Borrowing FAQs

  • General Questions

    You can borrow the following items up to three weeks: Books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games and interlibrary loans. 

    You can borrow Hits-to-Go items for one week.

    Please return items on time so we can share them with others.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    A replacement fee is the cost of an item not returned.

    Customers will be billed the replacement cost of a non-Hits To Go item 21 days after the due date and 14 days after the due date of a Hits To Go item, if it has not been returned. At this point it is considered a lost item.

    Due to a technical limitation in our current library software, expiry dates cannot extend past December 31, 2037. Our software provider is working to fix this issue and new software version will be released before this expiry. For further questions, please contact us.

    EPL cards do not require renewal.

    Please note that library cards expire after three years of inactivity. If you haven’t used your card in a while, this is your chance to reactivate your card by borrowing from our millions of physical or digital items.

    You are responsible for items borrowed on your card or family member’s cards for which you are a guarantor. Please report your card lost to the Library as soon as you are aware of it being lost and update your PIN/password for each card. See EPL’s Library Card FAQs for more information. 

    Let the library staff know if you have any digital checkouts or holds through Libby/Overdrive on your lost card when your card is replaced. 

    We want to build a balanced collection to serve all of Edmonton. If you’re interested in a title that’s not in the EPL catalogue, let us know and we’ll consider your request. Suggestions are evaluated according our Collection Development Policy.

    You can request up to five items per month through our online catalogue. Track the progress of your suggestion within the Suggest a Purchase pages (after logging in). Before making your suggestion, check our catalogue to make sure we don't already carry it.

    Suggest a new item (library card and PIN required)

    We have removed late fees because they present a barrier to some customers and want to ensure EPL provides equitable access to our collections.

  • Auto-Renewal

    It is an automated process that renews eligible physical items that are checked out to customers in good standing on their due date. (eResource items are not included in this auto-renewal feature.) 

    The same principles that apply to manual renewals are what will make an item eligible for an auto-renewal. Items are eligible for up to two renewals if there are no holds, the item is not a Hits-to-Go, a magazine, an ILL and the account is in good standing. 

    Yes, the manual renewal feature will still be available.  If customers manually renew their items prior to their due date, the system will not try to auto-renew. 

    Auto-renewal is an automatic process that applies to all customer accounts. It is not possible to opt out. However, customers who do not wish to keep an item and take advantage of the extra time can simply return the item when they are finished.  

    No, by default, all customer accounts will auto-renew. 

    Customers will receive an “Auto-renewal” email notification.  Customers who do not receive email notifications will continue to receive their “One week overdue” notice for items that could not be auto-renewed.