Open Library

1. Navigate to the Open Library home page: www.openlibrary.org
2. Select “Sign Up” in the upper right corner.
3. Enter the required information on the sign-up page and complete the CAPTCHA.
4. Agree to the terms and conditions and click “sign up”.
5. You will be redirected to the success page.
6. Check your email for further instructions on how to get started!

1. Log in to Open Library using the login page: https://openlibrary.org/account/login.
2. Search for an item or select one from the home page.
3. Once you’ve found a book you want to read, click “Borrow”. Please note: Borrowing rules change per book and publication, some may have more extended loan periods, and some may have a waitlist.
4. Once you have successfully borrowed an item, the “Borrow” button will now display as “Read.” Click to begin reading.
5. Use the interactive reader buttons to navigate, download, share, search, etc.
6. Select the “Read Online” option to use the online reader.

Note: For more information on reading books through Open Library, visit: https://openlibrary.org/help/faq/reading

The full-text search index includes over 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection spans from digitised copies of eighteenth-century journals through the latest Open Access conference proceedings and pre-prints crawled from the World Wide Web.

Internet Archive Scholar

Milton Public Library recently joined hands with Library Futures in order to be a stronger advocate for our patrons’ digital rights.

Library Futures advocates for equitable access to knowledge and helps build a technology-forward future for libraries that ensures readers, learners, and the general public can continue discovering and accessing books in the digital age.

Learn more here: https://www.libraryfutures.net/

Milton Public Library is participating in the Controlled Digital Lending initiative to provide equitable access to knowledge. MPL will accomplish the following goals with this initiative:

1. Making print materials more easily discoverable, thereby leveling the playing field across physical holdings
2. Providing more convenient and efficient delivery of library resources;
   Creating digital formats that are more accessible to those with print and physical disabilities
3. Preserving and protecting library collections, providing access to materials during natural disasters, severe weather, and health emergencies.

MPL has partnered with the Internet Archive to provide free books for people with print disabilities that impact reading. If you have a disability that interferes with reading printed text then all of these books can be instantaneously available in your browser or via protected download once you become a qualified user.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the benefits of becoming a qualified user?
   Qualified users may borrow special formats of books from the Internet Archive collection of books for the print-disabled for up to 14 days. At the end of the 14 days, the qualified user may renew.  To contrast, non-qualified users may not have any access to a particular book, only get particular formats, or have to join the waitlist to access material that is already lent out. Qualified users would not have to wait.
2. How do I become a qualified user?
   First, you will need to create an account with Internet Archive. Visit this page to make your free account. Please note that your username will be publicly visible.
   Once you have created your Internet Archive account you will need to fill out this application form. Once you submit the form an MPL staff member will contact you within five (5) business days.
3. How do I borrow books?
   Visit this page to see MPL’s collection of accessible materials. Once you see something you’d like to borrow you can log in to your account using the button in the upper right corner and then borrow the item. This help page has more detailed instructions.