STORYPLAYR: READ, RECORD, AND SHARE
CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED BOOKS IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH
Storyplayr is an online digital library of children’s illustrated books. It comprises hundreds of titles in French and
English, issued by some forty publishers, for children from 3 to 10 years old. When you sign up for a free storyplayr
subscription as a Palo Alto City Library cardholder, you will be able to select and read books from the storyplayr
library in a format that matches exactly the book on paper. You can also record yourself reading the book and share
your recording, synchronized with the book’s images, with others by an e-mailed link. Among the other special
features provided by storyplayr are: sidebar text display in a variety of typefaces and sizes, synthesized audio
pronunciation assistance, activities and games tied to individual books, and recordings provided by publishers and
members of the storyplayr community.
Establish your free storyplayr account
Find and click on the storyplayr link at www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/lib/econtent/ebooks.asp. Click on SIGN UP
FOR FREE. Enter your last name, first name, e-mail address, and library-card number in the corresponding fields, then
create a password and accept the terms of use. (Terms of use are in French; use your browser’s translation function
to read in English.)
Download the free storyplayr mobile app if you wish
Once your account is established, you can access storyplayr on the web either through
www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/lib/econtent/ebooks.asp or at www.storyplayr.com/paloalto. Alternatively, you
can download the free storyplayr mobile app from either the iTunes App Store (iPads and iPhones running iOS 8 and
later) or Google Play (Android tablets and phones running Android 4 and later). NOTE: There is no app for PCs, Macs,
or Windows tablets and phones; users of these devices can access storyplayr on the web.
Choose a book to read
Log in to storyplayr. The menu of features is displayed along the top of the screen. (If using a phone, tap on the menu
icon at the upper left corner to display the features menu.) You can use the menu to:
• Search the storyplayr library by author, title, subject, publisher, series and keyword.
• Find your previously downloaded (mobile app only) or recorded stories, your bookmarks and your account settings.
• Toggle between grown-up and kid mode.
• Display and browse the library.
• Select an age range.
• Display a complete list of keyword tags.
• Choose between English or French.
• Request online help (web only).
• Consult FAQs (web only). FAQs are in French; use your browser’s translation function to read in English.
Open and read the book—and so much more!
Tap or click on a book’s icon. You now have several options:
• Read the story yourself at your own pace.
• Display the text as it appears on the pages of the book, or open the optional sidebar to display the text in large type
or in alternative typefaces, including OpenDyslexic.
• Enable the pronunciation function, which uses a synthesized voice to pronounce the text. You can choose
pronunciation of single words, groups of words, or entire sentences. The pronunciation icon appears once the text
sidebar is opened.
• Listen to an existing recording provided by the book’s publisher or other members of the storyplayr community
(selected titles).
• Record yourself reading the story. On the web, the recording function requires Chrome or Firefox.
• Download the story to your device for offline use (mobile app only).
• Listen to, share, modify or delete your earlier recording of the book.
• Find similarly themed books using the keyword tags supplied by storyplayr, as well as other books by the same
author and from the same publisher.
• Use the Ajouter aux favoris/Add to Bookmarks function to easily enable yourself to return to the book in the
future.
Tips for using storyplayr
• For the best storyplayr experience, we recommend using the storyplayr mobile app on a tablet. A phone screen may
be too small to permit the satisfactory display of book pages, and certain features are not available, including the
sidebar text display and the full listing of search tags. However, phones are perfectly useful for listening to stories.
• The best orientation for your mobile device is landscape.
• The web version of storyplayr does not permit downloading books for offline use.
• If using the web version, recording is supported only by Chrome and Firefox browsers.
• If using the mobile app, you can download a book, record it while offline, then share your recording once your
device is connected to the Internet again and your recording has been automatically uploaded to the storyplayr
server.
• To log out of storyplayr, tap or click on your name at the upper right corner of the screen, then, under My profile,
tap or click on LOG OUT.
Tips for recording a story
• To record a story, tap or click Enregistrer/Record at the left of the screen.
• The recording tools will appear at the bottom of the screen when the book loads.
• NOTE: Recording is done page by page. At the end of the page, tap/click Stop or advance to the next page.
• To begin recording, tap/click the Enregistrer/Record button. The flashing ON AIR icon indicates the recording
process is underway. To pause your recording in mid-page, tap/click the Pause button (web version only).
• At the end of the page, tap/click the Stop button to save your recording (especially if you wish to listen to and/or
rerecord that page), or simply advance to the next page. (It may take a moment for the recording function to
reload.)
• To listen to your recording, tap/click the Ecouter/Listen button.
• If you wish to re-record the page, tap/click the Ré-enregistrer/Rerecord button.
• If using a computer, you can avail yourself of keyboard shortcuts:
• Spacebar toggles between Enregistrer/Record and Pause.
• P key = Ecouter/Listen.
• Enter key = Stop.
• Once you have recorded and saved a page, you can return to it at any time to rerecord the text.
• Once your recording is completed and you have closed the book, you can listen to, share, modify or delete your
recording from either the book’s introductory page or by going to Enregistrements/Recordings at the top of the
screen.
Summary of main storyplayr functions
FUNCTION
STORYPLAYR WEBSITE
STORYPLAYR MOBILE APP
(www.storyplayr.com/paloalto)
Supported devices
Desktop and laptop computers
All tablets and smartphones
iPads
iPhones
Android tablets
Android phones
(Windows devices not supported)
Establish your free library account
YES
NO
Request online help
YES
NO
Consult FAQs
YES
• In French (for English, use
browser’s translation function)
NO
Record yourself reading
YES
• Grown-up mode only
• Requires Chrome or Firefox
YES
• Grown-up mode only
Download stories
NO
YES
Display sidebar text
YES (computers and all tablets)
YES (iPads and Android tablets)
Rev. 01/18/17