Your default PIN is the 8-digit birthdate (MMDDYYYY) associated with your account. For example, if your birthday is May 15, 1991, your PIN is 05151991.
Once you log into your account, you can change your PIN to a number of your choice. Your PIN must be at least 7 digits and no longer than 13 digits, and can only be numbers.
You will need to register your account to use any of the account features, such as being able to place holds, view your checked-out items, and pay fees online, or to make comments on the website or in the catalog.
If you choose not to register, you will still be able to check out items at the Check Out Desk in the library and use the self-check stations. You will also still be able to sign up for programs, and use online resources. As a Canton cardholder, you can still update your card online, even if you choose not to register your account.
Yes, if you choose to contribute comments, lists or other content, your username appears beside anything you contribute. If you do not contribute or make your lists public, your username will not be visible.
We love to make recommendations! CPL staff regularly create suggested lists that are available for viewing on the website and through the catalog. These carefully curated Staff Lists span many interests and ages, and are intended to help you find your next favorite thing. We create new lists based on popular literature, current events and holidays, new additions to our collection, and more.
You'll know a list has been created by staff if it says "Staff List" at the top.
You are also welcome to make and share your own lists. Any list you share will say “Community-created list.” You can also make lists and keep them private if you prefer.
When you look at a booklist on the website or in the catalog you will see the name of the booklist author in the top right corner. If you click on or hover over it, you will see options to view the author’s profile, follow or ignore.
If you view their profile, you will see the information that the author has made public, which may include a short bio, personalized rating scale, recent activity, recently completed items, and other lists that they have made.
If you follow them, any new lists that they make will appear in the Community Newsfeed section of your dashboard. To follow, select the follow option from the list itself by hovering over the name of the author in the top right corner and selecting "Follow," or if you view their profile, you can click the follow button on their profile page. You can choose to unfollow at any time.
If you ignore them, their lists will be hidden as you peruse items in the catalog, and will not appear when you search for lists.
If you follow or ignore someone by accident, you can hover over their name again and unfollow or unignore. You have to be logged in to your account to follow or ignore someone.
You can also click through from the left side of your My CPL dashboard to see who you are following and/or ignoring, and from there you can click into the dashboard of someone you follow to look at earlier lists they have made public.
Databases and online resources can be found through the catalog or on the Research & Learn page. There is blue button at the top the page that links to an A-Z listing of all databases and online resources available to you through CPL. Lower down there are also links to groups of resources for particular areas of interest.
To learn more about CPL's online resources, please see this post.
Your username is the login name you chose when you registered your account. You can use it with your PIN instead of your barcode to check your account. You are also welcome to use barcode and PIN to log in to your My CPL account if you prefer.
If you have a Google or Hotmail account, you already know about usernames. If not, think of a username as your library nickname. It should be short and easy to remember. Need ideas? Use your initials and your street number (SDK203), your dog’s name, or something about you (DNDfan), that’s short and easy for you to remember.
Remember that the public comments and lists that you post will include your username.
If you have forgotten your username, log in to your My CPL account with your library barcode and PIN, and look at your My CPL settings. You will be able to view your username by clicking the eye icon, and you can change it if needed from this screen as well.
We use a shared platform called BiblioCommons to host our catalog on the web. This service helps make items in the catalog easier to find. Because the service is used by multiple libraries, we are also able to share lists, reviews and comments not just from our own library staff and patrons but also from library staff and patrons across the world!
You can even find your favorite librarian and/or friends near and far by searching their username so you can follow them and share lists.
If you are looking for CPL website content on a particular topic, the easiest way to find it is to toggle the search bar at the top of any page to search the website (instead of the catalog, which is the default) and enter your search term.
You can also see all of our content on a particular topic using the Explore page. There are three easy ways to access the Explore page.
The pages on the CPL website display rows of cards, which can be blog posts, book lists, or featured programs. Most cards have an image with a title under it. You can click on the image or title to read more of that particular piece. You can also click on the tags at the bottom of any card to access other content similar to that card via the Explore page. You can use the filters on the Explore page to look for related CPL website content in the same way you use the filters in the catalog to look for a related books or DVDs.
Cards may be pinned in place on a page or may be part of carousels that you can scroll through. You can also click on “View All” at the end of any carousel to access the Explore page.
Finally, you can access the Explore page directly by adding /explore to the end of the library URL in your browser's address bar.
When you are in a CPL form, if you are not logged into your My CPL account and you use your saved information from your browser (for example, Google) to autofill the form fields, your phone number may appear like this (173) 439-7099. This happens because your browser adds an extra +1 to indicate a U.S. phone number.
If this happens, you can either manually correct your phone number or you can log into your My CPL account and your phone number will fill in correctly from your record when you re-access the form.
You can click on the logo in the top left corner of our website to get back to the homepage at any time.
