Educator Access Program

About the program

The CELA Educator Access Program offers Canadian K-12 and postsecondary educators who support students with print disabilities free access to thousands of accessible reading materials through your public library’s CELA service, including Bookshare.

Benefits of joining the Educator access program:

  • Obtain easy access to available materials (books, magazines and newspapers) in alternate formats like audio, accessible e-books and braille.
  • Find books for major Canadian literary programs including Canada Reads, Forest of Reading, Hackmatack and others.
  • Increase reading choices and level the playing field for your students.
  • Facilitate access for students who experience barriers in using their public library independently.
  • Show your students how to borrow and use the books on their own.
  • Resources students can use in the classroom and beyond for years to come.

You will be able to access a variety of materials for students with a print disability, including:

  • Accessible formats -- DAISY audio (human-narrated and synthetic voice), DAISY text, ePub, Word, braille (contracted and uncontracted braille) and printbraille picture books
  • English and French collection, with increasing number of multilingual titles
  • Request up to 150 titles within a 30 day period.  For printbraille titles, you may borrow up to 10 printbraille books at a time. If that number is reached, future requests will be put on hold.
  • Free access to Bookshare collection
  • Training videos, tutorials and webinars

  • Using your Educator Access Program account to support students with print disabilities

Teacher standing behind two students using laptops

“Very necessary for our students. Keep bringing us more avenues to increase literacy for our students! They want to read and get bored quickly if there isn’t a diverse, rich cache of books and other media to enjoy”
     – Educator on using CELA and Bookshare

Eligibility and signing up

Who can read books from CELA?

CELA materials are available to your students with print disabilities. Print disabilities are disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to read ordinary printed books, and include visual disabilities, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. More information about print disabilities.

Who can sign up for CELA's Educator Access Program?

Educators who work with students with print disabilities in an elementary, secondary or post-secondary institution are eligible for this program. Educators can include teachers, teacher’s aides/educational assistants, teacher librarians, learning resource teachers, other special education teachers, or anyone who supports students with print disabilities in a formal educational setting.

In British Columbia, educators are eligible for the CELA Educator Access Program if they  have a library card from a CELA Member Library and work at a school or academic institution located within the service area of a CELA Member Library.

Students living in areas without a CELA Member Library may only access titles in CELA’s collection (not Bookshare titles) in digital formats.

For families who home school, you may access CELA’s collection by adding your name as a designate when you register your child or children with a print disability.  Registration form for individuals with print disabilities

How to register for the Educator Access Program

  1. Get a library card from a CELA Member Library.  If your public library offers institutional or educator borrower cards, you may use that card to register. Your public library card is only needed to register for CELA.  Items you access from CELA’s collection are issued through your separate CELA account, not through your public library.
  2. Complete the online Educator Access Program registration form.  Please note that your school's address must be in an area served by a CELA Member Library.
  3. Add access to Bookshare titles for your school and students by completing the CELA Educator Access Terms of Use form

Students may register for their own lifetime CELA membership.  They may subscribe with their own public library card number by completing the self-registration form.

Resources and support for educators

Do you have an interest in improving access to accessible reading materials and learning from other educators on how to make classrooms and student experiences more inclusive?  Join our Educator Advisory Group

Tablet with text on the screen in front of a stack of books

Forest of Reading®

Forest of Reading 2023 nominees

The Forest of Reading® is Canada's largest recreational reading program! This initiative of the Ontario Library Association (OLA) offers ten reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 270,000 readers participate annually from their school and/or public library. All Canadians are invited to participate via their local public library, school library, or individually.

Check out our dedicated Forest of Reading page, to get the scoop on accessible titles!

Educator Access Program webinar

This webinar will introduce library staff and educators to the CELA Educator Access program. This program is offered through public libraries and gives teachers and other educators access to CELA’s collection to support their students with print disabilities at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels.   

Audience: Public library staff and educators. Educators can include teachers, teacher librarians, educational assistants, and special education teachers – anyone who supports students with print disabilities in a formal educational setting. 

Learning goals:  

  • How to register with the Educator Access program
  • What alternate formats and reading technologies are available for students at all levels in the CELA collection
  • What is Bookshare and how can educators get access 
  • How to find, access and read our books, magazines and newspapers in audio, e-text and braille

Length: 60 minutes

Wed, Mar 22 2:00-3:00pm EDT

Thurs, June 15 3:30-4:30pm EDT