Library Media Center
Welcome!
Hardwick and Woodbury Elementary Schools' Library Media Centers are here to serve our students, faculty, staff, and community members. Staffed by Library Media Specialist, Lisa Baranyay, and a handful of fantastic volunteers, we strive to provide the tools for all your information and literary needs. This 2020-2021 school year is going to look very different, so keep reading for more details.
If you have any questions or need some help, please email Ms. Baranyay lbaranyay@ossu.org or contact her through the new Remind app!
Library Hours
Ms. Baranyay will be in the Hardwick Elementary School Library, working remotely from her office, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 7:45-3:15, sometimes later.
She'll be working remotely from the Woodbury Elementary Library on Wednesdays from 7:45-3:15.
Book Circulation is going to be a bit different this year. Although the Library is closed to in-person browsing, students can now request books from their library using the online catalog. Scroll down this page to find the OPALS link. Assuming you don’t have any unresolved lost, damaged or overdue books, and the books you request are available, Ms. Baranyay will deliver your requested books to your classroom within a day or two (Wednesdays in Woodbury). All loaned materials will be quarantined for 1 week upon return, before being loaned to the next person.
Using this site
Below, and on the other pages of this site, any text underlined and printed in blue are linked to another page of our Library website or to an external site. Most images are also linked, so just give them a click to get there! (If you get a redirect notice, just click on the top link and it should bring you to the right place.) Please keep in mind that with so many kids now learning from home, some sites might be running a bit slower than normal, so take some deep breaths and try again. It's all good!
Need a good book? Start in the Library!
OPALS
School Libraries - The HES and WDB libraries are closed for in-person browsing while we are experiencing Covid-related restrictions. In the meantime, students may request print books from our online catalog (log in with your school email address - no password required!), request a book using this online form (coming soon!), or enjoy ebooks and audiobooks using Sora or any of the other links below.
Watch the video to learn how you can request books from the Hardwick Elementary School or Woodbury Elementary School Libraries using the online request feature in OPALS, our online public access catalog (OPAC).
Browse our OPALS catalogs and request a book or two:
Visit your public library - the Jeudevine Memorial Library in downtown Hardwick or the Woodbury Community Library next to the Elementary School in Woodbury, are great community resources!
Ebooks and Audiobooks
SORA is here!
The Vermont Schools Shared Digital Collection is an online collection of ebooks and audiobooks built just for schools. It is accessed through the Sora website or app.
To login to Sora, click on the icon (left) or click here. Choose "Hardwick Elementary School" in the "Select your school" drop-down menu, then click on the green sign-in button. Login using your school email account. You will see a "Blast off!" message pop up the first time you login - just click "ok" and you're ready to look at books. Use the "Explore" button (binoculars icon) at the bottom of the page. Click here for printable login directions or watch the Sora Login video on the left.
There's more! In addition to our Sora school collection, the Green Mountain Library Consortium also offers FREE access to ebooks and audiobooks using your public library card number. Once logged in to Sora, open your settings by clicking on the three lines in the top right corner of the page ("hamburger"). You can "add another library" by typing in Green Mountain Library Consortium or the name of your public library. You will then be able to toggle between the two collections at the top of the page. The first time you try to borrow a book from the GMLC collection, you will be prompted to enter your public library card number. Contact that library if you don't remember it.
Need some help or want to learn more about all of the great features Sora has to offer? Sora has a very user-friendly Help Page & YouTube Channel.
Epic! includes ebooks, read-to-me books, and audiobooks by grade level. It's free for students to use with their class code from home or school during school hours, 7am-4pm, Mon.-Fri. You will need to be invited to sign up with a special code from your teacher (email them to get it), then you can access class collections, assigned books, and books you've chosen for free-reading.
Epic! also offers Free and Unlimited (paid) versions for after school reading (after 4pm Mon.-Fri. and on weekends). Learn more here.
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks. "Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks for you to enjoy." This is a great resource for discovering the classics! (9/29/20)
World Book Online is generously continuing to share their online resources with schools as we navigate the new school year, and they're more than just a great encyclopedia, so we're lucky to have them! Check out their many games, activities, videos, interactive maps, research tools, timeline builder, current events, and more! (9/8/20)
Explore it all by logging in here. Username: wbsupport Password: distancelearn
MackinVIA, named 2019 Product of the Year, is a multi-award-winning, digital content management system, providing easy access to eBooks, read-alongs, audiobooks, databases, and videos. With just one login, users can view, utilize, and manage all of their digital resources. Further, MackinVIA allows simultaneous, unlimited access to multiple users on all platforms, and is mobile friendly. It is incredibly generous of them to continue to offer a sampling of their amazing resource to us for FREE, so I hope you enjoy using it. I think you'll find it pretty great! (1/4/21)
Everyone logs in here with the following user names and passwords -
Hardwick:
school = Hardwick Elementary
username = HESMackinVIA
password = Learn
Woodbury:
school = Woodbury Elementary
username = WDBMackinVIA
password = Learn
TumbleBook has graciously offered their complete K-6 and online library of ebooks to use for FREE while we are entering the new school year. (8/31/20)
Teachers, Tumblebook can fully integrate with Google Classroom, has hundreds of lesson plans available, and almost every book has a quiz. Give them a try with our free subscription. Just click on the logo/image or this TumbleBook link to be automatically logged in.
Discover thousands of digital books on Renaissance! A myON Shared Account includes thousands of engaging digital books for both online and offline reading. Students also have access to daily news articles written just for kids and published in both English and Spanish. Feel free to explore their collection of almost 6,500 books! Check out this quick video tour. (9/10/20)
Login page: https://www.myon.com/school/readathome
School Name: Read at Home Username: readnow Password: myon
KidLit TV has created a virtual library of free read-alouds, drawing and writing tutorials, podcasts, art activities, and reading resources for kids and teachers! Check them out! (9/9/20)
Stories by Audible has vowed to stay open and free for kids to use as long as schools are closed. "Starting today, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids."
All stories are free to stream on your device of choice. (10/5/20)
VOOKS - a kid-safe online streaming library of read-aloud animated storybooks.
Right now they are offering parents a one-month free subscription. Read more here.
Teachers may use Vooks for FREE (through November 2021) and have the option to screen share with virtual students. There are lots of great accompanying resources for many of their books.
Storyline Online is a children’s literacy resource featuring the world’s best storytellers (actors) reading books aloud. Each video includes an activity guide with lessons for K-5 students to do at home. (9/9/20)
Audible has released Book 1 of the Harry Potter series for free listening! Check it out!
Written By: J.K. Rowling. Narrated by: Stephen Fry
And check out Wizarding World - the place to go for anything and everything Harry Potter! Listen to your favorite characters read each chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for you. Daniel Radcliffe (the actor who played Harry Potter) reads chapter 1, and other actors read the rest. Fun! (9/12/20)
SUMMER RESOURCE: SYNC Audiobooks for Teens: Free Summer Listening
SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Starting Thursday, April 30th and continuing 13 weeks until July 29, SYNC gives participants two thematically paired audiobooks a week. Sign up today at www.audiobooksync.com.
Not sure what you want to read? Try these tools!
Common Sense Media has a fantastic collection of lists of recommended books for kids. They also have lots of other amazing lists of movies, apps, and games for families. I highly recommend checking them out!
Literature-Map is a very cool tool to help you find an author who might be similar to one you already love. Just type in the name of your favorite author and it will suggest others for you to try.
Reading Rockets has themed book lists selected for kids up to 9 years old, focuses on new titles, and emphasizes quality.
Books & Authors database by Gale Cengage Learning - a great resource for older students.
YALSA's Teen Book Finder is a free online database and app with nearly 4,000 titles.
Find a great read-alike here,
or at the flashlight chronicles.
Or browse hundreds of read-alike lists at Goodreads.
Other Stuff:
News Websites
Online Newspapers
Free Online Newspapers for Research available through the Vermont Department of Libraries
Great Websites for Kids!
Great Websites for Kids is a collection of excellent kid-safe websites compiled by the American Library Association. Easy to navigate using the links below. (If you get any sort of error message, just X out of it and keep going.)
Animal Cams!
Other Fun Animal Stuff
Get Creative!
RhymeZone's Rhyming Dictionary
Just Cool Sites!
Educational Games
Ranger Rick, part of the National Wildlife Federation, is offering free access to their digital magazines and to their online resources.
Breakout EDU uses online games to bring the fun and mental challenge of escape rooms to learning across the elementary curriculum.
They’ve put together a list of free online games kids can play at home. Click here to see them.
Crabtree Plus is a new web-based resource that combines Crabtree Publishing's educational book series with open access dynamic digital content. Intended to build student understanding on core series concepts, this awesome online learning resource allows students to broaden their learning and have fun while they do it. Students can watch animated videos that help make concepts easier to understand and play interactive games and activities that help them put what they’ve learned to work.
Financial Literacy Games
