The Library subscribes to many resources you can use from the comfort of your own home, and many of them are also working with us to bring you more remote resources during these difficult times. Below are some of our resources to help keep you and your family entertained and informed while the Library is closed to the public.

There are also various additional although temporary resources becoming available from outside providers during this difficult and largely home-bound time. While we will list those resources that may be of interest to our patrons on this page, we will also note that they are an “outside provider” at the end of the description so you will be able to tell which resources are of this temporary variety, and not controlled by the Library itself.

We will be updating this list as necessary. You can also always check out our Research Database page for a list of many more resources available to you from the comfort of your home. We also have a post for resources geared towards educators, as well as one for resources geared towards children.

Entertainment

Libby/Overdrive

Libby is a platform for reading ebooks and magazines and listening to digital audiobooks. Our collection is always growing, and though our physical location is sometimes closed we are doing our best to keep up with your reading needs remotely! Visit the Libby/Overdrive page for information on how to download the app to a variety of devices.

Infobase Video on Demand

Infobase is currently offering free access to its products for our patrons through 6/30/20. These include a wide range of educational resources, as well as a Writer’s Reference Center and the aforementioned Video on Demand which also has a portal Just for Kids.

You can access all of these resources through 6/30/20 by logging in: the Username and Password to log in are both MAINlib.

Kanopy

Kanopy is a digital streaming service that includes feature films, TV shows, documentaries, and collections for kids. You can sign up with your library card and get started right from home. Our patrons usually receive 6 “play credits” a month, but right now, to help us all stay entertained during these difficult times, Kanopy is offering a playlist with a variety of videos that will not deduct from your play credits.

Virtual Arts Resources brought to you by MPAC

The Morristown Performing Arts Center has put together a list of resources for us to experience the arts from home, including streaming concerts, Broadway shows, virtual tours, and much more.

Scribd is offering free 30-day trials to anyone who would like to sign up using their email, Facebook, or Google account. They are not requiring a credit card to sign up, and are used and trusted by libraries throughout the U.S., including the New York Public Library. Scribd offers a collection of eBooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines. They may contact you after the 30 days asking for you to sign up. Please be aware that fees may be involved at that point. Outside provider.

TumbleBooks

Many of TumbleBooks resources are both educational and entertaining! TumbleBooks has something for all ages. TumbleBooks Library is an online collection of ebooks for children. They are a great way to encourage tech-savvy kids to enjoy reading! Access is unlimited – you can read 24/7, from the comfort and safety of your home! There are over 1100 titles, including 350 animated, talking picture books! The site also features graphic novels, read-along chapter books, and non-fiction books. TumbleBooks resources are easy to use, and feature unlimited access from home! You can read as many books as you want, when you want, on any device. There are no check-outs, holds, or bulky downloads. Books are available instantly. TumbleBooks also offers the following resources, free to our patrons through 8/31/2020:

• TumbleMath K-6 math ebook database
• TeenBookCloud Grades 7-12 ebook database
• AudioBookCloud All ages audio book database
• RomanceCloud A huge collection of steamy Romance novels for the older crowd!

RBDigital

RBDigital is a browser and app-based platform that includes both a large selection of current magazines on many topics, and a large collection of digital Marvel comics (strange bedfellows, you may say, but at least we’ve got variety!). 

Education, Research, & Information

Many of TumbleBooks resources are educational and entertaining! Check their information in the “Entertainment” section.

Our very own North Jersey History and Genealogy Center has a fantastic Digital Collections archive of photographs, art and text. Our materials range in subject matter from photographs of Morris County life by the early 20th century photographer Frederick Curtiss, the art of Thomas Nast and A.B. Frost, detailed historical maps and atlases, and many other images that document Morristown’s unique history. They also have available genealogical research databases and more research resources that you can use from home, so you can continue your family research.

JSTOR

JSTOR is an online database and has opened up it’s collection of over e-books and scholarly journals for free during this time of wide-spread closures to Universities and Libraries. JSTOR is working with publishers to make more of its content freely available, so if you don’t see what you need today, it might be worth trying again tomorrow! Outside Provider.

Mometrix

Test-prep and study database.

Scholarly Content Free on Project Muse 

In response to the challenges created by the global public health crisis of COVID-19, Project MUSE is pleased to support its participating publishers in making scholarly content temporarily available for free on our platform. With many higher education institutions moving into an exclusively online learning environment for the foreseeable future, we hope that easy access to vetted research in the humanities and social sciences, from a variety of distinguished university presses, societies, and related not-for-profit publishers, will help to support teaching, learning, and knowledge discovery for users worldwide. Outside Provider.

Gale COVID-19 Support

The Gale Database has put together an online resource center that includes:

• Interdisciplinary, curriculum aligned resources to support online learning from pre-K through undergraduate
• Live and on-demand training materials
• Professional development eBooks to help transition to and strengthen virtual learning
• Authoritative Gale resources on health-related topics and global issues

by Chad Leinaweaver

This summer, the Library received a CARES (Corona Aid Relief and Economic Security) Act Mini-Grant for our Spanish Language Outreach and Children’s Outreach Technology Project. This Mini-Grant allowed us to further expand possibilities for both Spanish-speaking, English-speaking and bilingual children. This project is supported with funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the New Jersey State Library.

Similar to other communities across the nation, both Morristown and Morris Township have seen large increases in the number of Spanish-speaking residents over the past decade. Though we have long purchased Spanish language adult books and eBooks as well as Spanish language children’s books for new readers to discover, we felt the next step in our efforts to provide beneficial services to our Spanish-speaking patrons was to expand our literacy efforts with a technology component. Thus, we purchased a new computer learning station from AWE Learning for our young patrons in the Children’s Room.  AWE Learning is a known leader in partnering with public libraries to provide educational computer stations that aid young children with early literacy and Spanish language literacy.  Various programs on these stations such as “Telling Time Games” and “Spanish School Bus” and about 40 others provide early literacy instruction in Spanish, while over 30 others such as “JumpStart Preschool” and “Monster ABC” provide for early literacy instruction in English, geared toward preschoolers who visit the Library with their families.  The bilingual software allows non-English speaking parents to share in the learning experiences of and with their children.  The learning station has additional educational modules, including “After School Edge,” focused on aiding children in their first years in grade school which includes “1st Grade Math” and other elementary age programs, as well as “Robo Garden,” which provides over 200 coding activities to aid young children in learning technology concepts. 

The Library has made a concerted effort to bring additional technology into the Children’s Room beyond the AWE Learning Station.  This effort has included purchasing mobile tablets known as Launchpads, electronic read-along book/devices called Wonderbooks, STEM programming, STEM kits and other technology-based items as part of a multi-year plan to provide new resources to our pre-K through grade 12 patrons. Come by our Children’s Room and check out all these exciting new offerings for yourself!

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”20″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]

On or about August 24 through approximately September 3, the Library will be painting the 2006 Media wing, both inside and outside.  The Children’s & Teen Rooms and Media Dept. and the collections in these areas including: Adult, Teen and Children’s DVDs, CDs, fiction and nonfiction books will be closed to the public for some of this time.   The 1917 and 1930 wings of the Library will remain open and staff will be able to assist with retrieving items in the closed areas for patrons. The History Center will be open (by appointment only call 973-538-3473).

Please contact the Library at 973-538-6161 if you have any questions.  We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

We are excited to announce a new Mobile app, so you can bring the Library with you in your pocket! 

Our consortium, Main Library Alliance (Main) has been hard at work with SOLUS to create this dynamic app that delivers advanced functionality, and gives patrons easy access to the diverse shared collection of resources in our consortium. The app also includes a digital library card with linkable accounts, downloadable electronic resources, full-catalog searching with the ability to place holds, multi-language support, curbside pickup, self-check-out and more.

You can download the app from the Apple and Google Play App stores by searching “Main Libraries.”

Once downloaded, the app will guide users through a one-time login, then take them directly to their local library environment from that point on.

From July 6th – September 6th

Thank you everyone for participating in our Adult Summer Reading! Congratulations to our winners, and we can’t wait to see you all next year! 

Join us for Adult Summer Reading fun! For every book you read, or program of ours that you attend, you can fill out a raffle ticket for a weekly chance to win a Grab Bag of Books, AND the chance to win our grand prize at the end of the summer: a gift certificate to a local business. 

There are two steps to participate:

1. Sign up for our Summer Reading
2. Fill out a raffle ticket anytime you finish a book or attend a program
3. Profit!

Sorry, that’s three steps.

You can sign up in-library by visiting our Circulation or Reader’s Advisory desks and a staff member will help you sign up. To fill out the raffle tickets in-library, visit our Circulation room, where the tickets will be on a display table near the doors onto South Street.

If you prefer not to come in, you can also participate remotely! Use this google form, which both signs you up for Summer Reading and functions as a raffle ticket — fill it in whenever you complete a book (audiobooks count too!) or attend one of our programs (Zoom programs count too!)

Happy reading!

We also have Summer Reading Programs for Kids and Teens.