Collections

Airdrie Public Library offers a wide rage of materials in alternate formats for patrons with visual impairments, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities. Items that are available for circulation within TRAC can be put on hold and delivered to your local branch for pick-up.

Large Print Books

Large print books are available at our library and through TRAC. Titles include best-sellers, fiction, and non-fiction.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks are full length recordings of fiction and non-fiction books on CD that you can listen to on your computer or portable device. Available in multiple languages.

DAISY Talking Books

Digital Accessible Information Systems (DAISYs) are MP3-format audiobooks on a single CD with full navigation. With DAISYs, listeners can jump from page to page, bookmark pages as well as go directly to a specific page number. This collection comprises full-length recordings of fiction and non-fiction books on CD. This collection is available to customers who are unable to read print due to a visual, physical or learning disability.

eBooks and eAudiobooks

There are a variety of eBooks and eAudiobooks for children and adults that can be downloaded to a computer or portable device.

Centre for Equitable Library Access Collection

The Centre for Equitable Library Services (CELA) offers materials to patrons who may have difficulty reading print due to visual, physical, or learning disabilities. With over 650,000 items in accessible formats, the CELA collection represents one of Canada's largest collection of alternative format books and online resources. The collection is in both English and French and includes:

  • Books and magazines in audio, eText, and braille
  • 50 community, national and international newspapers
  • Children's picture books with added Braille
The National Network of Equitable Library Service

The National Network of Equitable Library Service (NNELS) is an online repository of accessible formats for print disabled patrons that is based on user demand. A library membership is required. To access the collection, simply sign up for an account on their home page.

Eligibility Guidelines

Access to the CELA and NNELS is available only to people with perceptual disabilities as defined under the provisions of the Copyright Modernization Act, which includes:

  • 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.