Web Team Blog

Library wireless users, we need your feedback!

Take the Wireless Survey

Toronto Public Library offers wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) at all 98 of our branches. To help us better understand use of the service, we want to learn more about:

• How you use the library wireless service
• Your use of other Toronto Public Library services
• Your use of the Internet through your mobile and laptop devices

This survey takes 10 minutes or less to complete. Let us know what you think!

Email reminders to help you return your library materials on time

We’re very happy to announce that, starting today, you can sign up to receive emails to remind you of your checked-out items two days before the items are due.

How to get the email reminders

You can opt in to receive due date reminders in the new Notification Settings section of your account.

See our frequently asked questions about email notification and email address confirmation instructions for more help.

Manage your settings

The new Notification Settings area in your account allows you to directly manage your email address and preferences. If you've had problems with email notification in the past, check your settings and review our troubleshooting tips, or contact us for help.

Can I get due date reminders by phone or text message?

No, this service is only available via email.

Caveat: it’s still your responsibility to return your items on time.

Due date reminders give you an additional way to keep track of when items are due, but you will still be charged fines if an item is returned late, even if (for any reason) you do not receive a reminder notice. You can always check what you have borrowed and when it’s due by looking at your account online.

Want to help improve the TPL website?

UPDATE: We've received enough responses and have closed the survey. Thanks to everyone who offered to help!

We are looking for a few people who regularly sign in to the “Your Account” section of our website to give us some feedback. It’s easy and will take about 1 hour.

when: Monday December 17, 2012
where: North York Central Library (branch details)

Interested? Please complete this brief survey to see if you qualify.

Update for OverDrive eBook users: changes to Adobe Digital Editions

Version 2.0 of Adobe Digital Editions, the software used to transfer OverDrive eBooks to your eBook reader, was released last week. The new version has some accessibility improvements to help users with low vision or visual impairments. Some features have also been streamlined: you can now access the menu options for a book (including the options to add the book to your device and to return a borrowed item) by right-clicking on the eBook cover.

There is also, unfortunately, a small bug with the new version of the software: each of your checked-out items has a banner showing you how many days you have left to read it, but this banner is currently displaying the wrong information. Don't worry: you actually still have the full checkout period to read your eBook - only the banner is incorrect.

Note that the new features (and this one bug) are only found in the new version of Adobe Digital Editions released last week. If you still have the older version, you won't see these changes.

Help us plan the future of library services

Here at Web Team Headquarters, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future. We live online; we love gadgets; we dream in HTML5. We also agree with William Gibson's observation that "the future is already  here - it's just not very evenly distributed." As access to knowledge and culture becomes increasingly mediated by technology, we hope the library can help distribute the future a little more evenly and ensure that everyone in Toronto is able to fully participate in it.

Toronto Public Library is taking a big-picture look at the future right now as part of the strategic planning process, and we want your input. This is your opportunity to tell us what services are most important to you and what we could do to improve them. We'd especially love to hear your ideas about the library website, eBooks, and Internet access in library branches, but we welcome input on any aspect of library service.

Tell us what you want from your library:

• Take the online survey
• Join us for our upcoming Twitter chats (or give us a shout anytime @torontolibrary) 
• Post a comment below or on the dedicated Strategic Plan Blog

We look forward to hearing from you.

News for Kindle Touch Users

You may have read about the recent news about about Amazon’s Kindle Touch 3G – a top-of-the-line digital book reader, finally arriving in Canada a half-year after its launch in America. 

We would like to remind those users who wish to use this reader that, unfortunately, Kindle-compatible ebooks are not yet an option for Canadian libraries.

We wrote about the availability of eBooks for Kindle previously on our blog, explaining that there are many other devices compatible with Adobe PDF and EPUB ebooks offered at TPL. Amazon has separate agreements with publishers, distributors, and cellular carriers in Canada, and this means separate legal arrangements for Kindle library lending. As always, Toronto Public Library will continue to monitor developments in this area.