What’s the most valuable card in your wallet? Easy…it’s your library card. Yes, libraries are still magical places with thousands of books to browse through, but if it’s been a while since you visited your local branch, you might be surprised at how much is offered now without ever going inside. It’s a good time to learn about what a library card can offer you from your own home. For free.
Virtually every community has its own library system. If you don’t currently have a library card, you can likely get a temporary one and start accessing a virtual world of movies, books, music, workshops and so much more.
We started with the Denver Public Library because it’s the 800-pound gorilla that any Colorado resident can cozy up to. Then, we moved on through the various library districts for details on what they offer and how to access their digital holdings.
If nothing else, review the Denver Library offerings for descriptions of the various services. Many libraries use the same digital systems such as OverDrive, Hoopla and RBDigital. Remember that with few exceptions, you can join more than one library to take advantage of different offerings.
Denver Public Library
Get a library eCard
Any Colorado resident or student in-state attending a Colorado college or university may obtain a free Denver Public Library Card. Once you get your virtual card, you can immediately access online services and download ebooks. Find information and apply here.
Books & Magazines
OverDrive is how you access Denver Library’s collection of e-books and digital audiobooks. It’s easy, and you don’t need to sign up for a separate service. When you choose to deliver a book to your Kindle, you’ll be redirected to your Amazon account, but there’s no charge.
OverDrive also offers a mobile app for Android and iOS devices, called Libby, that offers a seamless borrowing and reading experience. Nearly 350 Spanish language titles are also included. Don’t stop at Overdrive.
RBdigital offers Audio eBooks you won’t find on Overdrive, and many titles are always available for checkout.
Romance fans will love RomanceBookCloud with over 1,700 eBook titles. Books can be read online with no check-outs or wait times. Audiobook fans of all ages will enjoy AudioBookCloud for instant access to a wide range of titles. Spanish language books included.
Get the latest issue of hundreds of digital magazines on RBdigital and Flipster. RBdigital gives you access to current issues of popular magazines. You can read them on your computer, tablet or mobile device. Once you’ve checked out a magazine it’s yours to keep. You don’t need to return it.
Popular titles include: The Atlantic, Cook’s Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, National Geographic, Newsweek, The New Yorker, 5280 Magazine, US Weekly. Back issues are also available.
Movies
Do your binge watching on Kanopy, the streaming service for libraries. You’ll find movies that you can’t find on services like Netflix — more than 30,000 independent and documentary films. You can watch them on your computer, tablet, smartphone and TV apps (like Roku.) Kanopy is offering credit free viewing through April 16 on a growing list of titles. Kanopy Kids is always unlimited!
Music
If you’re missing our collection of Music CDs we still have your music needs covered. Visit Volume, DPL’s own local music website, or stream a variety of music from Music Online. Collections cover Jazz, Classical, and Global, among others.
Kids
Visit DPL’s Read-Play-Learn website for everything you need to keep kids entertained and educated. Download books and stream movies, engage in schoolwork with our homework tools, or listen to a story on your phone with Phone-A-Story. Sign up for Bright by Text to receive free activities, games, and resources right to your cell phone.
Kids have unlimited access to TumbleBooks and TumbleMath, no library card required, until August 31. TumbleBooks is a collection of animated, talking picture books. The collection includes story books, books in French and Spanish for language learning, non-fiction books, graphic novels, puzzles and games.
Teens
Teen homework resources include everything from primary sources, research guides, and many online tools to complete assignments. Don’t miss out on the collection of eBooks for Teens on Overdrive. Teens also have unlimited access to TeenBookCloud no library card required, until August 31.
Learn a Skill
If you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, now is the time to try Mango, the online language-learning platform from the Denver Public Library. It boasts over 70 languages including English for non-native speakers.
Students and adult learners will appreciate Learning Express for online practice tests covering common college and career exams. You’ll find SAT, GED, nursing exams, citizenship tests, real estate exams, and many more.
Teach Yourself Technology from the comfort of your home. Beginners can learn to type or use a mouse, and the tech savvy can practice a new coding skill online.
Services to Immigrants and Refugees
Staff are still here to assist during the closure. Contact the New Americans Project with questions or to get more information about citizenship, English language learning, legal help, computer help and more. Call 720-865-2362, text 720-610-2310 or email nap@denverlibrary.org. They also offer Guides for Newcomers in Amharic, Arabic, Burmese. Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese.
Arapahoe Libraries
Get a temporary card
In just two steps, you can sign up for a temporary card to get immediate access to the system’s digital resources while we are closed. Then, when they reopen, you can turn it into a permanent card.
Go here and complete the form. (You will get a temporary card number, write that down!) Then, set your PIN by going to this page and selecting Forgot your Pin? With your temporary card number, you’ll have access to online resources and more.
Resources
Hoopla allows you to instantly borrow movies and television shows, as well as e-books, comics, audiobooks and music. Content streams to computers, tablets and smartphones, and can be downloaded to mobile devices for offline viewing.
You also get OverDrive, Kanopy, Lynda (online learning), RBDigital and Ancestry (genealogy resources). A huge list of all resources is here.
Aurora Public Library
Get a virtual card
Email APL for a virtual library card. In the Subject line write: Virtual Library Card Application. Please include in the body of your email: Your full name, Date of birth, Phone number, Address and email.
Resources
Access to eBooks, eAudioBooks, movies, television shows, and more through Kanopy, RB Digital, OverDrive and Hoopla. Find a full list of resources here.
Anythink Libraries
Get a temporary card
Register here for a temporary library card good for 30 days (though that may be extended until libraries reopen). Then you can access the following learning and entertainment resources.
Arts
Learn a new creative skill or experience the artistry from across the globe.
- Bubbler in Your Bubble – Learn, share, and create outside the box (while inside your house) with some of these stellar resources provided by our friends at The Bubbler at Madison Public Library.
- Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – Daily drawing tutorials from a renowned illustrator.
- Creativebug – Gain unlimited access to more than 1,000 online art and craft classes. (Anythink card required)
- Coloring Squared – Combine math and art with printable coloring sheets.
- The Met – Live opera streamings from the comfort of home.
- Museum Coloring Sheets – Color the collections of many museums with a coloring page for every age.
- Seattle Symphony Performances – Invite an entire orchestra into your home.
- Virtual Museum Tours – Explore the collections of some of the world’s most prestigious museums.
- ThinkWritten Writing Prompts – No writer’s block here. Get a writing prompt for every day of the year.
Education
Want to learn to code your own game or practice a new language? These online educational resources can help you and your family learn new skills.
- Gale Presents: Udemy – Take more than 3,500 online courses with world-class instructors, specializing in business, tech, and personal and professional development. (Anythink card required.)
- The Great Courses – Take remote courses in a variety of subjects taught by award-winning professors. (Anythink card required.)
- Code.org – Learn computer science. Change the world.
- Rosetta Stone – Interactive tutorials for learning a variety of languages. (Anythink card required.)
- Scholastic Remote Learning – Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing.
- Explora Primary Schools and Explora Public Libraries – Articles, research and more for school projects and papers. (Anythink card required.)
- Scratch Coding – Learn to code while creating stories, games and animations.
- Universal Class – More than 500 online courses in everything from algebra to yoga. Qualifying courses offer continuing education units (CEUs). (Anythink card required.)
- Virtual Playground for Your Mind – Just like the title says, provided by the Children’s Museum of Houston.
- STEM Activity Clearinghouse – High-quality, vetted STEM activities for kids, provided by STARnet.
Entertainment
Check in on local wildlife or explore the world’s curiosities.
- Storyline Online – The world’s best storytellers inspire a love of reading in children.
- Hoopla Digital – A wide range of videos, ebooks, audiobooks and music available for instant streaming. (Anythink card required.)
- OverDrive – Download ebooks and audiobooks in all genres. (Anythink card required.)
- Acorn TV – The best in British television. (Anythink card required.)
- Kanopy – Watch high-quality and award-winning films and documentaries from around the world. (Anythink card required.)
- Atlas Obscura – The definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders.
- Authors Everywhere – A YouTube channel where authors provide workshops, readings, activities, art projects, writing games, writing advice and more.
- Explore.org – The world’s leading philanthropic live nature cam network and documentary film channel.
- Stingray Qello – Watch the world’s largest collection of on-demand full-length performances, concert films, and music documentaries. (Anythink card required.)
- Saved You a Spot: A list of 20 screen-free activities for kids.
- Mac Barnett’s Daily Story – Follow Mac Barnett’s Instagram page for daily children’s stories.
- Museums for Kids and Families – A roundup of apps, games and websites for exploring museums.
- Westminster Bald Eagle Nest – Keep tabs on what local eagles are up to.
- RBdigital – Digitally turn the pages of your favorite magazines. (Anythink card required.)
- Flipster – Popular magazines you know and love, as well as niche titles, academic publications, children’s resources, comics and coloring books.
Boulder Public Library
Get a card
Please complete the form here in all CAPITAL LETTERS. Your email address is REQUIRED. After submitting, you will automatically receive a seven-digit online account number that will allow access ONLY to research databases. Your online access is good for three months.
Digital Resources
Only Boulder County residents will be given access to premium downloadable and streaming services such as Overdrive, Kanopy, Gale Courses, etc. Non-county residents will gain access to research databases only.
Douglas County Libraries
Get a card
Currently DCL does not have an eCard available at this time.
Digital library resources
The digital library is always open — and it’s been enhanced to accommodate more digital checkouts (now up to 12 borrows per month) and less wait time (decreased ratio of holds to copies, now just 3:1).
You may Skip the Line on OverDrive and through the Libby app for instant checkout of items, similar to Your Lucky Day items in our branches. And you’ll see that familiar shamrock.
You may also access a variety of digital library perks, from audio-guided workouts, to crafting classes, to online learning and more.
Those who do not currently have a DCL library card can get instant access to the digital collection with a digital library card through OverDrive’s Instant Digital Card and Hoopla’s Engage.
Virtual Storytime is available through Storyblocks, a project of Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL).
Access to PebbleGo K-3 databases is free at www.pebblego.com, providing expertly leveled text and navigation for beginning researchers. Sign in using the username engaged and password learning.
Access to Capstone interactive e-books for older kids is also free at www.mycapstonelibrary.com. Sign in using the username continue and password reading.
Jefferson County Public Library
Get a temporary card
Request a temporary card here by filling out the form.
Digital resources
Download and stream anytime, anywhere with access to Axis360, RBDigital, Kanopy, Hoopla, Freegal Music, BiblioBoard Library, Flipster, Interactive e-books, BookFlix and OverDrive.
Online social activities
Has together a fun lineup of weekly social activities for adults, teens and the whole family to enjoy including a Wednesday Virtual Watch Party, Dungeons & Dragons Teen Gaming, BYOB(ook) Group and more.
Loveland Public Library
Get a temporary card
Fill out this online form to register for a Loveland Public Library card. The card will allow you access to online resources. They will email your number to you. Please allow 24 hours to get the card number.
Digital resources
Cardholders have access to OverDrive, Hoopla, RBDigital, virtual storytimes and science times, Ancestry, Romance Book Cloud and even a virtual book club.
Westminster Library
Get a temporary card
Complete this short form to receive a temporary library card number which can be used to access online resources and Front Range Downloadable Library collection. The card is good for 60 days.
Digital resources
Westminster Public Library provides a variety of online research and learning resources to help learners of all ages and needs. These resources can be accessed inside the library by anyone using a library computer. Remote access is available to any Westminster Public Library cardholder, unless otherwise noted.