Family Storytime

For children of all ages, this is a time to awaken imagination and explore new environments all while having a blast and making new friends. Family Storytime starts at 3:30 PM on Wednesdays with a story or two read to children by a librarian. After a story or two, children will be led into the Story Room for a fun craft or activity created to pair with that day's theme. When finished, children are welcome to spend the rest of their time playing with the library's toys in the Story Room's enclosed courtyard. 

Little Wigglers

This program is for our youngest friends, aged 0 - 6. Little Wiggles focuses on exploring new environments, textures, and sensations in a safe, controlled setting. Babies and toddlers will listen to stories, sing songs, and learn how to socialize with one another in preparation for their futures. Parents are encouraged to play with their children and ask questions, prompting the growth and development of creative and critical thinking skills that will see them through the rest of their lives.

Brick Builders

Children aged 4+ are welcome to hang out in the Children's Library every Friday at 3:30 PM and play with the library's vast collection of Legos™. With no other activity but a free exploration of thousands of bricks, children can make friends or enjoy solitary construction.

Activities and Entertainment

Art and Music

• Lunchtime Doodles with Mo Willems 
• Get Creative with Dav Pilkey 
• Citizen DJ -- make your own hip-hop music through this free program from the Library of Congress
• Chrome Music Lab allows you experiment with different instruments, sounds, tempos, and more. You can even add your own voice to your songs  

Classes

• Khan Academy offers free educational classes for ages 4+ in math, science, language arts, reading, AP classes, and many more subjects
• Personal Finance for TEENS and young adults -- including how to pay for college, saving and budgeting, debt and many other useful finance topics

Coding

• Computer coding games for elementary school kids
• Computer Programming with Khan Academy -- learn what programming is, drawing basics, coloring, variables, animation, text and strings, and more 
• LightBot beginning coding fun for kids 
• ScratchJr. teaches coding literacy for AGES 5-7  
• Syracuse University offers a guide for parents to help their kids get started with compute programming. Site includes glossary of coding terms, tips for teaching kids, learning tools, and links to online coding programs (both free and pay subscriptions):

Games and Activities

• Harry Potter fans, check out this new site
• Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose offers story times, at-home activities, science and creativity broadcasts for kids, and resources for parents too: 
• Citizen DJ -- make your own hip-hop music through this free program from the Library of Congress
• Club SciKids: at home science experiments for elementary school aged kids 
• Cosmic Kids teaches yoga and mindfulness for AGES 3+
• Disney Fans, check out Disney themed crafts, recipes, and family activities
• Disney Pixar Imagineering in a Box -- learn how to create a theme park
• Eric Carle offers print outs and activities related to his classic books for young children 
• GoNoodle gets kids up and moving!
• Highlights offers free Hidden Picture games, jokes, recipes, and family activity ideas 
• Jan Brett (picture book author) offers free activities, coloring pages and projects on her website 
• Math Games offers a variety of math games for FIRST - EIGHTH GRADE 
• NASA activities for students in grades K-12 
• Nick Jr. offers games and tv episodes featuring favorite tv characters
• PBS Kids offers free games, activities, e-books, and tv episodes                                                                              
• Chicago's WTTW PBS station's website lists a month of kids' science activities
• Peep and the Big Wide World FAMILY science activities
• Dr. Seuss themed activities 
• Super Simple offers free printables, tips for parents, family activities, crafts, songs, recipes, and educational videos for PRESCHOOL-ELEMENTARY school
• Tween literary themed quizzes, activities, book trailers, and more
• Word Central -- language building games from Merriam Webster  
• Word World preschool/kindergarten games, activities, and videos

Learn a Foreign Language

• Duolingo teaches foreign languages to kids in bite size lessons 
• Quizlet offers free foreign language lessons

Live Animal Cams

• Audubon Bird Cams 
• Cincinnati Zoo offers Facebook Live events featuring their animals weekdays at 3 pm EDT: 
• Explore.org offers tons of free animal cams that show animals across the globe! See both wild and domestic animals living at animal sanctuaries  
• Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a real time look at otters, birds, jellyfish, coral reef habitat, and the kelp forest habitat 
• National Zoo offers a real time look at naked mole rats, lions, giant pandas, and elephants 
• PANDAS! Giant Panda Cam  
• San Diego Zoo offers a real time look at apes, baboons, polar bears, butterflies, koalas, elephants, giraffes, penguins and more 

Performing Arts

• Kennedy Center offers recordings of its live performance including concerts, magic shows, comedy shows, and other performing arts programs 
• London Symphony Orchestra

Printables

• Free printable worksheets PRESCHOOL and KINDERGARTEN ages  
• AWE offers free printable educational and fun activity pages for AGES 2-5
• Nickelodeon offers fun printables featuring your kids’ favorite tv characters
• Super Simple offers free printable activities and crafts, coloring sheets, games, flash cards, and more

Virtual Tours

• Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum
• Virtual COVID-19 Friendly Tours -- Check out this list of free virtual tours of museums, zoos, aquariums, farms, and even the International Space Station

E-Books

• California Missions: Search for your mission and click to read
• California Libraries Virtual Comic Convention: for all ages
• Children's Storybooks: Online provides illustrated stories for kids of all ages
• Library of Congress: offers digitized Classic Books for kids and teens  
• EBSCO: Host provides high-quality nonfiction eBooks for students and adult learners (free with your library card)
• International Children’s Digital Library: shares stories from around the world 
• American Folklore: shares folk tales and spooky legends:  
• Project Gutenberg: offers Free eBooks in the public domain with curated list of children’s books
• Marvel Comics: Read all 20 Marvel’s Heroes Project comics for free 
• Nursery Rhymes and Bedtime Stories
• StarFall: free animated stories and folk tales. 
• U.S. States: Search for a state and then click to read online for free

Schoolwork Help

• Ebsco: offers nonfiction resources and journal articles for students and adult learners (free with your library card)
  • Explora Elementary School  
  • Explora Middle School 
  • Explora High School
• Encyclopedia Britannica: free online encyclopedia
• GCF Global: provides reading and math help  
• Grammar Check’s: online editor provides spelling, grammar, and writing style help 
• Grammarly: helps you improve your writing with its AI-powered assistant 
• Hippo Campus: offers a multitude of resources on core curriculum subjects for MIDDLE SCHOOL - COLLEGE 
• Library of Congress: offers a variety of educational resources and activities to support at-home learning 
• Khan Academy: offers daily schedules and free classes for AGES 4-18 in math, science, engineering, arts, and test prep  
• Quizlet: helps you improve in Math, Science, Social Science, Languages, Arts and Humanities, and more  for MIDDLE SCHOOL - HIGH SCHOOL
• Softschools: provides free worksheets, games, and quizzes for children in PRESCHOOL - HIGH SCHOOL in math, science, handwriting, and language arts
• Beyondthebackpack: Nick Jr. help get children ready for kindergarten with beloved characters
• TedEd: provides parents with hands-on interactive lessons do do with their kids 
• Planes and Balloons: offers Preschool and Kindergarten skills worksheets 
• ProQuest: provides curated collections to help students complete assignments by providing access to premium newspapers, magazines, and images correlated to key curricular standards and subjects

COMPASS Resources

COMPASS stands for: California Online Media Program for Access and Student Success. These resources are provided by the California State Library. Learn more about COMPASS here!

• PebbleGo Science: Designed for k-2 students, PebbleGo Science supports STEM learning in English and Spanish as well as 50 interactive STEM ebooks from Capstone.
• TeachingBooks: Features a suite of instructional resources that enrich the fictional and nonfiction books read by children and young adults.
• Britannica School: This online library database from Britannica is aimed at the digital classroom. The entries are in English and specially designed at different reading levels, allowing students to move easily to material of higher or lower comprehension levels as needed for K-6, middle school, and high school: Levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Britannica School offers an automated translation tool for over 50 languages, as well as quick dictionary definitions and audio pronunciation — helpful for English language learners. 
• Britannica Escolar: Britannica Escolar provides similar content as Britannica School for K-6 and middle school in Spanish. Escolar articles are original works, not translations. 
• Gale in Context: Environmental Studies: Understand environmental issues that affect people globally through topic overviews, journals, news, and multimedia content.
• Gale Presents: National Geographic Kids: Explore amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology, and space. Best for children aged 6–14.
• Gale Interactive: Science: Manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, earth, and space science.
• Alexander Street: Explore professional theatre, music, dance video and audio performances, as well as thousands of world music tracks. Performance producers include: The National Theatre, Smithsonian Global Sound, The Royal Shakespeare Company, L.A. Works, Qwest (Quincy Jones) and dozens more.
• ProQuest CultureGrams: Concise cultural information on countries around the world, from basic information to perspectives on daily life and culture, including background, customs, and lifestyles of the world’s people.
• ProQuest Ebook Central: eBooks from ProQuest spanning a variety of topics.
• ProQuest SIRS Discoverer: Articles for beginning researchers, particularly elementary and middle school students. Age-appropriate content for classwork, homework and research assignments.
• ProQuest SIRS Issue Researcher: Database of complex subjects geared to middle and high school students, with a focus on current and relevant analysis of today’s most important controversial issues.
• eLibrary: General reference collection of periodicals and digital media content with guidance for beginner researchers to help them choose research topics and find authoritative information to support research claims.