NNELS (The National Network for Equitable Library Service) is the partnership to produce a repository of content and a network of users, library staff, library branches and print producers co-operating to devise new digital delivery of talking books via Canadian public libraries.

First-time NNELS users from participating libraries can follow these steps:

1. Contact your public or post-secondary library to confirm print-disability and ensure you have been assigned the correct patron-type in the library's software system.
2. Click on the "Sign-up" link on the NNELS website.
3. Locate your local library.
4. Click on the link to log in with library card number and PIN.

Please contact your library if login does not work (a problematic PIN may need to be reset by library staff).

The NNELS project includes investment in development of library card authorization/authentication processes for five major Integrated Library Systems.

Authentication is currently available for Millennium/Sierra, Evergreen, and Symphony systems. In 2014, support is being extended to Horizon, Polaris and other systems.

NNELS is for library cardholders with perceptual or print disabilities as defined in the Canadian Copyright Act.  A print disability is anything that prevents or inhibits someone from reading a work in its original format (usually a printed book) as a result of:

• Severe or total impairment of sight or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes.
• The inability to hold or manipulate a book.
• An impairment relating to comprehension.

The collection is largely popular fiction and non-fiction with some emerging juvenile titles.  Multilingual content is a focus for growth in 2014 so that we can offer content in French and English, as well as other languages.  Titles are selected on demand and come from material produced, migrated, contributed and exchanged by NNELS partners. While the majority of titles are copyright restricted, the NNELS collection also links open content anyone can access from this site, anytime.

Collections are available today in the repository for:

• user download
• library-assisted access on disc, device or in-library download.

For more information see the Library Collections page.

If you have trouble using the system or technical difficulties, start with the Help and how-to information posted on the tutorials page.  Libraries and individuals can also contact us at support@nnels.ca.

NNELS staff refer users to their local library for assistance, but are available as a resource when needed.

Access to items reproduced in alternate format are limited to users authorized for this material, Canadians with print disabilities.

NNELS respects the rights of copyright holders and is providing equity of access to print disabled citizens primarily under the the Canadian Copyright Act, S. 32(1).  Library users must adhere to terms and conditions that limit their use of content to personal use only.

In addition to honoring copyright, NNELS would like to establish relationships with publishers and authors and expand access to their materials. Publishers and authors, who would like to specify the approval, or denial, of their content in the NNELS system can make a request by sending a message to support@nnels.ca

We are very happy to receive inquiries from publishers and authors!


For the help of libraries and end-users, we post tutorials with audio, video and text information on the tutorials pages of this website.  For example, to find out how to download a book go to the tutorial for downloading a Daisy audiobook, and then burning it to a CD.

If you cannot find the book you are looking for, please send your request along with as much information about the book as possible using the request a title form.