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George W. Hawkes Downtown Library
Monday: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
East Library and Recreation Center
Monday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Ron Wright Lake Arlington Branch Library
Monday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Northeast Branch Library
Monday: Temporarily Closed
Southeast Branch Library
Monday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Southwest Branch Library
Monday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Woodland West Branch Library
Monday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
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Children (5-12)

School Age Children

Parents and youth playing together

The library has programs and resources to support your child’s interests and provide open-ended learning opportunities for Arlington's youth. We are committed to making a space for kids to explore technology, art, and literacy. 

Robotics

Mindstrom LEGO Robotics

At the Arlington Public Library we use LEGO Mindstorm NXT kits to explore engineering, visual programming, problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork. Each team will build a robot using the kits and follow directions from the instructor to achieve an objective.

CREATE Studio

Instagram callout create studio

Bring the whole family to explore a room of recycled materials and supplies. Choose the materials you want to use, how you want to use them, and make something amazing together. While you're here, we'll have other activities available like our marble run wall, button maker, Dash + Dot robots, perler beads, and 3D pens. We offer many youth programs for children of all ages to learn.

Mini Makers

Makerspace resolutions

Introducing younger library patrons the opportunity to develop the ability to learn what they can do in our Makerspace — from the Cricut Machine and 3d printer to our Embroidery machine. We also offer them a chance to learn how to hand sew, crosstitch, knit and crochet.

Study Rooms

2nd floor Teen Study Room

The Kindness Room in the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library is a group study room reserved for use by children ages 5-12. This room is perfect for working on group projects, studying or collaborative thinking. See a staff member to reserve this room.

In-Library Technology

Traditional Computer Stations

Kids at the computer at southwest branch 2007

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 reserved 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 will be a Chrombox with touchscreen hub. These hubs will be pre-loaded with games and activities, while still allowing access to the internet and Google web-based apps.

iPads

At the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library, there will be mounted iPads where children can check out Osmo Play Systems. Osmo is an award-winning game system that will change the way your child interacts with the iPad and iPhone by opening them up to hands-on play.

Take Home Technology

Two Playaway Views

Playaway Views

Playaway View comes pre-loaded with multiple videos making it simple for patrons to access digital movies, shows, educational programming and more without the need for DVDs, downloads or an additional player.

  • They check out for one week like the videos, but cannot be renewed.
  • There is a charge of $.25 for each day that they are late.
  • If they are lost or damaged the replacement cost is $100. Charger replacement is $15.
  • They may only be checked out on an adult card.
  • There is a checkout limit of two per card.
  • They can be returned to any location and can be put in the book drops.

Playaway Launchpad

Check out the kids only learning tablet today!

Pre-loaded with high-quality, ad-free learning apps grouped by age, subject and grade level Every Launchpad is durable enough to move from the hands of one little explorer to the next. 100% secure — No risk of exposure to unintended content

  • 7” high-definition touchscreen
  • External speaker
  • two out at a time
  • Can only be checked out on an adult card
  • They check out for one week like the videos but cannot be renewed.
  • There is a charge of $.25 for each day that they are late.

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. All of our kits are themed to enhance your child’s enjoyment of learning.

Math STEM Kits Grade 4-6

Made possible by a grant from The Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Homeschool Resources

We created a list of recommended online resources to support homeschool students and families. See our calendar for upcoming homeschool programs!

At Home Resources

Informative Sites for Parents

  • Google Safe Search – A kid-friendly safe to use search engine.  This site also has guidelines for helping children use social media and the internet safely.
  • Scholastic Learn at Home Resources – Site that keeps kids reading, thinking, and growing, plus resources for teachers and families.
  • Guys Read – This site is devoted to helping boys become lifelong readers.
  • Reading Rockets – A site for reading teachers that include teaching tips and author interviews.
  • PBS Parents – PBS offers tips, articles, advice from experts, and more.
  • Starfall.com – Site that helps early learners learn to read.

Homework Help

Grades & Subjects: All

Khan Academy aims to provide a growing library of educational videos that can help parents brush up on school subjects or guide their child through homework with visual aids.Some subjects are world history, math and biology.There are nicely paced videos on almost every topic. There are even videos to help kids learn computer programming or prepare for the SAT.

Grades & Subjects: K-8, all subjects

Fact Monster is a free reference site for children, teachers, and parents. It offers online math flashcards for children to practice their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills.The site also has a conversion calculator for all kids of units of measurement. The site also offers an atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia, plus advice on writing, including how to write an essay, biography, and bibliography.

Grades & Subjects: All grades, math and English

ParentToolkit.com gives you a grade-by-grade look at academics in preschool through high school, reflecting the Common Core Standards. The website's grade-specific "Benchmark" guides for math and English can be helpful to review at the beginning of the school year to get a sense of what topics each grade will be studying (and what you may need to brush up on in order to help with homework). They also offer some sample math problems and English language arts exercises, as well as some tips for parents to foster learning at home.

Grades & Subjects: All grades, math

"Ask Dr. Math" is a nonprofit forum managed by Drexel University. The site may look dated but can be helpful and relevant. The list of math FAQ’s many popular topics, such as dividing by zero, types of fractions, learning to factor, and how to round numbers. You can also browse for answers by age group (elementary, middle, or high school or search the archive by keyword.

       Grades & Subjects: All grades, math and English

       CommonCoreWorks.org, provides helpful printable “Parent Roadmaps” for Math and English, available in English and Spanish. The Roadmaps offer a closer look at Common Core curriculum for each grade, including sample math problems and English exercises.

Grades & Subjects: All grades and subjects, especially math and science for middle school & up

HippoCampus.org is a free website that offers multimedia academic content such as videos, animations, quizzes, and simulations. The site offers more than 5,700 free videos collected from various academic institutions in 13 subject areas, including algebra, geometry, calculus, earth science, biology, physics, history, and English. “Math Snacks” is a series of animated videos and games that help teach middle school math concepts using fun, visual techniques.“STEMbite” is a series of videos that discuss math and science in the real world, such as the math behind barcodes, and the science behind polarized sunglass lenses.

Grades & Subjects: K-8, especially science and social studies

Wonderopolis.org is a nonprofit website that answers all sorts of questions submitted by children with fact-filled, kid-friendly articles and fun-to-watch videos. There is the "Wonder of the Day," plus an archive of hundreds of past "wonders." The articles and videos could serve as great inspiration for school assignments, such as science projects, history or English reports.

Let's Make Something

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Northeast Branch Updates:
Starting Monday, December 4, 2023, the Northeast Branch will be temporarily closed for HVAC renovations. Click here for more information.