September 2024
September 2024 Standard News article
By Gaylee Harris, Director
Montgomery City Public Library
As a former elementary and reading teacher, I always looked forward to the beginning of the school year. It is a time of excitement, hope, and inspiration for what the school year will bring. Now I get excited to meet teachers, educators, and homeschool parents to share how the wonderful offerings from the Montgomery City Public Library can help their students.
The Montgomery City Public Library offers educators with the Montgomery County R2 School District, Immaculate Conception School, and homeschooling parents a free MCPL Teacher Card that is valid from August 1 through May 31. With an MCPL Teacher Card, you can check out a variety of books, STEAM kits, games, and digital resources. Stop by the library with your school ID if you are interested in getting a new Teacher Card. Contact MCPL if you already have a Teacher Card to ensure it is activated for the current school year.
Our website, www.mcplmo.com, offers links to Teaching Books, educational websites, and homework help. Most require a library card to access. Students with an MCPL card can also access these databases.
Teaching Books is a website that generates enthusiasm for books and reading in our community. Find book trailers, movies with authors, audio performances, discussion questions, and more — all great ways to engage with books together!
A Teacher Assistance Form is available to request materials for classroom use. This can be used by teachers and homeschool educators alike.
Kids
Explora for Elementary Schools is an interface designed specifically for elementary school students according to their needs and search abilities and includes reading level indicators to simplify discovery of grade-appropriate content.
Learning Express Library has online practice tests for elementary school students in reading, writing, and mathematics to help build basic skills. Registration by the user is required for the software to record progress.
Bloom Library has free, downloadable books in 488 languages. Search by language, topic, or special interests such as STEM Books. Find talking books, comics, and books with activities.
CK-12 has free educational resources for students, parents, and teachers with customizable educational content for different student learning styles and levels. CK-12 offers concept-based information with adaptive practice and interactives to help students learn their way.
Khan Academy has online instructional videos and practice exercises that cover topics at grade levels K-14, including test preparation for SAT, LSAT, and more. Resources are now in more than 36 different languages, including Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
The World Factbook has information about the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
Teens
Digital Literacy empowers learners with digital citizenship skills to navigate today’s virtual landscape. Interactive activities guide students through project-based learning activities using digital tools to create podcasts, multimedia presentations, social media campaigns, and more. Database articles explore cyberbullying, digital research skills, citizen journalism, and more.
Explora for Middle Schools is designed specifically for middle school students according to their needs and search abilities. This interface is graphically rich and provides access to age-appropriate materials.
Explora for High Schools is designed specifically for high school students according to their needs and search abilities. This interface has a simple search that quickly delivers relevant results including articles, essays, and primary source documents to help successful research.
The Rosen Financial Literacy database makes economics and personal finance easy to understand and highly engaging. Articles explore macro-, micro-, and global economics as well as personal and household finance.
Funk & Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia is an online encyclopedia with articles and images about a variety of subjects. The listen feature enables you to have the computer read the encyclopedia entries aloud.
Learning Express Library has online practice tests for ESL and basic skills improvement in reading, writing, and math. Also includes SAT, ACT Advanced Placement, HiSET, and other tests. Registration by the user is required for the software to record progress.
Read It has resources for middle & high school students and adults who have a basic foundation in English grammar and reading to build background knowledge, conduct research, and improve study skills for a variety of subjects.
Teen Health & Wellness provides middle and high school students with up-to-date, nonjudgmental, self-help support. Topics covered include diseases, drugs, alcohol, nutrition, mental health, suicide, bullying, and LGBTQ+ information.
CK-12 has free educational resources for students, parents, and teachers with customizable educational content for different student learning styles and levels. CK-12 offers concept-based information with adaptive practice and interactives to help students learn their way.
Khan Academy has online instructional videos and practice exercises that cover topics at grade levels K-14, including test preparation for SAT, LSAT, and more. Resources are now in more than 36 different languages, including Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
Purdue Online Writing Lab offers resources to assist with writing projects including information on different citation styles, avoiding plagiarism, and how to write for different topics and levels of study. Includes support for writing English as a second language and resources for educators.
The World Factbook provides information about the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
There are also links to Ebsco E-books, Missouri Library to Go (Libby), Boundless, and Blackstone Unlimited for E-books and audio E-books.
The Montgomery City Public Library offers children's programs throughout the year. These include Story Time Adventures, Books and Bites, Lego Club, and Robotics. We can make book bundles to go with different themes, lessons, and author studies. We also have traveling Story Time Adventures, where we come to your preschool or kindergarten classrooms to read, sing, and play. Library tours and guest reader services are available too. The Montgomery City Public Library has a friendly and helpful staff of librarians (many who are veteran teachers) ready to help you meet your students’ needs. We are available to help find information & resources, answer questions, and recommend good books.
The Montgomery City Public Library hours are as follows:
Monday - Thursday 8:30am-6:00pm
Friday - 8:30am-5:00pm
Saturday - 9:00am-1:00pm
Sunday - Closed
You can contact me by calling the library at 573-564-8022, emailing mcplmo@gmail.com, or messaging through our Facebook page.
The library staff and I look forward to helping you. Happy Reading!