This is part of my series on Building Your Chinese Library.
Updated Jul 2021
This past year (2020), I took Fleur to the local Taipei library and got her library cards straightened out. This is after she followed my instructions and got a virtual library card years ago. So I have changed the instructions to reflect the fact that it’s best if you put in your passport number. Though it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. You’d just apply for a real card using your passport when you go into the library.
I’m actually hesitant about telling people how to check out eBooks from the Taipei Library for free for everyone, even non-residents, in case people abuse the system and it ruins it for the rest of us. But when there’s such a great and free way to get books for our kids to learn Chinese, how can I not share the info?
Most of the library systems in Taiwan allow you to check out ebooks and read using Hyread App (iOS, Android) or Hyread Gaze eink device. This was a big reason why I bought Hyread Gaze even though the app does run on other eink devices.
The following instructions are for people who can’t really read Chinese. If you can read Chinese, then the same steps should work for you except in the Chinese edition of the website.
BUT, to really borrow books, you need to be able to read a teeny tiny bit of Chinese. How else can you search for Chinese books to borrow?
1. Get a library account
Go to Taipei Library website. You can even view it in English. Application instructions in English are available here. About half way down the page you’ll see a section for online application (or just follow my link!)
It’s all in English. So I won’t bother with screen shots. Fill out all the info as if you’re filling out a U.S. form except:
- For non-residents, in the drop down box for ID, select Passport No. If you ever plan to get a physical library card, type in your Passport No. Otherwise I think you can see if you can get away with some random numbers. For residents, you can use your Taiwanese ID.
- In the phone number section, only fill out Home Phone in the format 1xxxxxxxxxx.
- Leave the Chinese question in the form as is.
Ignore any notifications after you click the submit button about picking up cards, submitting documentation, etc. You can still use the online resources.
This library card is obviously not going to be useful in person. You’re just using this to borrow ebooks. DON’T TRY TO BORROW BOOKS IN TAIPEI!
If you want to borrow books in Taipei physically, you’d need to go into the library and make your library card super legit. Swing by during one of your trips back to Taiwan. Be sure to bring your passport.
2. Login to the Taipei library website as a test.
Login to the library web catalogue. You may need to switch the language to English. Use the password you specified rather than your birthday like the login screen says.
If it doesn’t work, WAIT. That was my trouble. It didn’t work the first 5 minutes and then I went off and created other accounts, all of which didn’t work.
3. Download and Install Hyread App
We’re an Apple family so I cannot tell you how the other OS’s work. For us, I have the option of installing Hyread on my iPad or have the kids read it in a browser.
Alternatively, you can buy the Hyread Gaze online, ship it to your country, or install the app onto one of the other eInk readers out there like Readmoo.
Hyread is the software most libraries use. It doesn’t operate the same way as the US, where Amazon dominates, aw3 or epub files dominate, and you can easily transfer or convert files. You’re kind of locked into using the Hyread app or reading online and never see the physical files. Not a big problem for 99% of the people probably. But I mention it here in case you’re crazy like me and tried to hack the system to make it work the same as U.S. Not possible right now.
These instructions are specific to the iPhone I tried it on. Basically, find Taipei library, login using the username and password you had successfully tried in a browser, look for books, and check it out.
Though Hyread 3 is in English, the library names are in Chinese. So you need to be able to read Chinese or at least match the pic below.
- Click +Add Libraries, on Public Libraries, select Taiwan, then 台北市立圖書館
- Login using the username and password you created earlier. Your username is your passport or ID number. Your password by default is your birthday in MMDD format only.
- Scroll right to browse the Children’s section, or a faster way is to search using the magnifying glass icon.
- For example, I searched for 屁屁超人, click on the book, click Borrow
- Voila! Download and read. You can also buy the book online using your browser at Hyread’s website (NOT Taipei Library Hyread’s website).
4. Browse and check out books!
You’re only allowed to borrow 6 books at a time.
Here are some useful links. Libraries have a lot of e-resources and I’ve only scratched the surface. I know there are even other library cards you can apply for. There are audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, etc. But if you need Reading 123 and other beginning readers, this is a good way to start.
Most of these websites have English editions. Just remember, there are many different publishers/companies in the ebook business. Some books are only available through certain websites, others are available across publisher/companies but mode of access can be different. You kind of have to dig deep and wide till your eyes cross. And even after that, you will find that there actually isn’t a lot of quality ebooks to borrow, though there are some.
For this post, I’m sticking with just Hyread as a starting point. Here are some links to ebook resources in the Taipei Library website.
Hyread – eBooks
Overdrive – Lots of audiobooks, but English. Chinese ebooks in PDF and epub formats.
小魯 Children Can Listen History sets – This is the one link I’ve actually used after following each link and browsing till my eyes crossed. You can listen to Children Can Listen Chinese History, Children Can Listen World History, and Children Can Listen Taiwanese History. 
List of eBook resources – Even though the website is in English, most links are in Chinese. Just browse around. These are all various ebook publishers/websites. If you are prompted for username and password, log in, then click on the E-Book menu on upper right hand corner. I found 國語日報 (Children’s Newspaper) once, but I can’t find it now.
Some of the Books Available on Hyread
You can try searching for the following titles (search terms are in bolded italics). I’ve put these in order of reading level difficulty.
There are other books as well, including audiobooks, magazines, etc. The website can be configured to display in English, so have fun browsing!
糖果姊姊 Audiobooks.
Havn’t tried them, don’t know how you work it. But I’m guessing this is from the series that Mandarin mama reviewed.
精選名家世界經典故事
World Literature abridged. Good for 1st-2nd grade.
字的童話 Lower elementary.
Good for learning character/word mechanics: rhyming, components, etc.
一年級鮮事多 (王淑芬)
閱讀123 series (My review here)
Good for 1st-2nd grade
小牛頓科學館 Little Newton Science Magazines.
2nd-3rd grade if you’ve got the non-fiction vocab.
樂讀456 series
(You probably can’t read reading 456 right after Reading 123)
Good for 3rd-4th
樂讀456+ series
(this series shows up when you search for 樂讀456. It’s the last 7 books in the pic below. Good for 5th-6th.
沈石溪
One of my favorite authors who writes animal stories. Upper elementary.
Thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you sooooo much for this tip! My local library in the Bay Area has some of the reading123 books but definitely not all of them. So this post is super useful (I’ve already checked out two books). Really generous of you to share this information. And I’m trying not to feel too guilty about using it by telling myself that my dad grew up in Taiwan (Taipei) and went to college there — so it’s not like I have *no* connection to the place 🙂
Ive been trying to login to the tp library’s overdrive with the same acc i created in their website with passport no. But can’t sign in 🙁 do you know whats the problem?
The password has a default. Did you use the default?