To keep our community connected and informed, we’re sending out regular email newsletters with the latest news from the Belmont Public Library and beyond. Find information about resources, updates on online programs, and fun links while the library is closed.
Sign up or read past newsletters here.
Below are previous “explore the web” suggestions.
Check out the Cornell Lab bird cams including one for barred owl chicks. Cornell’s bird feeder cam is also great. Here’s the Falcon cam on the Clock Tower in downtown Boston where there are currently several chicks.
Crayola offers detailed coloring pages to print off and make your own.
Here is an article on chances to watch live theater.
Visit Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, France and Kew Gardens and Waddeson Manor in the United Kingdom. RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey, England is lovely. Closer to home (slightly) is Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, US.
Actor and Newton native John Krasinski has started a channel with Some Good News (virtual Prom episode). Here’s a dog video, funny for anyone but especially good for sports fans.
C-span’s Book TV has a video archive of fascinating, nonfiction author talks from book festivals around the country. Stream the audio of NPR author interviews. A list of online book events from the folks at Book Riot. Local bookstore Belmont Books has a calendar of upcoming (online) author talks as does Cambridge’s Porter Square Books.
Rose Whaley and Elise Goodman put together this List of 40 Things to Do During the Quarantine and generously shared it with us.
Try these virtual tours of our National Parks. Look to PBS for 139 free travel progams, spanning the globe.
Read about what happened today in Massachusetts’ history at Mass Moments.
NPR is updating this list of streaming concerts with dates/times and locations. And Classic FM is updating a list of streaming classical music concerts. The Kennedy Center digital stage offers music and more. The Metropolitan Opera is offering free, live audio streamed over the web. Stream the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent Concert for our City, available for free through May 20. Club Passim is streaming its performances live. Club Passim concerts are free, but donations are requested. Listen to Yo Yo Ma’s oh-so-inspiring music project Songs of Comfort.
Try Mac Barnett’s Instagram live storytime and these coloring pages and activity kits for (local author) Josh Funk’s books. Have a look at KidlitTV for videos, podcasts, and activities. Watch HarperKids at 12pm daily for fun storytimes, read-alouds, and activities. Weekdays at 2pm, enjoy live storytime with Oliver Jeffers. You can draw everyday with author and illustrator Jarrett J Krosoczka. Scholastic Learn from home offers day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing. Check out Live Drawing with Tony DiTerlizzi, daily, 1:00 PM EST. (You can watch previous videos anytime). Watch educational animal programs at the Brookfield Zoo. Georgia Aquarium has animal webcams and educational programs. Try the Jbrary – the Youtube channel of Canadian librarians who perform songs, rhymes, and fingerplays. Do a Facebook Live Storytime with author Peter H. Reynolds – daily at 12 noon. Find singing, movement, and stories with children’s musician Emily Arrow – daily at 1pm. Try some STEM lesson plans with Snoopy the dog. Actors are reading picture books at Storyline Online. Mo Willems invites YOU into his studio, weekdays at 1pm, for his Lunch Doodle. Move to the rhythm of new songs and rhymes with Miss Nina – new videos every Tuesday. Check out Design Squad from PBSKids as a fun way to learn. Find out more about the natural world at National Geographic for kids. Make a piece of art every day with StoryMarch from the Greater Boston Illustrator’s Group. Check out some animal cams from around the globe at Explore.org.
Search the web for the “karaoke version” of your favorite songs, for example, “Hello by Adele karaoke version.” Youtube.com seems to have a lot of songs that you can belt out in the comfort of home.
Try some Bon Appetit videos. (We recommend “Gourmet Makes”).
Try a free-to-play online version of Magic the Gathering. This CNET article lists several free games (for example, Star Wars: Old Republic).
Follow what’s happening with the Crew Dragon capsule at NASA.gov. Watch videos of previous missions. Check out Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Read this article from CNET listing 18 cool sites and apps where you can learn more about space.
Explore Google Arts & Culture. Check out the Digital Public Library of America and Europe’s version, Europeana.
We’ve just added Acorn TV to our online offerings! Acorn allows you to stream popular British comedies, dramas, and mysteries, plus documentaries and foreign films.
The library has partnered with RBDigital to offer Acorn TV, so if you’ve already been using RBDigital to read digital magazines, you can access Acorn with those same login credentials. If you’re new to RBDigital, create an account that will work for both magazines and Acorn TV.
Please send your questions and comments to Ask A Librarian.
This Thursday, we’re going to have our first ONLINE Magic the Gathering tournament for tweens and teens!
What do you need to participate? 1) First, download and install the free to play game Magic the Gathering Arena and work through the tutorial so you can access the full game (I know it’s tedious, veteran players, but it’s worth it!). Unfortunately, the game does not support Mac computers at this time. 2) Have an email address that you can use to report scores. 3) Sign up here to be part of the tournament! This tournament will be for fun and glory, no prizes, but we are looking into how we can have a second one WITH prizes once everyone gets used to the digital way of doing things.
But how will this work, anyway?
We will be using a battlefy.com bracket. I will enter in everyone manually, with your first name and your Direct Challenge Code. You can find your direct challenge code by clicking the crossed swords icon on the upper right of your screen, as seen below. Then, once the game begins, I’ll email the bracket to everyone, and you can grab the challenge code of your opponent to duke it out!
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]!
March 18, 2020
Dear Belmont Library Patrons,
We wanted to reach out and share some more updates about our services to you, and how things will be working for the near future. The Library will be closed to the public until further notice, but library staff are hard at work converting as many of our regular services online for digital access as possible.
We also want to make sure you know about all the great things we have to offer to you while the Library is closed to the public.
But first, some business. We are going to:
We would like to remind you about your free ticket to a never-ending string of resources right from home: your library card.
In the coming days, we’ll be creating some new interactive content for you all to enjoy. We are working together with many of our regular performers to share some digital experiences through our website and social media pages. We hope to see live programs streaming, and also have saved videos available, so that you can join in on some live face-to-face fun, or access recorded activities later around the schedule that works best for you.
Immediately, we wanted to say thank you to all of you for staying patient with us. While we can’t let you in to the Library to access our materials, we wanted to still to bring the materials to you.
Starting on Friday, March 20, we will be leaving care packages of donated materials outside of the Library in paper bags. These care packages will be themed bags of free books and other materials, all from donations to the Library.
In the coming days — when it’s not raining, and while supplies last — we will leave these care packages on the front steps, on the library walkway, and outside the Children’s Room. They will be closed bags. Please come, take a bag to keep forever, and open it at home. Bags were put together by library staff (wearing gloves).
These care packages are courtesy of the Belmont Public Library staff and made possible by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. If you use social media at home (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), please share a photo of yourself with your care package and tag our accounts and use #BelmontPublicLibrary.
Your Library Director,
Peter J. Struzziero
Just because you can’t come in to the library doesn’t mean we don’t have your back! Check out some of the stuff below to start entertaining yourself!
Want to read but not sure what to book to look for? Get a personalized recommendation here – we’ll even check to make sure it’s available as an e-book! We can match you with books, movies, TV series, podcasts, and more — just ask.Our Teen Advisory Board put together a list of their recommended reads, too – you can find these and more recommended reading lists here! Need even more ideas? Looking for something in a niche genre or a read-alike for your last favorite read? Explore NoveList to find new authors and titles, using your interests based on mood, genre, or appeal.
Now that you know WHAT to read, how to do it? Well, we have ebooks! Check them out using Hoopla or Overdrive and you can read them right on your device!
All this is awesome, but what it you need a library card? No sweat! Register online for a temporary library card. Massachusetts residents can also sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard for access to more online resources!
Want some more comics to read? You can check them out using your library card on hoopla, or you can find a new series on webtoons! And don’t forget, Shonen Jump always posts the latest chapter of their manga series for free. Plus, gocomics.com has a lot of your favorite comic strips – like Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Foxtrot ,and Nancy
Not feeling reading? That’s cool, we’ve got other stuff to share, too! Check out our other post with some links to stuff you can do online!
Reading isn’t the only thing you can do online. We’ve pulled together some other stuff you might want to watch, listen to, or play while you’re at home!
Did you know you can check out movies digitally using your library card? Both Hoopla and Kanopy both offer free library streaming!
Are you a gamer? Many indie game developers have made their games free on itch.io! Check them out here! If you’re more into tabletop games than video games, you could round up some friends and play remotely using roll20.net – and you can create Dungeons and Dragons characters for free at DnDBeyond.com! If you miss our Magic: The Gathering programming, you can download and play Magic: The Gathering Arena for free, too.
Are you a fan of cooking? Chef Michael Symon is doing live cooking demos at 5 pm using common pantry ingredients! We also recommend Binging with Babish, Food Wishes, and Gourmet Makes!
Want to make sweet music? Moog and Korg have both made their synthesizers free! The Minimoog app for iOS is available here, and the KORG Kaossilator is available here for iOS and here for Android!
Ever wanted to learn how to animate? Retired Disney animator Aaron Blaise is making his Fundamentals of Animation course free for the next few weeks! You can check it out here.
Like our Escape Rooms? Did you know they mostly started online? Try a couple of these free, single player Escape Rooms!
Get digital media from home! We have eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, movies, and more for all ages and interests.
Download the Libby app, then log in with your library card and PIN to borrow thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks, and magazines from our OverDrive collection. Check out up to 10 items at a time. You can also use your Minuteman Library Network card to borrow from partner libraries across Massachusetts, including the CW MARS, NOBLE, and MVLC networks.
hoopla is like free Netflix, PLUS music and audiobooks! You can stream (or download to the hoopla app) 5 titles per month. Instantly borrow any title — no waiting, no holds. Sign up with your email address and library card, then search, borrow, stream, and enjoy!
To watch some of the world’s best films (over 30,000 of them!), try Kanopy. With film festival favorites, award-winning documentaries, and countless films from the Criterion Collection, Great Courses, PBS, Women Make Movies, Samuel Goldwyn, and more. Also available is Kanopy Kids with films and TV series like Sesame Street and Arthur, perfect for preschool and up! Stream up to 5 titles per month.
Special notice: Until April 12, Kanopy is offering a selection of films that won’t deduct from your monthly play credits — enjoy them here! — as well as free, unlimited access to Kanopy Kids!
RB Digital is a digital newsstand with over 40 popular magazines. There’s something for everyone: The New Yorker, OK! Magazine, Vogue, National Geographic, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, and more! Create an account with your library card and email address, then browse and check out to read magazines instantly.
Still curious? Discover more online resources or try our Children’s e-resources.
Need a library card? Register online for a temporary library card to use state-provided databases and the OverDrive digital collection. Massachusetts residents can also sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard for access to more online resources!
