Put a MCLS library card at the top of your child’s school supply list!

It’s “Back-to-School” season and parents everywhere are hitting their favorite stores to buy all the things their kids need. However, I would argue that the most important thing your child needs before they go back to school cannot be bought in a store: a library card from the Mercer County Library System! September is “National Library Card Sign-up Month” so it is the perfect time to stop by your local branch to get your child a library card.

Top 7 Reasons to Get Your Child a Library Card…

Getting a library card is easy and FREE! Everything you need to know is right here in our online brochure [https://www.mcl.org/sites/default/files/imceuploads/libcard.pdf].
To give them a sense of pride and responsibility. Getting your child their own library card will make them feel so proud. Just look at the smiling face of our new cardholder who came in just this week. She could not wait to check out books on her very own card! It is also a good way to teach responsibility. They need to take good care of the books they check out and return them on time (with your help).
Our Virtual Branch allows you to access digital services from home and on the go [https://www.mcl.org/databases/virtual.html]. We alllead busy lives and getting to the library is not always easy. With our virtual branch, eLibraryNJ, Freegal, Flipster and hoopla are all available to you wherever you are. You can use them from your phone, tablet or computer. You can download eBooks, audiobooks, movies, music and magazines. This is great for those hectic days bringing the kids from school to sports practices or while you are away on vacation.
We have databases to assist with homework assignments, test preparation, book selection and language learning [https://www.mcl.org/databases/dbs.html]. For example, Learning Express Library will help students preparing to take the SAT, ACT and various AP tests. Lumos Learning also has standardized test practice. For student research and homework assignments, we have: Academic Search Premiere where students can print out full-text journal and magazine articles, Encyclopedia Britannica, and World Almanac for Kids among many, others. If you child is interested in learning another language or needs extra practice with a language they are learning in school, we have three language databases (Mango Languages, Pronunciator and Rosetta Stone). If your student needs help selecting a book to read then NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus are your go-to databases. Just like our virtual branch, these databases can be accessed from home or on the go.
Access to computers, internet and printing capabilities. It is inevitable that your printer will be out of ink the night your child needs to print out an assignment. No worries…just log on to one of our public computers with your library card and we can print it for you. We also have Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to help with those assignments if you do not have these programs on your home computer or if you don’t have a computer at all. We have you covered. Four of our branches (Lawrence, West Windsor, Ewing, and Hickory Corner) are even open Sundays during the school year for those last minute emergencies.
We have a variety of audiovisual materials for check out. In July, MCLS introduced a new item called Launchpads. These are tablets that come pre-loaded with learning apps and games with no WiFi needed. They can be checked out and borrowed for one week or used while visiting the library. In just a short time, these have proven to be very popular with parents and young library users. We also have audiobooks on CD and Playaways (pre-loaded audiobook players) which are great for car trips, as well as read-alongs and VOX books that pair a physical book with the audio version. These are great for beginning readers or those struggling with reading.
And books, of course! What is a library without books? We have fiction for those readers who love a good story and nonfiction for fact lovers. We have books on every reading level. Need help finding books by reading level? We have a previous blog post that can help you with that exact topic! [https://mercercountylibrary.blogspot.com/2019/04/take-your-search-to-next-level-finding.html]