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April 1, 2013
Vol. 55
No. 4

Extend Learning with Public Library Resources

"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert." —Andrew Carnegie

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What better way to tap into research and educational resources and extend opportunities for teaching and learning than through the free services of public libraries?
Whether you drop into the local branch in your community or access a library's free e-resources, digital collections, and databases, these institutions have a wealth of information that is available at your fingertips.

Your Local Library And You

Local libraries plan a variety of professional development opportunities for parents and educators. Ask the children's librarian for help selecting books and developing activities and lessons that will stimulate your students' imagination.
Librarians can give children tutorials about how to use the library's available technology and how to conduct research, and some public libraries set up free homework help programs and tutoring sessions.
Young people can also take advantage of the talks, plays, performances, writing workshops, and reading programs that public libraries offer throughout the academic year and during the summer to keep students engaged in learning while out of school.
In addition, public libraries often offer workshops that help high school students prepare for college—whether it's SAT and ACT prep classes, workshops on how to search and apply for financial aid and scholarships, application essay-writing instruction, or talks about how to choose a college that is a good fit.
Also try these tips to make the most of your local library:
  • Check YouTube to see if your local library system has a video channel.
  • Follow local libraries on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to discover what's new and learn about upcoming programs.
  • Check out displays and resources about historical celebrations like Black History Month or Women's History Month.

Online Library Resources

The Library of Congress (U.S.) is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps, and manuscripts in its collections. These holdings can be accessed in person (with a reader's card), and many are also available electronically.
Through the Library of Congress website, you can freely access digital collections of U.S. history texts and primary source materials, as well as photographic archives, webcasts with U.S. poet laureates and internationally renowned authors and experts, and audio archives. The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog offers lesson plans and tips for teaching with historical and primary source documents.
In addition, the Library of Congress provides a database of almost 240 free e-resource platforms, websites, and electronic collections.
The American Library Association offers a comprehensive list of children's book, print, and media award programs.
You can also check out what's popular in young adult literature with lists from the Young Adult Library Services Association, which selects award-winning books and also recommends works for reluctant young adult readers.
Also, read advice from librarians and educators to help you plan for, discuss, and address parental challenges to texts used in the classroom at www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks.
The American Association of School Librarians' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database is a tool designed to help school librarians and educators plan lessons that align with the association's standards and, where applicable, to the Common Core State Standards.
The World Digital Library is another exciting, free, electronic resource. Rich with literary, historical, scientific, and religious manuscripts and texts, as well as extensive collections of photographs in a multilingual format, the digital library offers primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.
From ancient scrolls to a full scan of a Gutenberg Bible to Galileo Galilei's handwritten scientific notes, there's plenty of amazing artifacts on this site.
@YourLibrary.org, the public website for the American Library Association's public awareness campaign, the Campaign for America's Libraries, provides tips and suggestions for ways that families and young people can tap into their local libraries.
There's even a library locator (by zip code) that identifies public libraries, funded by municipalities, as well as publicly accessible libraries sponsored by nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, historical societies, museums, and other entities.
ILoveLibraries.org (by the American Library Association) offers a comprehensive list of digital library collections around the world. You can access collections of cultural and historical photography as well as dissertations, manuscripts, and ephemera.
The African Online Digital Library is a portal to multimedia collections about Africa and includes video interviews, manuscripts, photographs, maps and historical documents, and curricular plans and lessons.
Archives Portal Europe is part of the APEx project, supported by the European Commission in the ICT Policy Support Programme. The portal provides access to the national archives of 16 countries.

Additional Free Resources

Academy Publish provides free, peer-reviewed papers and articles by academics, scholars, students, and experts in the fields of engineering, economy, medicine, and computer science.
Bartleby.com is an electronic text archive that has made thousands of books, manuscripts, reference materials, anthologies, and other texts available for free. You can even access the impressive Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction anthology, which is described as "the most comprehensive and well-researched anthology of all time."

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LIBRARY LINKS

@YourLibrary.org

American Association of School Librarians: Access the lesson plan database.

ILoveLibraries.org: Access listings of digital library collections.

<BQ> » Teaching with the Library of Congress blog » E-resources database </BQ>

Willona M. Sloan is a freelance writer and former ASCD editor.

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