Digital Library Services

Cape Breton Regional Library’s Digital Library services are available online anytime anywhere.
Most services require logging in with your library card number and PIN.

Jump to category:

eBooks & Audiobooks

Libby

Libby/Overdrive

The library’s core eBook and audiobook collection provides you with thousands of titles to choose from. Read in your browser, on your mobile device or on a dedicated eReader.

Libby information & help

Go to Overdrive website

hoopla

Borrow movies, television shows, documentaries, music, eBooks, comics and audiobooks for free.
You can borrow 5 hoopla titles each month.

Hoopla information & help

Updating your library card number in Hoopla


Magazines & Newspapers

Libby

Libby now provides access to thousands of popular and specialty magazines, borrow as many as you want, with no wait times and no due dates.

PressReader provides instant access to thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world, included your favourite local newspapers.

Pressreader information & help

Libby information & help

Movies, TV & Music

Kanopy icon

Kanopy

Kanopy offers a wide range of independent films, classic cinema, documentaries, educational videos, children’s shows and foreign films.
You can borrow 5 Kanopy titles each month. Access to Kanopy Kids is unlimited. Additional credit free movies and shows are also available.


Open Video Tutorial in new window

Kanopy information & help

hoopla

Borrow movies, television shows, documentaries, music, eBooks, comics and audiobooks for free.
You can borrow 5 hoopla titles each month.

Hoopla information & help

Updating your library card number in Hoopla

Accessible Library Services

CBRL offers books in accessible formats including large print, braille, Daisy CD, and ebook, and audiobook. We have partnerships with CELA and NNELS to offer services to persons with print disabilities and/or visual impairments. First time users will need to register with CELA or NNELS. Click on the button below to learn more about our accessible collections and how to register for these services.

CELA (Centre for Equitable Library Service) offers books, magazines & newspapers in accessible formats for people with print disabilities. The Collection includes award winners, best sellers, fiction and non-fiction with a special emphasis on Canadian authors and stories, and favourites for kids and teens. Patrons have access to close to 50 newspapers and 150 DAISY magazines which are available on the same day they are published.


NNELS logo

National Network for Equitable Library Service.
NNELS is a growing collection of downloadable audiobooks and other accessible formats available for people with print disabilities.
NNELS titles can be used on a wide variety of devices, including computers/ laptops, iPads, iPhones, Android devices, MP3 players, DAISY readers, and can also be burned on to CDs or copied to USB flash drives.
Cape Breton Regional Library has made many NNELS titles available on DAISY-CDs.
Contact your Library to register for NNELS and then search the NNELS website for books.

Learning & Research

CBC Corner

CBC Corner

Discover the best Canadian shows, stories & more!

This one-of-a-kind digital portal allows you to access a wide variety of content including trusted news, local stories, entertaining TV and radio shows, award-winning podcasts, educational kids content, innovative podcasts, a free English and French language learning app, news in foreign languages and much more!


The Reference Shelf by Salem Press, includes access to reference works in the following subject areas: Literature, History, Science, and Health.

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain high quality independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making.

Library Services, Nova Scotia Health logo and IWK Health Logo

Nova Scotia Health Patient Guides

Local History Portals

Huntington Diaries

Part of CBRL’s Nova Scotia Collection, the diaries of Melvin S. Huntington were donated to the W.W. Lewis Memorial Library in Louisbourg. The Library has transcribed these diaries to make them available online to a wider audience.

Katherine McLennan – Through her Eyes

Explore this online exihibit documenting Katherine McLennan’s life and work. Includes numerous photo galleries, letters and diary excerpts.

McLennans of Petersfield

The McLennan family helped to nurture the arts, culture, and heritage of Cape Breton. Read more about the family’s business enterprises, the estate at Petersfield and the family’s role in the restoration of the Fortress of Louisbourg.

The Freeman Collection
1911-1924

This exhibit tells the story of Charles Freeman, who served as the American Consul in Sydney from 1911 until 1924, using the documents and images he and his family left behind, while exploring the Cape Breton history of that time.

Read more about Local History Resources available at CBRL.