The Digital Library app, powered by MyLOFT, enables instant access to all our digital resources in one place - on any device and with a single log-on.

Getting started with the Digital Library app on Android and iOS

Download MyLOFT on Google Play

Download MyLOFT on the App Store

  • Once your membership is activated, you will receive an email titled ‘Welcome to the British Council Digital Library’.
  • Click ‘Set Password’ in the email and choose a password for your Digital Library account.
  • Open the MyLOFT app on your mobile and select the institute from the list: British Council.
  • Click on “Sign into British Council Digital Library”. The sign-in page of British Council opens.
  • Select the country you are registered in and type in the credentials of your British Council account.

Getting started with the Digital Library web app on Mac or Windows

The British Council Digital Library works with Chrome or Microsoft Edge and when you download the MyLoft application you will need to install the MyLoft extension.

Launch the digital library MyLOFT desk app

  • Once your membership is activated, you will receive an email titled ‘Welcome to the British Council Digital Library’.
  • Click ‘Set Password’ in the email and choose a password for your Digital Library account. 
  • Launch the web app and select British Council as your institution. Then click ‘Sign into the British Council Digital Library’.
  • On the next screen, select the country you are registered in from the country dropdown and log in with your email address and the password you just created.
  • When you log in for the first time, follow the prompt to install the MyLOFT browser extension. 

When you login the first time to the Digital Library App on your phone or any other smart device, you will receive a notification to add the VPN. This is required to give single sign-on access to all the resources added in our Digital Library App. We do not track, manipulate, or monitor your personal usage using VPN.

How to access the Digital Library resources

Newspapers supplied by PressReader

Provides access to 7000+ newspapers and magazines which you can read, listen, access backdated copies and most of them can be translated to around 27 vernacular languages (subject to publications).

  • Open the icon “Newspaper” on the landing page under Library Recommends.
  • It will take you to the PressReader page where you can see all the newspapers and magazines.
  • Click on any of the newspapers or magazines to start reading them.
  • You can also translate any of the newspapers or magazines in other vernacular languages as well. To translate the content, you need to sign-in first.
  • To sign-in, click the option “Sign in” on the top right corner of the page.
  • Click on the “Library or Group” button Find the name “British Council Digital Library App (MyLoft)”.
  • Click on the sign in button (SAML).
  • You will be signed in automatically with the credentials used to sign into our App. Once logged in, the credentials will get automatically saved and the process need not be repeated.

Magazines supplied by Overdrive

Access more than 4000 magazines – current and backdated from around the globe and in different vernacular languages.

  • Open the icon “Magazine” on the landing page under Library Recommends.
  • It will take you to the Overdrive page where you can see all the magazines.
  • Select any of the magazine name to visit its details screen.
  • Click on Borrow. Once you click, it will show the borrowing period as 21 days. To continue reading it after 21 days, you would need to borrow/check-out again.
  • Click on ‘Read now in browser”. The magazine will open, and it will fit the screen size of your smart device.
  • You can also access the back issues of the magazines and these back issues may vary from publication to publication.

AudioBooks/Fiction/Comics supplied by Overdrive

Read or listen to thousands of best-selling fiction and non-fiction titles in your favourite genres anytime, anywhere. You can also read full digital versions of over 2000 comics from major publishers like Disney, Manga, and Marvel.

  • Click on the relevant icon on the “Library Recommend page”.
  • It will take you the Libby App page where you can see the complete list of the selected icon.
  • Select any of the title to visit its details screen.
  • Click on Borrow. Once you will click, it will show the borrowing period as 14 days. To continue reading it after 14 days, you would need to borrow/check-out again.
  • Under this collection, you can borrow up to a total of 3 documents (eBooks, audiobooks and comics) in your account.
  • Once you will click on Borrow, it will show the option of “Go to shelf”, click on this.
  • You will be taken to your account where all the borrowed titles are listed.
  • Against each title, “Open” will be written, click on it and start reading it.
  • You can reserve up to 2 titles if your selected title is already borrowed.

Training supplied by Universal Class

Access to more than 40,000 self-training modules with certification powered by Universal Class.

  • Click on the Icon “Training” on the “Library Recommend” landing page.
  • First time users will be asked to “Click on Register”, enter your details and get registered to access the courses.

Academic research supplied by Proquest

Access to more than 100,000 academic eBooks covering various academic subject areas like Law, Literature, Humanities, Engineering and much more.

  • Click on the icon “Academic” on the “Library Recommend” landing page. It will take you to the Proquest Ebook Central home page.
  • Click on “Browse Subjects” and it will show you all the academic subjects covered in this resource.
  • You can also search for a particular title by inputting any keyword, author name, or title name in the Search Box.
  • You can read the entire book online or you can also download the eBook to read it in the offline mode.
  • Under this collection, all the eBooks can be downloaded for a period of 21 days. Once the borrowing period is over, you would need to download the book again.
  • All the downloaded eBooks can be read in any of the eBook reader downloaded on your smart phone. However, we recommend you to please download the PocketBook Reader and sign-in to it using your digital library credentials.
  • You can also download few pages of the book in the PDF format and the downloading limit varies from book to book.

Research supplied by EBSCO

Access the research databases like Business Source Ultimate, MEDLINE, Academic Source Ultimate, and many more to browse through thousands of academic e-journals, public library collection and much more.

  • Click on the icon “Research” on the “Library Recommend” landing page.
  • It will take you to the home page of “EBSCOhost”.
  • You can use the search option on the page to look for the content based on your requirement.
  • You can also download the articles in “PDF full text” and “EPUB full Text” format. No borrowing limitations.

Movies supplied by Kanopy

Access more than 30,000.movies, documentaries, award-winning films, classic cinema, children’s films independent films and educational videos.

  • Click on the icon “Movies” on the “Library Recommend” landing page.
  • For first-time users, it will ask you to “Add Library Card”. Please use your email id registered with British Council in this field and then press the “Continue” button.
  • You will now be able to create your account on Kanopy. We recommend using the same digital library account email address and password here while creating the account. Once added, press the “Sign Up” button to continue.
  • Your account is now created, and you will stay signed in the App.
  • Watch up to 5 films per month on Kanopy and get unlimited access to Kanopy Kids.
  • Stream on all your favourite devices, anytime, anywhere.

Concerts supplied by Overdrive

Discover the world’s largest catalogue of concert films, award-winning music documentaries, and live streaming music events from the 1920s to today.

  • Click on the icon “Concerts” on the “Library Recommend” landing page.
  • It will take you the Qello Concerts page where it will ask you to get the 7-Day pass. Once you will get this pass, it will take you to the home page where all the concerts are listed.
  • During the 7-day period of the pass, it will not ask you to get the pass again. However, once the 7-days will be over, it will take you the page to get the pass.
  • Browse through the various genres of music like Latin, Pop, Metal and many more.

British Council UK resources

Access to by British Council UK resources by clicking on the relevant icons on the “Library Recommends” landing page.

  • British Council Music (Icon: BC Music)
  • Film archives (Icon: BC Films)
  • Children section (Icon: BC Kids)
  • Research reports (Icon: BC Reports),
  • UK Exam resources(Icon: UK Exams)
  • Our work in English (Icon: BC English)
  • Arts (Icon: BC Arts) 

Further guidance for resources in the Digital Library
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