BPL Virtual Resources Spotlight April 2021

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 By Caleb West | BPL Collection Management

The BPL Virtual Resources Spotlight highlights the Birmingham Public Library’s vast free online resources available to serve the public. 

Thanks to our many library partners BPL is able to assist patrons stuck at home or on the go. Using mobile devices, such as smart phones, iPads, and other computer devices, patrons have access to free homework assistance, e-books, and downloadable & streaming audiobooks, movies (& TV shows), music, comics, and magazines. 

Also available is a vast array of resources via BPL’s exceptional local digital collections. Except where indicated, these services are restricted to Birmingham city residents with active library cards. 

Many digital resources are also provided by the state of Alabama - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL), the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) - and the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, a partnership of 40 libraries in Jefferson County including Birmingham's 18 locations. 


The Birmingham Public Library is ALWAYS open 24/7 through our FREE online digital resources. 

The value of our virtual resources has been elevated the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. While our buildings have reduced hours for the safety of the public to prevent coronavirus spread, BPL has continued to serve the public through our free online resources and by creating new virtual programming. 

Starting Points 

Below are some website links that will serve as excellent places to start as you search through and for the electronic resources and databases of the Birmingham Public Library and beyond. 

Birmingham Public Library website www.cobpl.org

Birmingham Public Library online resources and databases http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/databases/default.aspx?p=5&q=1#db 

 Birmingham Public Library Digital Library http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/ 

 Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) https://www.avl.lib.al.us/


 Jefferson County Library Cooperative website www.jclc.org

Subjects covered in this document: 

    * Pre K-5 School Resources 
    *The African-American Experience 
    *Self-Improvement, Career Development 
    *Online Entertainment 

Pre K-5 School Resources 

Here is a spotlight on some of our most popular digital resources for K-5 students:

 ABCMouse.com 


Description: With more than 4,000 interactive books, educational games, puzzles, and other learning activities, ABCmouse.com's award-winning online curriculum is the most comprehensive online educational resource for young learners (ages 2-7+). From Age of Learning, Inc. 

Free for use in our libraries.

Homework Alabama - Live Homework Help 


 Description: The Homework Alabama Live online service, HomeworkAlabama.org, offers free homework help from subject specialists in Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. It assists students in Grades 4-12 and College Intro.

Homework Alabama also provides resume writing help and more for adults. HomeworkAlabama.org is provided free of charge to all residents of Alabama by APLS (the State Library of Alabama) and your local Public Library with a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Available Sunday - Thursday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Requires a JCLC card. 

Full Text Available. Remote Access Available. 

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids 


Description: Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids provides learning tools for K-12 students, parents, and teachers. These resources will teach how our government works, the use of the primary source materials of GPO Access, and how one can use GPO Access to carry out their civic responsibilities. Just as GPO Access provides locator services to U.S. Government sites, Ben's Guide provides a similar service to U.S. Government Web sites developed for kids. 

 Britannica Digital Learning e-books 


Description: Britannica offers hundreds of full-color and black-and-white nonfiction and circulating reference e-books, ranging from pre-K to academic. Offline reading is supported for all titles and requires a one-time download of the iPublishCentral Reader App. 

Requires a JCLC card. 

Full Text Available. Remote Access Available. 

Britannica Online School Edition 


Description: Britannica Online School Edition offers teachers and students access to three complete encyclopedias, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Britannica Student Encyclopedia and the Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia that ensure consistency with classroom-topics and age-appropriate language. Teacher and student tools are also included such as video, media, journals, magazines, interactive activity guides, lesson plans, an Internet guide and downloadable student activities. 

The School Edition has 118,000 articles, 22,000 images, 2,000 video clips, 24,000 biographies and detailed maps of 196 countries. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus and Spotlight features are also a part of this resource.

Tumblebooks ebooks for Kids 


Description: Britannica offers hundreds of full-color and black-and-white nonfiction and circulating reference e-books, ranging from pre-K to academic. 

Offline reading is supported for all titles and requires a one-time download of the iPublishCentral Reader App. 

Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available. 

Explora (AKA Kids Search, Student Research Center)


Description: EBSCO's database interface designed for elementary and middle school students. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available. 

New World Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls) 


Description: For students and adults alike, the New World Encyclopedia indexes over 25,000 full-text articles covering an array of topics. The database contains images, brief biographies and information in a variety of subject areas.

Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.

Gale In Context: Elementary (formerly Kids InfoBits) 


 Description Gale In Context: Elementary features a developmentally appropriate, visually graphic interface, a subject-based topic tree search and full-text, age-appropriate, curriculum-related magazine, newspaper and reference content for information on current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.

NFL Play60


Description: These are difficult times for everyone. With the recent school closures happening across the country due to COVID-19, we understand things are getting even harder. The NFL, alongside our charitable partners, is making free digital education resources available to teachers, parents, and students to help ease a bit of the burden. Our hope is that these online resources provide you and the students in your life with support to lead a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle despite the disruption of these unprecedented times.

Freely available to the public. 

PebbleGo 


Description: Animals and Science. Emergent Reader Resource Solution. Each database features expertly-leveled text and navigation specifically designed for your beginning researchers. Enriched with spoken-word audio, text highlighting and audio/video media, PebbleGo builds a foundation of research skills for every learner. 

Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available. 

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