Student Resources @ CCPL

Charles County Public Library has curated these resources to support school-age children during the school year. Discover below what the library offers for students of all ages… from kids to adults!

All you need is a CCPL library card to get started. If you don’t have one, don’t worry… register for a free digital library card today! Learn more about what your CCPL library card can do for you here!”

Library Resources for Students

  • Virtual Charles County Public Schools Student Card

    All Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students can now access special CCPL library card accounts. These virtual cards give students FREE access to books, digital resources, and more! These cards are linked to their student ID numbers and are valid until the student turns 18.

    These virtual cards have a checkout limit of 15 physical items, including books, audiobooks, and DVDs. These cards also grant access to all CCPL digital resources, including ebooks, eMagazines, music, movies, Tumblebooks, databases, and much more! There is no charge for the cards or use of these resources, and this card does not incur charges for late, lost, or damaged items, but it is still important to return all library materials so that others can enjoy them.

  • Using Your Virtual CCPS Card

    To log in to CCPL digital resources with this virtual card, simply use the prefix CCPS followed by your student ID number. Your password is the first letter of your last name, the first letter of your first name, and the first letter of your middle name, followed by your four-digit birth year.

    For example, a student named Jane Marie Smith, born in 2011, whose student ID number is 123456.

    CCPS Card #: CCPS123456

    Password: SJM2011

    If you do not have a middle name, please use the first letter of your last name, the first letter of your first name, followed by your four-digit birth year.
    Click here for more information.

  • Library Cards for Minors 

    We issue full access cards to minors* on the request and consent of the parent or legal guardian. Although the consenting parent or legal guardian will be asked to sign the application, the card is registered in the child’s name and considered that child’s card by the library. *Minors 16 years and older do not need consent from a parent or legal guardian.

    What you should know about your child’s card:

    • You have agreed to be responsible for any charges on your child’s card.
    • You have agreed that your child can use any library resource, including the Internet, with the presentation of this card.
    • You may access your child’s records at any time in the library with their card or online using your child’s card and password.

  • Kids Cards

    This card is available for kids and teens who do not have a parent or legal guardian present to sign for a full access card. A short registration form with the child’s first name, last name, and birthdate is required. This card has no minimum age requirement and will expire when the cardholder turns 18.

    Kids Cards may have a maximum of 15 items checked out once.

  • CCPL is FINE FREE!

    With the passage of The Building Lifelong Learners Act of 2020, which makes all public library accounts for minors in Maryland fine-free, CCPL and its Board of Trustees voted to go fine-free system-wide. The Building Lifelong Learners Act of 2020 also stipulates that all minors will be given a clean slate by July 1, 2021, so lost/damaged fees on minors’ accounts will be waived. The law does say that after July 1, 2021, libraries can continue to bill minors for lost/damaged items. After July 1, 2021, minors will not be assessed overdue fines.

    *Please Note: Fine-free applies to Charles County and Calvert County Public Library materials. St. Mary’s County Library materials may accrue late fees. Click here to learn more.

  • CCPL Blog

    Did you know we have a blog? We have hundreds of staff-created content with new posts each month! From book recommendations to arts and crafts… there’s something for everyone! Check them out at https://ccplonline.org/blog.

  • STEM @ CCPL

    CCPL supports STEM through our collections and programs designed to meet the needs of area students and to support the goals of local and statewide education initiatives. Check out our STEM resources and program at https://ccplonline.org/events/childrens/stem/!

  • CCPL Event Calendar

    Here at CCPL, the fun never stops with year-round events celebrating art, history, music, and more! Check them out on our Event Calendar here!

  • Chromebooks & Hotspots

    Chromebook bundles are now available for checkout at all our library branches! Whether you need it for an upcoming school project, checking your email, or just want to browse the web — a Chromebook can help you get there! Learn more about Chromebooks at https://ccplonline.org/chromebooks/!

    Our Mobile Hotspots are an excellent tool for job-seekers, students, and anyone without WiFi needing online information!

    • Free portable WiFi units.
    • Unlimited data.
    • 3-week check-outs (not renewable); 3-week check-outs for Mobile Library Branch (not renewable).
    • Must be 16+ years old and have a full-access library card (in good standing)
    • No overdue fines!
    • Mobile Hotspots are Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) filtered.

    Learn more at https://ccplonline.org/about/mobile-hotspots

  • Contact Us 

    Have a question? Need help finding a resource, book recommendations, or help with an assignment? Ask us… we’d love to help! Stop by any branch, or you can contact us at https://ccplonline.org/connect/contact/.

BookFlix (Scholastic)

BookFlix® is a digital literacy resource that pairs more than 120 animated stories from Weston Woods with a best-selling nonfiction eBook from Scholastic on a similar subject. The fiction and nonfiction pairings are designed to strengthen early literacy skills while exposing young learners to real world concepts.

National Geographic Kids

Engage kids and young students to broaden their educational horizons with reputable, special, authoritative, and age-appropriate digital content that brings them the world in a way they have never seen before. National Geographic Kids will take them on amazing adventures in science, nature, wildlife, culture, geography, archaeology, and space.

Brainfuse

Live, online homework help, writing labs, adult learning resources, and much more – tutors available daily 2:00 – 11:00 p.m.

Peterson’s Test and Career Prep

Prepare for standardized tests with eBooks, online courses, and full-length practice tests for GED, SAT, ACT, AP, PSAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, TOEFL, U.S. citizenship, and more in Gale Presents: Peterson’s Test and Career Prep.

Gale Kids InfoBits

Kids InfoBits is a great resource for elementary students. It is a content-rich, easy-to-use digital resource featuring age-appropriate, reliable, curriculum-related content covering a broad range of educational topics.

Gale In Context: Middle School

Created specifically for middle school students, Research In Context combines the best of Gale’s reference content with age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, primary sources, and much more. Categories cover a range of the most-studied topics including cultures, government, people, U.S. and world history, literature, and many more.

Gale In Context: High School

Student Resources In Context offers cross-curricular content aligned to national and state curriculum standards and reinforces the development of skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Learners can access news content including full-text newspapers, periodicals, and hundreds of thousands of images, videos, and audio selections that include archival film clips and broadcast video.

Hoopla

Hoopla allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone – and even your TV! Instantly borrow digital movies, music, eBooks and more, 24/7 with your library card.

Kanopy

Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema. Provides free access to The Great Courses as well as many other non-fiction video content.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an online learning site that hosts a constantly growing library of over 3,000 courses that include over 130,000 videos. Courses cover a variety of topics (including business, design, web development, and multimedia skills) and software (Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite and open source applications) that can help you pursue personal and professional goals. This is a great resource for older students.

Library of Congress

Primary sources including photographs, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures, books and websites.

Gale OneFile: The Diversity Studies Collection

The Diversity Studies Collection explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in the global community. This collection includes more than 2.7 million articles from 150 journals, updated daily.

Exclusive features: including Topic Finder, and a mobile-optimized interface, support and enhance the search experience.

Mango Languages

Instruction in foreign languages, including Arabic, Chinese, ESL, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and many more.

Maryland State Library Resource Center

Access many more resources available to you through the Maryland State Library Resource Center.

Homeschooling

If you plan on homeschooling this year, be sure to know Maryland laws: 

  1. In Maryland, you must notify the school district that you are homeschooling 15 days before the beginning of homeschooling. (Letter of Intent to the Charles County Public School Homeschool Office).
  2. Home School Legal Defense Association resource for knowing the law.
  3. Review Maryland Department of Education resources.
  4. Be familiar with the supervision options in Maryland and choose one quickly. In Maryland, the options are (1) a nonpublic school that holds a Certificate of Approval from the Maryland State Department of Education; 2) a church-exempt nonpublic school; or 3) an institution (education ministry) offering an educational program operated by a bona fide church organization.) The Maryland State Department of Education maintains a list of Entities Registered to Supervise Home Instruction. 

Know the Standards for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.

CCPL Staff Picks

  • International Digital Children’s Library:  A large database of free children’s ebooks from around the world. 
  • BBC Bitesize: Explore BBC’s best videos, articles and quizzes for primary and secondary students. 
  • Wide Open School: From math to emotional well-being, find free learning activities.
  • Open Culture K-12: Free open access web media and resources – List of over 200 free websites.
  • Reading Beyond:  Lists curated by librarians and designed to help adults recommend age-appropriate titles that will challenge advanced readers.
  • Great Websites for Kids: Sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children a division of the American Library Association Please Note: While the website is no longer being updated it still contains a plethora of great resources, just click on the X on the homescreen to close the website retirement message, if you click on Launch Website it will take you to a different site. 
  • Smithsonian Learning Lab: Support deep, meaningful learning with an online universe of authentic resources and tools for making them your own.
  • SciJinks Weather: Games, articles, and activities for elementary students about weather.
  • Science Buddies: Hands-on Science Resources for Home and School.
  • Compadre: The AAPT ComPADRE Digital Library is a network of free online resource collections supporting faculty, students, and teachers in Physics and Astronomy Education.
  • Mystery Science: Interactive science lessons. 
  • PBS Learning Media: WETA and PBS have curated free, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more. 
  • Exploriturium: They have created tools and experiences that help you to become an active explorer: hundreds of explore-for-yourself exhibits, a website with over 35,000 pages of content, film screenings, evening art and science events for adults and kids, plus much more. 
  • NASA for Students of All Ages: NASA STEM @ Home Resources — Activities You Can Do Together.
  • NASA Solar System: Good for upper elementary and older students.
  • NASA Space Place: Great for young students.
  • Storytime from Space: Watch videos or live shows of astronauts on the International Space Station read stories. 
  • Travels with Music: Learn about and enjoy music from around the world. 

Coding

  • Code.org: Learn how to code in Scratch and other programming languages, great for all ages. 
  • Codecombat: Teaches students how to code in either JavaScript or Python, two of the most popular programming languages.
  • Tynker: A fun way to learn programming and develop problem solving & critical thinking skills for ages 5-17.