Children's services

Family Storytime

Join us with your little ones for stories, songs and fun! Storytime is a fun, inclusive and interactive event that incorporates reading, singing, movement and wordplay to help promote reading and communication skills early on, while celebrating and supporting the cultural and linguistic diversity of our communities. Storytime promotes the joy of reading and helps to develop early literacy skills. It also...

• Demonstrates that books and reading are fun
• Develops listening and pre-reading skills
• Increases vocabulary
• Provides a bonding activity between children and adults

Drop in at the time and location that works best for you!

Middle Grade Book Group is an in-person group for kids between the ages of 6 and 12 who are interested in reading chapter books. Every month the facilitator will choose a chapter book whose publisher-assigned age rating is between 8 and 12, then lead a group discussion and craft or activity. We'll sometimes host special author visits as well! Free copies of the books are available at Menlo Park and Belle Haven Library while supplies last.

Read more

• See a complete list of books we are reading
• Find readalikes for the books we have read
• Our book group participants recommend

Looking for a good book?

Recommended by Kids

Learn

• ABC Mouse is the #1 digital learning program for ages 2-8! To start, create an account on the website. Then, continue on the web or in the app.
• LOTE4Kids offers picture book videos that are read aloud in English and Languages other than English (LOTE). 
• Creative Bug offers hundreds of kid-friendly arts and crafts video classes and tutorials.
• Novelist K-8 is database which can help you discover your next great read. Search for a book you like and Novelist will show you a list of read-a-likes.
• Teaching Books for Libraries can help readers connect more deeply with a book by gaining insights about both the text and authors though it’s collection of interviews, readings, videos, lessons, and more about books and authors. 

Databases for School

• Britannica School and Escolar includes source material in English and Spanish.
• Explora for Elementary School is a research database that explores topics in biography, social studies, language arts, and science using encyclopedias, text books, periodicals, and original sources.
• Explora for Middle School is a research database that 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.
• Middle School Supersearch is a general research database with access to thousands of resources.
• ProQuest Database is a source for scholarly journals, newspapers, and more.
• Referencia Latina is a comprehensive Spanish-language resource offering 49,000 encyclopedia entries, 50,000 images, 2,300 health reports, 100 reference books, dozens of general interest magazines, and daily updated articles from dozens of prominent newspapers from 10 Latin American countries.
• National Geographic Kids explores amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology, and space using videos, books, and magazines for kids ages 6 through 14.

Homework Help

• 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.

Rose Waldman
Library and Community Services Supervisor
Email

650-330-2516