Accessible Collections
Service Update
Effective July 31, 2025, the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) will cease production and distribution of DAISY Talking Books. TPL will continue to offer DAISY Talking Books and CD Talking Books after that date. For more information, please refer to: Home Library Service.
The library has a variety of materials in accessible formats. This page provides a summary of each format and a link to items in that format. Toronto Public Library cardholders with print disabilities can also access the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) collection.
Print materials
All library branches have equipment such as book stands, magnifiers and natural spectrum lamps to make print materials more accessible. Select branches also have more specialized equipment such as CCTV print magnifiers and computers with assistive software. Visit Accessibility at Library Branches for details.
In addition, we offer the following accessible print formats:
Large print books are available at many branches. Titles include a wide choice of bestsellers, fiction and non-fiction. Some books are also available in French.
Dyslexia-friendly readers are books with unique fonts, wider spacing, and thicker, tinted paper. Some people may find these features helpful. Other options include audiobooks, Talking Books, and CELA.
Located at North York Central Library, this reference collection offers books from around the world for and about children and teens with disabilities.
eBooks & digital publications
We offer ebooks, digital magazines, and digital newspapers on several different platforms. Many of these resources have settings you can adjust, such as font size.
Our largest ebook collection includes books for adults, teens and children, as well as a large selection of magazines.
In OverDrive, you can change reading setting such as font size, font styling (including OpenDyslexic font), page layout, lighting and line spacing.
You can filter search results to display only items that are available in EPUB format, which is compatible with screen reader software.
Featured OverDrive collections
- Read Alongs Digital picture books with text and audio narration
- Audio Comics for Kids Audio versions of comics and graphic novels for kids
- Audio Comics for Teens and Adults Audio versions of comics and graphic novels for teens and adults
Audiobooks
Download audiobooks to listen to on a computer, DAISY player or mobile device, or borrow physical audiobook formats.
Many audiobooks have listening settings you can change, such as playback speed.
Our largest audiobook collection; includes current, popular fiction and non-fiction for adults, teens and children.
Full length recordings of books on CD that you can listen to on your computer or CD player. Some titles are available in other languages.
Playaways are fiction and non-fiction audiobooks pre-loaded to portable players. The players are small and lightweight, with large buttons. To listen to a Playaway, you just need one AAA battery and headphones or a cable to connect it to speakers at home or in your car.
Children's picture books with built-in audio players.
Kids and their families can listen to a story by phone any time of day for free by calling the library's Dial-A-Story service at 416-395-5400.
Talking Books are full-length audiobooks in multi-disc CD or single-disc DAISY formats. DAISY Talking Books can be listened to on a DAISY player to change playback speed, bookmark pages, go directly to a specific page, and search within a book.
Talking Books are available to customers with print disabilities. A print disability is a learning, physical or visual disability that prevents someone from reading conventional print, as defined in section 32 of the Canadian Copyright Act:
- learning disability: an impairment relating to comprehension
- physical disability: the inability to hold or manipulate a book
- visual disability: severe or total impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes.
To register for Talking Books Status, complete the Talking Book Status Application online or in a branch.
A DAISY player is needed to listen to DAISY Talking Books. A limited number of DAISY players are available for loan to eligible customers with print disabilities. For more information, contact the Home Library Service at 416-395-5557 or hls@tpl.ca.
Music & Video
The library has music on CD, and music you can download or stream using a computer or mobile device.
Described videos are DVDs that have audio narration which describes the action, characters, costumes, locations and sets without interfering with a movie's dialogue or sound effects.
Closed-captioned videos are DVDs that display text versions of a movie’s dialogue, as well as sound effects, speaker identities, and other non-speech elements.
Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) Collection
Toronto Public Library partners with the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) to provide additional accessible collections to customers with print disabilities and professionals who work with people with print disabilities.
CELA has a growing collection of 700,000 items for all ages, including:
- newspapers, magazines, books
- audio, eaudio, etext, braille, printbraille, e-braille
- English and French with some other languages
- Bookshare, a US-based accessible online library for people with print disabilities.
Eligibility
The CELA collection is available to library customers with a print disability as defined in section 32 of the Canadian Copyright Act:
- learning disability: an impairment relating to comprehension
- physical disability: the inability to hold or manipulate a book
- visual disability: severe or total impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes.
Registration
To register for CELA:
- contact Toronto Public Library staff by phone at 416-395-5557 or email hls@tpl.ca
- or self-register on the CELA website
CELA is also available to educators and other professionals who work with people with print disabilities. To learn more and register, visit the Educator Access Program or Client Access Support Program page of the CELA website.
How to access the collection
Search or browse the collection on the CELA website
There are several delivery options:
- Online and download: read newspapers online and download books and magazines to your computer or mobile device
- Download without a computer: download books and magazines directly to an internet-enabled DAISY player over a wireless connection
- Delivery by mail: receive embossed braille or printbraille (children’s picture books with braille added) by mail
- Automatic selection: receive new books that match your interests.