More to Borrow

three shelves packed with hardcover print books

BPL partners with other libraries to give our library members access to a wide range of materials to read, listen to, and watch.

Borrow Around the Bay | Hamilton & Burlington Public Libraries

With your Burlington Public Library card, you now have full borrowing privileges at Hamilton Public Library, excluding online resources other than our shared OverDrive/Libby digital collections.

BPL Members Can Borrow from Hamilton Public Library

  • Borrow up to 50 physical items: Includes print books, DVDs/Blu-ray, CDs, books-on-CD, magazines, video games and more. Please ask about borrowing limitations when you visit HPL.
  • Place up to 50 holds

If you'd like to borrow items from Hamilton Public Library, please visit any HPL branch in person with your BPL card and photo ID with your current address. HPL will create an account for you. When borrowing from Hamilton PL, please remember to return loaned items to HPL; BPL will not return items to HPL.

HPL Members Can Borrow from Burlington Public Library

  • Borrow up to 75 physical items: Includes all physical items BPL currently loans out. This borrowing privilege does not include access to online resources other than our shared OverDrive/Libby digital collections.
  • Place up to 100 holds

Please visit any BPL branch in-person and bring in your valid HPL card and photo ID with your current address. We will create a BPL account for you using your HPL library card number.

OverDrive Digital Collection & Libby app

Now you can borrow over 360,000 eBooks in the combined OverDrive digital collections of six library systems: Burlington, Hamilton, Mississauga, London, Ottawa, and Kingston Frontenac.

If You Are a BPL Member Borrowing From a Partner Library

When you borrow from a partner library, the items will not be listed in your BPL account on the OverDrive website. You will need to look in your visitor account through HPL, ML, LPL, OPL, or KFPL. Make sure you sign in as a BPL member.

Even though the OverDrive collections are linked, members of each system do not compete with non-residents for books in their home library collection. Each library system gives first priority to their own members if there is a queue for a book in their digital collection.

How-to Steps
  1. With your Burlington Public Library card number in hand, visit BPL's OverDrive collection main page. There, you will find a link to each partner library, either in a menu at the top of your screen, "Partner libraries"—or close to the bottom of your screen.
  2. Click/tap on the link to reveal a drop down menu containing links to each partner library. Select the link to the partner library you want to visit: Hamilton Public Library (HPL), Mississauga Library (ML), London Public Library (LPL), Ottawa Public Library (OPL), and Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL).
  3. On the partner library's OverDrive site, browse the collection as you normally do. When you are ready to borrow from a partner library, click/tap on BORROW. This will take you to their OverDrive Welcome page.
  4. On the Welcome page, select your home library, Burlington Public Library, in the drop down menu, and then type your 14-digit BPL card number and 4-digit PIN where indicated.

If You Are a Member From a Partner Library Borrowing From BPL

When you are ready to borrow a digital book from Burlington Public Library's OverDrive collection, on the BPL Welcome page, select your home library (Hamilton, Mississauga, London, Ottawa, Kingston Frontenac) in the drop down menu, and then type in your 14-digit HPL, ML, LPL, OPL, or KFPL card number and PIN where indicated. You must sign in as an HPL, ML, LPL, OPL, or KFPL member when you want to checkout items from BPL OverDrive.

Once in your OverDrive visitor account through HPL, ML, LPL, OPL, or KFPL, you may borrow ten books and place holds on five books from each library at any one time. The loan period is set by the public library from which you are borrowing.

Libby App