Family and Caregiver Resources

Early Childhood Resources:

Growing Children into Readers

Early Childhood Texas - An organization dedicated to providing families with young children easy access to Texas state agency programs, services, and resources. 

AISD Early Learning - Information regarding the early learning programs provided by Arlington ISD, including the free prekindergarten program for eligible Arlington residents. 

1000 Books before Kindergarten – 1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a nationwide challenge, encouraging parents and caregivers to regularly read aloud to their children. Reading often to your child will help improve vocabulary, listening, and other vital skills your child needs to succeed in kindergarten. 

• Check out one of our 100 backpacks from any library location. Each backpack contains 10 picture books that will count towards the challenge. 

• Download the Beanstack app and sign up for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge on APL’s Beanstack page [link to Beanstack] or 

• Keep track of your books using one of APL’s paper logs [link to pdf] 

Read it Again Kits – These themed kits are full of educational toys, games, DVDs, CDs, puppets and books. They encompass a wide range of subjects, concepts, and more. All kits are themed to enhance a child’s enjoyment of learning. These kits can be checked out at any library location. 

School-Age Resources

Go Beyond Grades Tarrant County - Information resources that helps families and children build meaningful partnerships with their schools and their teachers to gain a stronger understanding of how their children are performing in school. 

Homeschooling – check out our resources here.

Homework Help 

• Brainfuse HelpNow 

  • Grades and subjects – K-12, all 

  • Online tutoring services that is free to access with your library card. Get access to tutoring on demand, an online writing lab, study sessions, and more right from home. 

• Learning Express Library 

  • Grades 3-8, subjects Math, Reading, Writing, Social Studies 

  • Online resources to help with educational development, including tutorials, practice sheets, and test prep, including STAAR 

• H.O.P.E. Tutoring  

  • Grades 2-8th, all subjects 

  • APL has partnered with H.O.P.E. Tutoring center to provide onsite tutoring for students to help mitigate educational discrepancies for elementary and middle school students in Arlington. Tutoring is provided on a weekly basis at the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library, The East Library and Recreation Center, and the Southeast Library. 

  • To attend tutoring, sign up here.

Study Rooms – Both George W. Hawkes Downtown Library and East Library and Recreation Center have study rooms available for reservation with a library card in good standing. These rooms are perfect for working on group projects, studying, or collaborative thinking.

Computer Stations – Each of our seven locations has computers with Microsoft Office and age-restricted internet access set aside for children under the age of 13. The computers can be reserve for 30 minutes at a time for up to four hours a day, and either require a child’s library card or guest pass. Children must follow all Arlington Public Library Computer usage guidelines. 

Chromeboxes – at the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library, there are a series of Chromeboxes with a touchscreen hub. These hubs will be pre-loaded with games and activities, while still allowing access to the internet and Google web-based apps. 

Read It Again STEM Kits – These themed kits are full of educational toys and games, DVDs, CDs, puppets, and of course, books! These resources include kits focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for grade school-aged students. 

Here are some tips:

1. You don’t have to buy fancy toys. They can play with kitchen objects or things you find outside in nature.
2. Check out our Read it Again kits, which are filled with books and toys for different themes. 
3. We have children areas and youth programs every week to encourage play!