). For example, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, videogames and interlibrary loans. Please return the items on time so we can share them with others.
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Renewing is easy:
- Online– Log in at EPL.ca and renew your materials in “My account” under “My EPL.”
- By phone– Grab a pen, paper, your borrowed materials, and call 496.7047 and follow the instructions.
- At a branch– Use one of the public catalogue terminals or speak to a staff member.
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If a library item is past 15 days overdue, a notice will be mailed or emailed to you. If a library item has not been returned after 30 days, you will be billed for the replacement cost.
If your fines reach a total of $10.00 or more or if you have 40 items or more checked out or 15 items overdue, you will not be able to borrow any more items, place holds or access eBooks, eAudiobooks or any other digital content.
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Yes it does! All existing late fees are forgiven. However, if you have outstanding replacement fees for item(s) you have not returned, these need to still be paid.
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EPL is committed to minimizing wait times, we purchase additional copies of titles to meet customer demand, based on a copy to holds ratio. We track the number of holds we have on every title and make sure that customers are not negatively impacted. If some items are being kept longer than the 3 weeks, our copy to holds ratio would dictate more copies need to be purchased.
