How To: Make the Most of the Dallas Public Library’s Website

Yes, you read that right. Hear me out..

Have you spent much time on the Dallas Public Library’s website? I’m assuming you haven’t, other than looking for your nearest library branch and checking to see if they have the season of Friends you want to watch (they actually do have Friends 🙂

I was recently researching this website and found LOTS of gems so I’m going to share with you two of my favorites that I think all of us mommies should be utilizing.

First, you’ll need a library card. Second, you’ll need to use your card number to set up an account on the website. Now…moving on.

The first hidden gem on this site is called “Book Flix.” To get here from the home page click on Databases > Kids > Book Flix (remember you must be logged in to use this.) Then you should see a page that looks like this:

Book Flix is a wonderful tool and as a former teacher, I would have loved to use this with my 3rd graders. What this site has done is paired a fiction book with a non-fiction book- a teacher’s dream! So your child can choose a category (animals, earth, etc.) and then look through severeal “pairs” until they find a book they want to read. I chose the pair with Curious George (fiction) and Monkeys (non-fiction.) The books are semi-animated and can be read aloud. Afer the books, there are follow-up activities that go along with the books, such as “Which Came First?” (My inner teacher must tell you that this is very important to ask with young children after reading a book.) I truly believe this is a great tool, time filler, etc. for little ones!!

The second gem is the DPL’s calendar of events for children. I was dreading the thought of figuring out which branch is doing what activity on what day and so on. However, our wonderful library has provided a thorough, easy-to-use calendar. Find the children’s events calendar from the home page by clicking the tab that says Kids > Events> then click on “All Children’s Events” at the bottom of the page. (I can’t link you to it since it changes daily.)

This calendar emcompasses all activities at all branches. Just scroll an activity, and a box pops up telling you which location, time, description, age, etc. I was really excited about this!!

There are so many great features to this website. I love the coloring pages, Central Loccation scavenger hunt, list of cool websites and list of great books. I agree that it’s a little hard to find things, but it’s definitely worth looking. I can’t wait for the new location to open up right by my house!

Happy reading 🙂