Kids
Our Youth Services Department serves children from birth – high school. We offer a large collection of print materials as well as ebooks, e-audiobooks, and online resources. You have a full library at your fingertips – even when our building is not open!
We also offer programs, classes, and special events for all age groups too. Click through our website and take a peek at everything we offer!
Welcome Rubber Ducky Readers! – our special summer program for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (older children may join our Summer Fun program).
This year, things are a little bit different. Covid-19 is continuing to place limits on the types of activities we can host, and the library building is closed for repairs. We’ve created an Early Literacy Guide for you to use with your child this summer. It’s filled with book lists, activities, and ideas you can use to promote early literacy learning at home. Download a copy of the Early Literacy Guide today, and prepare for a summer of fun activities. A limited number of printed guides are available – please email youthprogramming@lowermaclib.org if you need a printed copy (the library is currently not open, but we can try to find a way to get the guide to you).
We encourage you to combine your summer reading with our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program – a year-round program to encourage reading to preschoolers. Click on the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten tab for more information.
We do have some fun outdoor activities planned this summer – check out our calendar for the most up-to-date schedule.
In order to receive a certificate and prize at the end of the summer, you must register for our program. We will be in touch in August to share details about our prize pick-up. Please email youthprogramming@lowermaclib.org with any questions.
Are you going to grades K-5 next year? Then welcome to your Summer Fun program! We were hopeful that we would see your smiling face in the library this summer, but water damage has closed the library for the near future. But the show must go on! And we are excited to share our Summer Fun 2021 program with you – Tails and Tales!
Looking for information for students entering grades 6-12? Head to our Teen Page!
Special Note – Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers can participate in our Rubber Ducky Reader program (see more into on that tab). If you have a family with multiple age groups of children and your preschooler would prefer to do the same activities as older siblings – no worries! Just register them for this program.
Download a copy of our Reading Log to help you keep track of the time you spend reading. The Reading Log is also filled with fun activity suggestions for you to try this summer. Our program runs for 6 weeks, but you can be as flexible as you want this summer. Want to start reading NOW? GREAT! Need to wait a week or two? That’s fine! Going on vacation? No problem – just pick up where you left off. (Paper copies of our Reading Log were included in our Summer Fun Craft Kit; a limited number of paper copies will be available at the library. Please email youthprogramming@lowermaclib.org if you need a paper copy).
We do have some fun outdoor activities planned this summer – check out our calendar for the most up-to-date schedule.
We want to know who is reading with us this summer, so please fill out this Google Form as you make progress this summer. The more you check-in, the more prizes you can earn! Check-in up to 6 times throughout this summer. Last day to check-in is August 7, 2021. Prizes will be awarded in August – we will be in touch with details as we get closer to that time. Please email youthprogramming@lowermaclib.org with any questions.
Grab & Go Craft Kits for Kids are available select Mondays this summer!
General Program Information
Children’s Ages: Many of our programs feature activities intended for a specific age group, and we advertise the specific age range accepted for each program. We use the East Penn School District’s kindergarten cut-off date of September 1st to guide our program age levels. For example, if your child turned 2 on August 13th, 2019, then your child would register for the Wigglers Storytime program. If your child turned two on October 3, 2019, then your child would attend the Books & Babies Storytime program. These age guidelines are in effect for the entire school year so that our classes may grow and mature together as the year progresses.
Registration: Some programs allow for walk-in participation; however, many of our programs require advance registration. This allows us to ensure that your child has a reserved seat and materials for our program. Library staff reserves the right to limit a program to those who have preregistered. Unless otherwise noted, all registrations are available online through our Events Calendar.
Adults & Programs: All storytime programs are designed to be for both a child and adult caregiver; therefore, adults must accompany children to storytime programs. Programs for children in grades K-5 usually take place in our Youth Services program room. Children attend these programs without their adult caregiver in the room; however, an adult is required to stay in the library while the child is in the program. If your child has special needs and requires accommodations or special assistance during a program, please contact the Youth Services Director to make arrangements prior to the start of the program.
Not sure what to read? Looking for something new? Try Hoot Loot!
Hoot Loot is a special service for kids in grades K-5. Fill out the request form (below) to let us know a few things about you. Then we will select 3-5 books (3 if you are reading chapter books – 5 if you are reading Easy Readers) for you to check out – plus a SURPRISE! Read your books, keep the loot! WHOOOOO knows? Maybe you’ll find a new favorite title!
Complete the form, and the library will contact you when it’s time to schedule a pick-up for your Hoot Loot.
Hoot Loot is not available at this time.
**Read 4 books a week, and your child will have listened to 1,000 stories in five years.
**Read one book a day, and you could finish in less than three years.
**Read ten books per week, and you’ll blow away this challenge in less than two years!
We are excited to announce a new program for preschoolers called “1000 Books Before Kindergarten”! Research shows that reading books and sharing stories with your child is one of the best ways to help them enter school with the language skills they need to be ready to learn and grow. So all you need to do is pick up a log in the children’s area (or download and print one here!) and start checking off books! No need to write titles, just keep a tally on the log, and every 50 books your child will get stickers. At 1000, your child will receive a certificate and can add their name to our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten display.
NEW! Log your progress online!
Please come in and our librarians would love to help you find books for school assignments and just-for-fun, information for book reports and papers, and much more!
In the meantime, use the link for Power Kids (Like Power Library, but focuses on the kids’ resources) and a few other helpful websites for homework, games and reading levels:
BookFlix Scholastic BookFlix is a new online literacy resource for grades pre-K – 3 that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic to help build a love of reading.
Brainfuse: HelpNow provides live online tutoring for elementary, middle school, high school, intro college, and adult education as well as offering a Learning Suite & Writing Lab.
CyberSmarts This interactive e-book collection for grades 3 – 6 offers users a safe, simulated Internet experience with hands-on instruction on how to deal with important online safety issues.
Kids InfoBits provides elementary-aged students with age-appropriate, curriculum-related content covering a broad range of educational topics such as animals, arts, geography, health, literature, people, social studies, technology, etc.
TrueFLIX The truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth about people, places, nature, history, science, and more! TrueFLIX provides eBooks that are enhanced with a related content in a variety of text types and media–including primary sources, fiction, videos, audio clips, images, and related websites. This science and social studies resource for 3rd through 6th graders includes a “Resources & Tools” section which offers lesson plans, quizzes, promotional materials and other downloadable resources.
TumbleBookLibrary: K-6 children’s ebook database. Animated, talking picture books. Story books, puzzles and games, audiobooks, and books in other languages
TumbleMath: K-6 math ebook database. TumbleMath is the most comprehensive collection of math picture books you will find anywhere. All in the amazing TumbleBook format complete with animation and narration. The books are accompanied by supplementary materials such as lesson plans and quizzes.
TumbleBooks AudioBookCloud: All ages audio book database. An online audiobook library collection of streaming audiobooks.
Accelerated Reader Book Finder
ALA Great Game Websites for Kids
Scholastic “Book Wizard” Reading Level Search (Grade Level Equivalent, Guided Reading, DRA, and Lexile Measurement)
