Frequently Asked Questions
- Who can join the ABC Global Book Service?
- I am not a registered patron of the library listed on your website. Can I still request an ABC Global Book Service user login?
- Do I need to pay a fee to join the ABC Global Book Service?
- How can I browse for subject or genre? How can I find children’s books?
- I forgot my login, what do I do?
- I forgot my password, what do I do?
- I just submitted an Account Request form — when will I be able to start downloading books?
- I am unable to download titles. What is going on?
- When I try to download a title, I get a pop-up telling me that certification is required. Why is it there?
- Who should I contact in case of technical difficulties using the site?
Who can join the ABC Global Book Service?
While the ABC Global Book Service catalogue is publicly available for browsing, you must blind, visually impaired or other print disabled to obtain a login, and you must be logged in to download the digital files.
Print disabilities may include visual disabilities such as the inability or partial inability to see text or difficulties with focusing or moving the eyes. It may also include physical disabilities, such as the inability to hold or manipulate a book. And it may include learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.
To obtain a login and begin downloading accessible digital books, you must be a registered patron of one of the participating ABC partner libraries (see the list of participating libraries).
You may request a user login to the ABC Global Book Service by submitting an Account Request Form.
I am not a registered patron of the library listed on your website. Can I still request an ABC Global Book Service user login?
Yes, you can request an ABC Global Book Service user login but you will need to become a registered patron of one of the ABC partner libraries listed on our website. Please note that you must provide evidence to the partner library that you are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled, in order to become a patron. The type of evidence you need to submit depends on the requirements of each partner library.
You can find you library's contact information on the Contact page.
Do I need to pay a fee to join the ABC Global Book Service?
There may be membership costs for becoming a patron of your ABC partner library, but once you are a patron there is no additional cost to becoming a member of the ABC Global Book Service. Please refer to the membership requirements of your ABC partner library.
How can I browse for subject or genre? How can I find children’s books?
Useful tips:
- Search by title, author, subject category or keyword in the search box at the top.
- Use "double quotation marks" around key words to search for a specific phrase.
- Use conditional statements like AND/OR in your query for more accuracy.
- Filter your search results to specific file formats and languages, and restrict your query to a specific partner library by using the pre-defined search filters.
- Specify, also using the pre-defined filters, whether you want to limit your search to human- narration, or whether to include synthetic text-to-speech voices (the default is to include both).
- If you want to build a more granular query, try the Advanced Search for more detailed options.
For more searching tips please visit our search Help page.
I forgot my login, what do I do?
Your email address is your login.
I forgot my password, what do I do?
When you are on the Login Form, please click on the "Forgot Password?" link to initiate a password reset. You will be directed to a "Forgot Password" form, in which you will be prompted to enter the email address associated with your ABC Global Book Service account.
After submitting the form, you will receive an email with a link you should click on to reset your password. Please allow up to 5 minutes to receive the email.
I just submitted an Account Request form — when will I be able to start downloading books?
Your request should be reviewed within 5 working days by your ABC partner library at which time you should receive an email response to your request.
I am unable to download titles. What is going on?
The ABC catalogue is open to the public but you must be logged in to download titles.
If you are logged in but not able to download titles, it is likely your Account Request has not yet been reviewed by your ABC partner library. Please wait a few days and you will be informed via email when your account is fully active. In the meantime, you can continue to browse the catalogue and add titles of interest to your Wishlist, so that you can easily find them again once your account has been approved.
You can find you library's contact information on the Contact page.
When I try to download a title, I get a pop-up telling me that certification is required. Why is it there?
The ABC Global Book Service operates under the provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty but the exchange of accessible format copies of works remains subject to copyright law from the countries of participating libraries.
Certain countries, including Australia and Canada, stipulate that titles can only be shared if they are not commercially available in the format requested by you. Depending on which country you live in, these legal requirements may apply to you – the certification pop-ups are there to ensure that the legal requirements are being met. It is important that you comply with these requirements.
For example:
Consider that you are looking for The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and you locate a Daisy Audio version from a partner library located in Canada. When you click on "Download", you will be required to certify in a pop-up that "The ordered title from Canada, in the requested format, is not available in my country within a reasonable time, price and effort.”
To verify this, you can perform an internet search for the title in your country of residence -- if you cannot locate a Daisy Audio copy of this work that is available commercially, then you can proceed with your download in the ABC Global Book Service, by clicking "I Certify" on the pop-up. When you do, your file download will begin.
Who should I contact in case of technical difficulties using the site?
In case of any technical difficulties using the site, please contact your ABC partner library, using the information provided on the Contact page.
Version: October 15, 2025