Borrowing Materials

How long can I borrow materials for?

List of materials and loan periods
Item Loan Period
Arduino 21 days
Best Bets 21 days
Books 21 days
CDs 21 days
CD-ROMs 21 days
CO2 Monitors 7 days
Digital Equipment 2 hours
DVD - Feature 7 days
DVDs - Nonfiction and TV Series 14 days
DVD/VHS Language Learning including Literacy 21 days
eContent Varies as determined by licensing agreement
Items provided by Home Library Service Extended loans as determined by Home Library Service
Magazine or Periodical 7 days
tpl:map passes Visit date to attraction chosen when reservation is made
Music scores 21 days
Musical Instruments 21 days
Picture collections 21 days
Playaways 21 days
Wi-Fi Hotspots 6 months

Most materials can be returned to any Toronto Public Library branch. Some items must be returned to the branch from which you borrowed them:

How many items can I have out at one time?

50

Can I borrow books that are marked as "reference"?

Books that are marked as "reference" cannot be borrowed; they are for use in the library that owns the copy. There are usually circulating copies of the book that you can borrow.

If there is only one reference copy of the book and you are unable to travel to the owning library to read it, please speak to staff about interlibrary loan and reference loan options.

How do I borrow eBooks or eAudiobooks?

You can checkout and download materials from your computer or your mobile device. For instruction on how to use this service see our Getting Started with Library eBooks user guides.

Can I renew items that I have borrowed?

Most items that you borrow can be renewed two or three times as long as there are sufficient copies available.

Each renewal extends the due date by the same length of time as you originally borrowed it for, e.g. an additional 21 days for most books, an additional 7 days for most DVDs.

The renewal period starts on the day you renew an item, not the original date the item was due.

More information about renewing materials.