Online resources

All

ABCmouse
Academic Search Complete
America: History and Life with Full Text
AtoZ World Food
Auto Repair Source
Biography Reference Bank
Biography Reference Center
Britannica Escolar
Britannica School
Business Source Complete
Calflora
California COVID-19 guidelines
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration
California DMV
California Franchise Tax Board
California Native Plant Wiki
California State Parks
Calisphere
CalOpps
Calscape
Career OneStop
CloudLibrary
Comics Plus
Creativebug
DigitalLearn
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
eBooks
ERIC
Explora for Elementary School
Explora for Middle School
Explora for High School
Federal Government Resources
Federal Tax Information
Gale in Context: Environmental Studies
Gale Interactive: Science
General Research
Historical Abstracts with Full Text
History Reference Center
Hoopla
Internet Archive
Kanopy
Legal Information Reference Center
Literary Reference Center Plus
LOTE4Kids
MedlinePlus
Menlo Park Historical Association
National Geographic Kids
Naxos Music Library
Naxos Music Library Jazz
Naxos Music Library World
Newspaper Source Plus
New York Times
NoveList Plus
NoveList K-8 Plus
Open Library
O'Reilly for Public Libraries
Points of View Reference Center
ProCitizen
ProCitizen (en Español)
ProLibrary (Library Spanish for English-speakers)
ProLibrary (Library English for Spanish-speakers)
Pronunciator
ProQuest Databases
ProQuest Ebook Central
Purdue OWL
ReferenceUSA
Referencia Latina
San Mateo County Historical Association
Science Reference Center
Teacher Resources
TeachingBooks
TumbleBookLibrary
Tutor.com
Weiss Financial Ratings

Business, Finance, and Taxes

Business Source Complete

Business Source Complete is the world's definitive scholarly business database, providing the leading collection of bibliographic and full text content.

California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration provides information and resources about California state taxes.

California Franchise Tax Board

The California Franchise Tax Board provides information and current California state tax forms.

Federal Tax Information

Visit the United States government tax page for information, current forms and assistance related to federal taxes.

Weiss Financial Ratings 

Find trusted Weiss Financial Ratings guides to stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), banks, credit unions and insurance companies. Medigap tool for information about Medicare supplemental insurance options including up-to-date pricing guides. And access helpful financial literacy tools for subjects such as making a budget, understanding insurance, and starting a 401k, powered by Greyhouse Publishing.

 

California and Local Interest

Calflora

Calflora is a comprehensive online guide to California plants.

California Covid-19 Guidelines

Get current information on state COVID-19 guidelines, testing, and vaccines.

California Department of Parks and Recreation

Find a state park to visit, or learn more about free vehicle passes for California library card holders.

California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration provides information and resources about California state taxes.

California DMV

View the CA DMV website for current drivers’ handbooks and other online services.

California Franchise Tax Board

The California Franchise Tax Board provides information and current California state tax forms.

California Native Plant Wiki

The California Native Plant Wiki is an information resource created by the Theodore Payne Foundation to help you garden with California native plants.

Calisphere

Calisphere provides free access to unique and historically important artifacts for research, teaching, and curious exploration. Discover over two million photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more.

Calscape

Calscape, a project of the California Native Plant Society, is an online tool that lets you search native plants by location, right down to the address.

Menlo Park Historical Association

The Menlo Park Historical Association aims to collect, preserve and disseminate historical data, information, relics and objects or records of historical interest relating to the City of Menlo Park and environs.

San Mateo County Historical Association

The San Mateo County Historical Association aims to inspire wonder and discovery through education about the cultural and natural history of San Mateo County.

 

Career and Skill Building

Calopps

CalOpps is a website that was developed by and for public sector agencies and is a resource for applicants looking for public sector jobs.

CareerOnestop

Career OneStop is your source for career exploration, training and jobs. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Creativebug

Creativebug.com has thousands of award-winning art & craft video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists.

DigitalLearn

DigitalLearn.org is an online hub for digital literacy support and training.  

O’Reilly for Public Libraries

O’Reilly for Public Libraries is an online learning resource designed to help you understand the latest technologies and business strategies. With over 43,000 eBooks and 30,000 hours of video, this collection serves the business and technology needs of a wide range of users.

The Purdue OWL

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers global support through online reference materials and services for creating citations, cover letters, major-specific writing help, and general writing advice.

 

Children's Resources

ABCmouse

ABCmouse is the #1 Learning App for children ages 2–8+, with more than 8,500 activities that teach reading, math, science, health, social studies, art, and music.

Creativebug

Creativebug.com has thousands of award-winning art & craft video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists.

LOTE4Kids

LOTE4Kids is our new online database of digital books in World Languages, that allows kids to enjoy the magic of books in LOTE (Languages Other Than English). Each book also comes with English translations to help kids learn languages. LOTE4Kids has over 2,000+ digital picture books in 50+ languages, with new books and languages released each month.

National Geographic Kids

National Geographic Kids explores amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology and space using videos, books and magazines. Best for children aged 6–14.

NoveList K-8 Plus

NoveList K-8 Plus is a trusted source of read-alike recommendations specifically for younger readers. It helps kids find books that are just right for their reading level and interests.

Student resources

Explora for Elementary School explores topics in biography, social studies, language arts and science, using encyclopedia, text books, periodicals and original sources. For research and investigations by elementary students (grades K-5).

Explora for Middle School provides 170 popular middle school magazines, thousands of historical essays, 80,000 biographies, 55,000 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of photos, maps and flags.

Explora for High School is a multi-database search of several student resources.

TeachingBooks for Libraries

TeachingBooks has collected interviews, readings, videos, lessons and more about books and authors. They help readers connect deeply with a book, gain insights from authors, and thoroughly experience the joy of reading.

Tumble Book Library

With Tumble Book Library, access over 1,100 animated storybooks, popular graphic novels, nonfiction books, and educational videos for grades K-6. Learning extensions, simultaneous use, and a My Assignments feature allow teachers to use the materials to enhance classroom studies.

Tutor.com

The Tutor.com Learning Suite combines online tutoring, homework help, and test preparation with powerful diagnostic tools and self-study resources to provide a well-balanced and flexible educational environment designed to meet the individual needs of all learners.

 

eLibrary and Reading Recommendations

cloudLibrary

Borrow ebooks and audiobooks for up to 21 days. The cloudLibrary app features a digital library card, the ability to save multiple cards on one device, and you can suggest ebooks and audiobooks for our librarians to purchase from within the app.

Comics Plus by Library Pass

Use Comics Plus to get unlimited access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels and manga from more than 100 publishers. Every title is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no holds or wait times.

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)

The Digital Public Library of America empowers people to learn, grow, and contribute to a diverse and better-functioning society by maximizing access to our shared history, culture, and knowledge.

eBooks

See a full list of ebook platforms offered by Menlo Park Library as well as device compatibility.

Hoopla

Get five instant loans each month on Hoopla – no holds or waiting periods. Borrow ebooks, comics, and audiobooks for 21 days; videos for 72 hours; and music for 7 days. Use the BingePass feature to access the entire collection of magazines, Great Courses, puzzle games and more for 7 days using a single borrow.

Kanopy 

Get 25 streaming tickets per month on Kanopy to enjoy critically-acclaimed movies, inspiring documentaries, award-winning foreign films and more, or switch to Kanopy Kids for educational and entertaining content.

Libby by Overdrive

Borrow thousands of new and popular ebooks, audiobooks and magazines for up to 21 days. Place holds or tag items to read later, send downloads to Kindle devices, or read on the Overdrive website or the Libby app.

LOTE4Kids

LOTE4Kids is a new online database of digital books in World Languages, that allows kids to enjoy the magic of books in LOTE (Languages Other Than English). Each book also comes with English translations to help kids learn languages. LOTE4Kids has over 2,000+ digital picture books in 50+ languages, with new books and languages released each month.

Naxos Music Library

Naxos Music Library is the most comprehensive online collection of classical, jazz, and world music, with over 170,000 albums to stream and more added all the time.


The New York Times

The New York Times basic article access is available for 72 hours at a time. Puzzles and recipes not available.

NoveList Plus

NoveList Plus has reading recommendations for both fiction and nonfiction. Their expertise in books and reading means that you'll always get the best help for finding just the right books.

NoveList K-8 Plus

NoveList K-8 Plus is a trusted source of read-alike recommendations specifically for younger readers. It helps kids find books that are just right for their reading level and interests.

OpenLibrary

Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published.

TeachingBooks for Libraries

TeachingBooks has collected interviews, readings, videos, lessons and more about books and authors. They help readers connect deeply with a book, gain insights from authors, and thoroughly experience the joy of reading.

Tumble Book Library

With Tumble Book Library, access over 1,100 animated storybooks, popular graphic novels, nonfiction books, and educational videos for grades K-6. Learning extensions, simultaneous use, and a My Assignments feature allow teachers to use the materials to enhance classroom studies.

 

General Reference

AtoZ World Food

AtoZ World Food™ is the world's largest and most comprehensive database of food and food culture for 174 countries. This proprietary database includes 884 food culture articles, 6,500 traditional recipes, 650 ingredient articles, historical timelines, glossaries, and 2,000 food quotes. Lavishly illustrated with 14,000 photos.

Auto Repair Source

Auto Repair Source is powered by the automotive experts at MOTOR, and includes step-by-step repair information, diagrams, maintenance schedules, parts and labor estimates, service bulletins and recalls.

California DMV

The California DMV offers online services, information, and digital Driver’s Handbooks in English and other languages.

CDC Covid-19 Information

View the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 information page.

Federal Government Resources

View the United States government website for information on benefits, taxes, forms, and other resources. 

The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.

Legal Information Reference Center

Legal Information Reference Center provides exclusive online full text for many of the top consumer legal reference books, more than 225 full-text publications, and thousands of legal forms from Nolo Press and others.

MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus is an online health information resource for patients and their families and friends. It is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

 

Homework and Research Databases

Academic Search Complete has more than 6,400 full-text periodicals, including more than 5,700 peer-reviewed journals. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887.

America: History and Life is for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history and culture from prehistory to the present. It has indexing for 1,700 journals from 1955 to present, and full-text of 200 journals and 100 books.

Biography Reference Bank combines in-depth, original profiles of Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated with the thorough periodicals coverage of Biography Index. It includes over 500,000 people and over 36,000 images!

Biography Reference Center offers the complete run of Biography Today and Biography, plus thousands of narrative biographies not available in other databases.

Britannica School and Escolar is made for today’s digital classroom, with extensive, up-to-date information sources in English and Spanish.

Explora for Elementary School explores topics in biography, social studies, language arts and science, using encyclopedia, text books, periodicals and original sources. For research and investigations by elementary students (grades K-5).

Gale Interactive: Science helps science come to life as you zoom, rotate and explore interactive 3D models. View related reference articles and search Gale content to find more information.

Gale in Context: Environmental Studies provides information about environmental issues that affect people globally through topic overviews, journals, news and multimedia content.

General Research Supersearch Designed specifically for public libraries, this multidisciplinary database provides 1,600 periodicals back to 1975, 440 reference books, 73,000 primary source documents, and 1.7 million photos, maps & flags. Also includes Consumer Reports.

High School Supersearch is a multi-database search of several student resources.

Historical Abstracts and Full Text (World) covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.

History Reference Center (U.S. and World) offers 2,000 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, 140 history periodicals, 74,000 historical documents, 81,000 biographies of historical figures, 113,000 historical photos and maps, and 83 hours of historical video.

Middle School Supersearch provides 170 popular middle school magazines, thousands of historical essays, 80,000 biographies, 55,000 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of photos, maps and flags.

National Geographic Kids explores amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology and space using videos, books and magazines. Best for children aged 6–14.

Points of View Reference Center contains resources that present multiple sides of an issue, helping students develop persuasive arguments and essays, understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.

ProQuest Databases provide a single source for scholarly journals, newspapers, reports, working papers and datasets along with digitized historical primary source documents and more than 450,000 eBooks.

ProQuest eBook Central provides eBooks with breadth and depth of authoritative content on a range of subjects, including the arts, business and management, education, health, history and political science, law, literature and language, religion and philosophy, science and technology, and social science

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers global support through online reference materials and services for creating citations, cover letters, major-specific writing help, and general writing advice.

Referencia Latina is a comprehensive Spanish-language resource offering 49,000 encyclopedia entries, 50,000 images, 2,500 health reports, 100 reference books, dozens of general interest magazines, and daily updated articles from a dozen prominent newspapers from 10 Latin American countries.

Science Resource Center is a comprehensive research database of content from 860 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, etc.

Teacher Resources is designed for professional educators, and provides a highly specialized collection of 460 high quality education journals and 230 educational reports.

The Tutor.com Learning Suite combines online tutoring, homework help, and test preparation with powerful diagnostic tools and self-study resources to provide a well-balanced and flexible educational environment designed to meet the individual needs of all learners.

 

Language Learning and Citizenship

Federal Government Information

View the US Government webpage for information and resources related to immigration and U.S. citizenship.

LOTE4Kids

LOTE4Kids is a new online database of digital books in World Languages, that allows kids to enjoy the magic of books in LOTE (Languages Other Than English). Each book also comes with English translations to help kids learn languages. LOTE4Kids has over 2,000+ digital picture books in 50+ languages, with new books and languages released each month.

ProCitizen

ProCitizen in English and ProCitizen en Español help you prepare for the U.S. citizenship test.

ProLibrary

ProLibrary teaches Spanish to librarians and English to library users.

Pronunciator

Pronunciator is a fun and free way to learn any of 163 languages with Personalized Courses, movies, music, and more.