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.
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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
Maclean's Magazine Archive
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 late fees are forgiven.
However, if a library item is past 8 days overdue, customers will be notified via mail/email. If a non-Hits-to-Go item has not been returned after 21 days, or, if a Hits-to-Go item has not been returned after 14 days, you will be charged a replacement fee for the lost or damaged item.
If you have 40 items or more checked out or 10 items overdue (longer than 3 weeks for most items except Hits-to-Go), you will not be able to borrow any more items, place holds, or access eBooks, eAudiobooks or any other digital content.
Customers who are able to pay their late fees 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 three weeks, except Hits-to-Go items. Books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games and interlibrary loans can all be borrowed for three weeks. Please return 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 8 days overdue, a notice will be mailed or emailed to you. If a non-Hits to Go item has not been returned after 21 days, or, if a Hits To Go item has not been returned after 14 days, you will be billed for the replacement cost.
If your fines reach a total of $10 or more or if you have 40 items or more checked out or 10 items overdue, you will not be able to borrow any more items, place holds or access eBooks, eAudiobooks or any other digital content until your account is in good standing.
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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.
