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Staying at Home with the Kids–A List of Online Resources

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We’ve been fortunate reaching out to our Southern Adirondack Library System to find resources for parents and kids stuck at home right now. We’ve been compiling lists of online resources for reading, educational activities, virtual tours, drawing classes, and more. We hope this will help families cope better with the social distancing.

Scroll down and find something fun and educational to share with your family.

Our library website also has a huge collection of databases you may access: indianlake.sals.edu for free! Hover over “Digital Library”, and click “Learn” for many resources, interesting research, encyclopedias, and databases. There’s tons of stuff available, but of particular interest to families will be “Kids Infobits”. Your family can learn about animals, plants, music science, sports, and much more.

http://daybydayny.org/
A website for young children and their families with daily ideas to keep learning fun. It is part of the New York State Library early literacy initiative Ready to Read at New York Libraries.

https://www.storylineonline.net/
Stream videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.

https://pbskids.org/
Videos and games for little learners. There is also a helpful parent’s resources section with ideas and activities for your little ones.

https://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/reader/index.html
Resources from the US Department of Education.

https://switchzoo.com/
Fun learning games with animals.

https://www.si.edu/kids
Learning games and videos from the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. Learn more about the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and the National Zoo—shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.

http://buttonsandfigs.com/
A fun, educational program for kids, parents, educators, librarians, anyone, everyone who values wordplay. Buttons & Figs introduces kids to great nonsense literature, poetry, and songs as a way to give them permission to play with words.

https://www.storynory.com/
Free stories for kids age 7 to 11 including some fun re-tellings of classical myths and lots of original content.

https://www.parents.com/syndic…/museums-with-virtual-tours/…
This is a list of museums that offer virtual tours.

https://totallythebomb.com/heres-33-national-park-tours-you…
This has cool virtual tours of National Parks.

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/…/list-of-education-compan…/…
A list of educational companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings.

https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/…/learnathome.html
Free educational activities.

https://www.katemessner.com/read-wonder-and-learn-favorit…/…
An extensive & updating list of read-alouds, mini-lessons, and more from children’s author Kate Messner.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/OperationStorytime…
Follow on Twitter to see how authors are sharing their stories virtually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjaYnyCJDdU&feature=youtu.be
Lunch doodles with kid’s author MoWillems

https://jarrettlerner.com/activities/
Downloadable comic activities from author Jarret Lerner.

https://www.youtube.com/StudioJJK
Drawing classes with graphic novelist Jarrett J. Krosocka on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowhHSUaWp3KJDcuI0nR0vw
On this channel, you’ll find workshops, readings, activities, art projects, writing games, writing advice, and more.

https://www.slj.com/…
An article from School Library Journal about kid’s authors helping educators, students, and parents during the covid-19 pandemic. Has links to resources.

https://www.vice.com/…/millions-of-books-are-secretly-in-th…
An article about downloading books in the public domain that are free. The article has links to online sources for these books.

The library appreciates the patience and understanding from our community. We’ll all get through this with more patience, understanding, and kindness for each other.

We hope this collection of websites will help you and your families get through this time in a better way. We will provide updates as often as we can to provide you all with more materials to explore.

Keep healthy.

Covid-19 Update

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The Indian Lake Board of Trustees will meet Monday March 16th at 9am to decide next steps for the library during the pandemic.

Our goal is to keep patrons and staff safe during this time. The library has cancelled all programming for the remainder of March. At the end of the month, we will reevaluate the situation based on circumstances. Please be safe and take care of each other.

In order to mitigate exposure to the virus, the library is encouraging patrons to:

  • Avoid public gathering spaces, such as the library, if you feel unwell.
  • Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
    • Hand sanitizer is currently in short supply, but staff can supply patrons with a dose upon request until we have more. We are working with the Hamilton Co. Health Dept. to procure supplies.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing, sneeze into a tissue and throw the tissue into the trash or sneeze into your sleeve (elbow) if a tissue is not available.
  • At this time, please place all returns in the book drop. Please do not bring returns into the library and place on circulation desks.

To get information about the pandemic, please visit the Southern Adirondack Library System’s blog: https://salsblog.sals.edu/

Other Useful links:

2019 Report to the Community

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Better late than never!

Another turning of the year and it’s a great time to review 2019.  The library was the place to be! We had so many fun and informative programs, and are grateful to all who attended and those folks who were willing to present programs.  Besides the weekly Sit n’ Knit group and our revived Writer’s Group, we had 146 separate programs for families, children, and adults & teens.

The town’s annual Snocade event was fun, we had Story Time Plus several times for the young ones, ice lantern workshops, sewing classes, and our 1st annual “Light Up the Library” event with games, crafts, a bon fire for s’mores, and of course our community’s luminous display of ice lantern creations.  The 2nd Annual is just around the corner: Wednesday February 19th 6-8pm.  Later in February the Warren Co. Cooperative Extension held a day of free tax preparation.  2020’s date is 2/25/20—be sure to make an appointment.

We had lots of earth-friendly stories and themes for Spring break, using items culled from our collections to create new works of art.  For the gardeners in our community, the library held 2 straw bale gardening classes, and a vermiculture (worm composting) class.  Patrons ordered 90 straw bales to be delivered to the library for pick up in mid-spring from the Hamilton Co. Soil and Water District.

Throughout 2019 the library partnered with the Caregivers Support Initiative to bring a series of educational talks for those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias.  Local patron and educator Jodie Seymour began an ongoing series on mindfulness that continues once a month into 2020.

Summer Reading 2019’s theme was a “Universe of Stories” and we had lots of new books about space to share with our young readers.   We studied different aspects about space (planets, the moon, the constellations, travel and jobs in space) and ended with a visit to the Indian Lake Theater to visit SkyLab Planetarium courtesy of Up Yonda Farm, and a generous grant from Stewart’s Shops.  Kids earned “book bucks” for every 15 minutes spent reading and used their bucks to buy treats for themselves and friends, but also they bought groceries and school supplies for Indian Lake Community Action, over $140 worth! Summer Reading helps kids keep up their reading skills, and their reading in turn helped the community. On July 31st we celebrated Harry Potter’s and J.K. Rowling’s shared birthday with our first annual “Stay Up Late at the Library.  We had more s’mores, crafts, games, and a telescope trained on Jupiter and saw its 4 moons traverse!

Other summer highlights were an herbal talk, a visit from Adirondack Raptors, a beaver talk from the Adirondack Interpretive Center, DEC led compass and map classes, and loads of craft projects.  Our decentralization grant from the Adirondack Center for the Arts brought us an audience at the Indian Lake Theater with author, actress, and storyteller Fran Yardley, whose book Finding True North was our community read.  The Blue Mountain Center partnered with us for a reading by journalist and novelist Helen Benedict. We plan for more informative and exciting programs next year to keep the summer fun and interesting.

We want to thank Bill LaPrairie, the head of our town Park and Recreation Department for all of his help this year with the nearly $5000 construction grant we were awarded by our library system.  With that money Bill and his crew made some very nice improvements to our building.  New touch free toilets and hand dryers were installed to lower waste and keep germs at bay.  They installed a new book deposit that makes life so much easier for our librarians, and more comfortable for our patrons on the porch. Ken King built our gorgeous new video shelves, the book drop cabinet, and two benches for patrons to use while in the library. 

Plans in 2020 are to build upon what we had going on in 2019 to make the library as essential to our community members’ lives as we possibly can. The Indian Lake Central School has been sending the elementary grades over monthly this school year to read fun books together and do activities based on those stories, the younger we get them in the habit of visiting the library, the better!

One big goal in 2020 is to spread the word on the important magic of reading aloud to each other.  Stayed turned to programming on that very topic, and stop by to borrow some fantastic books on the topic!

Thank you all for your support and suggestions.

New Winter Hours

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Wednesday nights at the library have not been as busy as we were hoping so we are altering our hours WEDNESDAYS from 12-5 and 7-9 to 12 pm to 7 pm. Effective this week starting November 27th, Wednesday hours are 12 pm to 7pm

Mindfulness & Gratitude Workshop with Jodie Seymour

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Join us Wednesday November 20 at 7pm for another relaxing and thoughtful workshop with our local mindfulness practitioner Jodie Seymour.

Jodie has been leading a series of mindfulness exercises at the library with the goal of reducing stress by raising awareness of being present in the moment and acknowledging our feelings without judgement.

This month’s focus will be on mindful gratitude. We will explore using gratitude to further our ability to cope with the stress that can occur during the holiday season.

Jodie’s enthusiasm for her subject and her fun, down to earth manner make our programs with her a rewarding experience. We hope you can join us this Wednesday night. Tea will be served, no RSVP needed.

Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia Educational Program

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Join us at the library Friday October 11, at 1pm for a very important educational program about Alzheimer’s Disease and & Dementia. Topics will cover “The 10 Warning Signs” and “Dementia: What Does it Mean?”

Two experts will present each portion: Lindsey Stanislowsky, program manager for the Alzheimer’s Association, and Stacey Barcomb, Education Specialist for the Caregiver Support Initiative.

If dementia touches your life somehow, whether a friend or loved one, this program can help give you the support you need. Free literature and resources will be made available to attendees. No sign up required.

Needle Felted Pumpkin

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Join us at the library Monday, September 30 or an upcoming Wednesday in October  at 7 pm for a fun needle felting craft at the library. Participants will learn the process of needle felting to craft a fun pumpkin or jack o’ lantern as a festive fall decoration. All supplies will be furnished by the library, but space is limited to 12. Please sign up by calling 518-648-5444 or stop by the library. This craft uses very sharp needles and is appropriate for ages 12 years and up only.