Tag Archives: online

Accessing eContent from Home

My library, like so many others across the country, has closed due to growing concerns related to the coronavirus. We are planning to provide online content to our patrons in the meantime.

So many folks are collecting fantastic lists of resources–I’m including some of my personal favorites over a series of posts, starting with accessing eContent.

Library Services

One of my favorite tips (that I use year round) is to remember that if your family has multiple library cards, or if you have cards to multiple libraries, each one may offer you access to some of the same eresources–but allowing you to get more content. If you organize your accounts and cards, you may actually be able to check out 18 or 30 or 50 items on a website like Hoopla each month. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it might be able to help some families.

Hoopla

Hoopla is awesome because everything is available to everyone with no waiting (though you are capped on the number of items per month). I talk about Hoopla during my book talks and am a regular user, so I am fairly familiar with its great content.

Some personal favorite titles that could be good to highlight to your patrons include:

Series or Authors, Kids Chapter Books:

  • 39 Clues (audio only)
  • Amelia Fang
  • Artemis Fowl
  • Captain Underpants (audio only)
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  • Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior
  • Dork Diaries (audio only)
  • Fablehaven
  • Fairy Tale Reform School
  • I Survived (audio only)
  • Isle of the Lost
  • Ivy and Bean
  • Judy Moody
  • Kingdom Keepers
  • Mercy Watson
  • Minecraft (Mark Cheverton)
  • My Weird School
  • Nikki and Deja
  • Origami Yoda
  • Percy Jackson
  • Ramona Quimby (audio only)
  • Rick Riordan
  • Rick Riordan Presents
  • School of Good and Evil
  • Serafina and the Black Cloak
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events (audio only)
  • Sisters Grimm
  • Spirit Animals (audio only)
  • Stick Cat
  • Stick Dog (not all titles)
  • The Terrible Two
  • Trapped in a Video Game
  • Upside Down Magic (audio only)
  • Warriors
  • Wayside School
  • Whatever After (audio only)
  • Wings of Fire (audio only)
  • Zoey and Sassafras

Single Titles, Kids Chapter Books:

  • 50 Wacky Things Animals Do by Tricia Martineau
  • Anyone but Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp
  • AstroNuts Mission One by Jon Schieszka
  • A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting by Joe Ballarini
  • Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
  • Black Panther by Ronald L. Smith
  • Bow Wow by Spencer Quinn (audio only)
  • City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab (audio only)
  • Coraline by Neil Gaiman (audio only)
  • A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano
  • Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
  • From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot (audio only)
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (audio only)
  • The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (audio only)
  • The Great Penguin Rescue by Sandra Markle
  • Great White Shark vs. Killer Whale by Thomas K. Adamson
  • Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
  • The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
  • Jinxed by Amy McCuloch
  • The New Kid by Jerry Craft (audio only)
  • Poop Detectives by Ginger Wadsworth
  • Posted by John David Anderson
  • Refugee by Alan Gratz (audio only)
  • Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (audio only)
  • Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale
  • Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
  • Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
  • The Unteachables by Gordon Korman (audio only)
  • Wedgie & Gizmo by Suzanne Selfors (audio only)

Picture Books & Beginning Readers:

  • 5-Minute Stories (not all titles)
  • Ana & Andrew
  • Be Quiet! by Ryan T. Higgins
  • Biscuit (all titles)
  • Charlie & Mouse by Laurel Synder
  • Clark the Shark (all titles)
  • Curious George (all titles)
  • Fancy Nancy (all titles)
  • Five Little Monkeys (all titles)
  • Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry (audio only)
  • I’m Brave! by Kate McMullan
  • Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah Hoffman
  • Mo Willems titles (audio & movie only)
  • Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
  • Mr. Putter & Tabby
  • Pete the Cat (all titles)
  • Pinkalicious (all titles)
  • Rosie Revere, Engineer
  • Scaredy Squirrel
  • Splat the Cat (all titles)
  • Unicorn Day by Diana Murray
  • Waiting by Kevin Henkes
  • We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

Graphic Novels:

  • Artemis Fowl (series)
  • The Backstagers (series)
  • Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
  • Big Nate (series)
  • Dance Class (series)
  • DC Super Hero Girls (series)
  • Dear Justice League by Michael Northrop
  • Diana: Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale
  • Earth Before Us (series)
  • El Deafo by Cece Bell
  • Ghost Friends Forever (series)
  • Goldie Vance (series)
  • Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye (series)
  • Illegal by Eoin Colfer
  • Invisible Emmie by Terri Linenson
  • Lumberjanes (series)
  • Miles Morales (series)
  • Moonstruck (series)
  • Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales (series)
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series)
  • Phoebe and Her Unicorn (series)
  • Plants vs Zombies (series)
  • Poptropica (series)
  • Red’s Planet by Eddie Pittman
  • Rutabaga: The Adventure Chef (series)
  • Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn
  • The Sisters (series)
  • Warriors (series)

Libby (OverDrive)

OverDrive‘s content will vary depending on what your library or consortium has added to it. However, with services being used by many people at once, this might be an ideal time to highlight a special OverDrive feature–“It’s Your Lucky Day.” This provides patrons with a select number of popular titles that are immediately available. Content changes regularly, but at this moment, I could check out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and On the Come Up without waiting.

RBdigital

If your library subscribes, RBdigital is an awesome resource for kids magazines, all immediately available. My favorites on this website include:

  • American Girl
  • Animal Tales
  • ChickaDEE
  • Highlights for Children (in all its ages and iterations)
  • National Geographic Kids

Beyond Library Services

As much as we want to boost our library econtent, realistically, even just over the course of three weeks, the above resources are going to dry up. A card’s 10 Hoopla checkouts can only go so far, and the best content on Overdrive will quickly have long holds.

I’m including some other suggestions for ways to access econtent for kids, for free or cheaply, below.

Free:

Subscription Services:

  • Audible (30 day free trial, 1 audio a month, $14.99/month): This service is expensive for what you get (only one audiobook a month), but it is by far the most user-friendly audiobook service that I’ve tried. Only recommended for regular audiobook listeners or for the free trial.
  • Epic! (30 day free trial, $9 a month): Immediate access to 35,000 picture books, early readers, chapter books, and learning videos. Includes popular titles like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Goosebumps, Princess in Black, Big Nate, Guinness World Records, and more.
  • Kindle Unlimited (30 day free trial, $9.99/month): Access a ton of titles from the Kindle library. While not everything is included (the collection is actually fairly limited), this can be your cheapest way to access many popular titles (that goes beyond the kid-exclusive content available at Epic!). All Harry Potter, Rick Riordan, and Big Nate books are available. While you are limited to 10 downloaded titles at a time, you are not limited to ten titles a month (like Hoopla). May be ideal for particularly voracious young readers. A great breakdown on the pros and cons here.

Book Apps:

  • Barnyard Dance! by Loud Crow (iOS) – $2.99
  • Blue Hat, Green Hat by Loud Crow (iOS) – $2.99
  • Byron Carton Collection #1 by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $4.99
  • The Cat in the Hat by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $2.99
  • Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Disney (iOS) – $5.99
  • Dr. Seuss’s ABC by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $2.99
  • Even Monsters Get Sick by Busy Bee Studios (iOS) – $0.99
  • Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $2.99
  • The Going to Bed Book by Loud Crow (iOS) – $2.99
  • Goodnight Construction Site by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $3.99
  • Goodnight Moon by Loud Crow (iOS) – $4.99
  • Green Eggs and Ham by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $2.99
  • The Monster at the End… by Sesame Street (iOS) – $4.99
  • Moo, Baa, La La La! by Loud Crow (iOS) – $2.99
  • One Fish Two Fish – Dr. Seuss by Oceanhouse (iOS, Android) – $2.99

What other e-resources do you know about to help your patrons access ebooks and the like while stuck at home? Mention them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list above!