Canadian authors, illustrators and photographers with one or more published books, can now register for the Public Lending Right Program. The program is a Canada Council for the Arts initiative that sends payments every year to creators whose books are in Canadian public libraries.

This year’s registration period runs until May 1, 2021. To register, you’ll need to fill out and mail in a signed registration form along with photocopies of the title page, copyright page and table of contents of the book or books you’ve contributed to.

If you’ve already registered but you have new books to add to your file, fill out the blue file update form you’ll receive in the mail over the next few weeks. If you don’t receive a form by the end of March, you can contact program administrators at plr@canadacouncil.ca.

Eligibility for the program doesn't guarantee you'll get a payment -- the minimum payment the program will send out is $50. The maximum payment issued in 2020-21, was $4,500.

For details on eligibility criteria or the application process, see the Public Lending Right Program’s website.