Educator Resources

Our educator services are designed to make it easy to share library materials with your students and help them succeed.

Get a Library Card

Did you know because you are a teacher in Ocean County you are entitled to one of our free library cards? This means if you are a resident in Sussex County but are teaching in Ocean County, you can get a card.

We also offer library card sign-ups for your classes. If you would like to set up a library card sign-up visit, please fill out our Class Visit Form. This will be sent to your local librarian. Our goal is to provide a library card for every student and teacher in Ocean County.

Please see our Get a Library Card page to start your application today.

Assignment Alert

Help us help your students! Let us know when students may be using our library for research projects and other assignments. We'll gather the material for you. Click here for the Assignment Alert Form. Please submit the form at least one week before the assignment is given.

Explore Digital Resources

Our Digital Resources provide teachers with a library of printable, teacher-handout materials for elementary, intermediate, high school, and junior college curriculums. These databases listed under the tab “Educator Resources” also hold suggested lesson plans, and contain scholarly articles, citations and abstracts from over 500 full text education journals.

These Digital Resources accessible with your library card are available at any one of our locations, most of which are offered anywhere with an internet connection. Subjects include:

Digital Materials

Can’t get to the library? Stream it in real-time with your school’s internet access. We offer a variety of eBooks, emagazines, audiobooks, streaming video and music on our Digital Materials page.

Listed below are various resources to access digital and downloadable content for free.

	Streaming Music	Streaming Video	eBooks	Magazines	Audiobooks
Access Video Just for Kids
Access Video On Demand
EBSCO eBooks
eLibrary (Includes the Most Current eBook Titles)
hoopla*
Kanopy**
TumbleBookLibrary (For Kids)
RBdigital

We no longer offer eBooks from cloudLibrary. If you are currently enjoying a title you checked out and downloaded from cloudLibrary, you will still have the full checkout period for your download. If you were on hold for a cloudLibrary item but your hold did not fill, please see our eLibrary collection to access the desired title. Staff are available to assist you at your local branch. We hope you will continue to enjoy eBooks from our currently available collections.

*We are pleased to offer hoopla digital borrowing, which provides eBooks, eComic books, eAudio, digital music, and digital film with no waiting lists on a cost-per-use basis. Our annual budget supports this service along with all of the formats available for borrowing in both physical and digital collections. If our budgeted amount has been reached for the day, we invite you to explore our other digital collections for items available to borrow. Daily budgeted borrowing resets at midnight.

**Our Kanopy video streaming service provides four checkouts per month for Ocean County Library resident cardholders. Each checkout provides unlimited access to a title for up to 3 days.

Professional Development Hours

The Ocean County Library offers opportunities for free professional development hours through Lynda.com and Universal Class.

In addition, we offer many opportunities for professional development both in-house or in your classroom. To see a listing of our upcoming professional development programming click here: Education Initiative Programming. To schedule time in your classroom please fill out a request through the Class Visit Form.

Online Tutoring

We offer free, live, one-on-one, online tutoring through brainfuse - HelpNow. This excellent resource offers tutoring in math, science, writing, language learning, and other subjects for elementary, intermediate, high school, and college students. The service also features a writing lab that gives feedback on written assignments within 24 hours and much more.

All brainfuse tutors have at least a four-year degree and undergo background checks.

HelpNow also includes live, online help for Spanish speakers.

All tutoring services are available daily from 2 pm – 11 pm seven days a week.

Recommended Reading

Our Librarians want to inspire a love of reading and have created current and up to date booklists for your students in various genres. Lists include topics like Non-fiction, Diversability, Teen reluctant readers, mental health and more. Here are our suggested reads for Children and Teens.

Or find your next great read on NoveList, discover new titles and “read-a-likes” of your favorite books.

• NoveList K-8 Plus: Teens, Middle, and Elementary School recommendations. Also helps parents and teachers search by reading levels and curriculums.
• NoveList Plus: Book Discussion Guides, Book Lists, Describe a Plot, Explore Fiction, and Find Similar Books.

STEM & Maker Programming

The Ocean County Library offers a selection of maker tools that can be incorporated into a scheduled librarian class visit to your school. Extend your curriculum by incorporating elements of robotics, coding, circuitry and more, for a hands-on learning experience.

Classroom & Library Visits

Our librarians are happy to talk about our Library and our vast resources. Our Classroom Visits are tailored to your specific needs, including book talks, database tutorials, maker kit interactions, storytimes and participating in your special events.

In addition, help your students learn about the many resources and programs available in their community with a fun and free Library visit. Visits are customized to your classes’ needs. To schedule any of these visits please click here.

Chat Live with Library Staff

Did you know you can chat live with a library staff member? Questions can be asked via:

Live services are available Monday – Thursday 9-9, Friday & Saturday 9-5, and Sunday 1-5*

*Sunday hours are available September through May.