The Youth Department fosters a lifelong commitment to reading and learning, accessing information, and libraries. We provide materials and services to children, young adults, families, parents, and caregivers, and we advocate for these populations and work cooperatively with other youth-serving agencies and organizations. We are dedicated to providing access to materials, resources, and professional guidance to meet children’s intellectual, educational, recreational, and curiosity needs and all department users.
Keene Public Library services for Kids and Teens include young people from birth to age 19. The Children’s Room serves children up through 14, the Teen Area serves young people between 11 and 19 with afterschool programming, and the collection is primarily for ages 14 through 19.
KPL offers workshops, storytimes, family dances, celebrations, activities, books, and other resources like DVDs, games, and preloaded learning tablets to help nurture a love of reading and learning. Of course, we offer Summer Reading Programs, but you can sign up for a reading program anytime during the year.
And check out the Beanstack site to see if there are other seasonal programs.
Our newest initiative is “Little Makers: Library STEM and Maker Activities for Very Young Learners.” This project is funded through an IMLS grant (#LG-95-18-0191-18). For more information, please call the Youth Department at 603-757-1856.
Early Childhood
The library is your best resource for raising a lifelong learner.
The Keene Public Librarians are a source of valuable advice about books and literacy during those critical early learning years.
A great place to start is our Early Learning Page.
Little Makers
Keene Public Library received a three-year National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for Little Makers: Library STEM and Maker Activities for Very Young Learners.
Family Place
Keene Public Library has joined the Family Place Libraries™’ national network, providing a welcoming community environment with resources to help families nurture their children’s development and early learning during the critical first years of life. A Family Place Library works to help ensure all children enter school ready and able to learn.
For more information, please visit our Family Place Libraries page or call the Youth Department at 603-757-1856.
Events and Classes for Babies, Toddlers, Parents, and Caregivers
You can sign up for our events and classes online.
We specialize in developing age-appropriate programming that supports the importance of play and healthy parent/child relationships in early childhood development and learning.
We offer regular storytimes where children’s librarians share books, stories, rhymes, and songs with you and your child. Storytimes encourage language and pre-reading skill development that help your child grow into a successful reader. Parents are encouraged to participate. Get ready for storytime by reading our storytime tips, and let us know if you and your child require accommodations.
We also offer special celebrations throughout the year. Sign up for email alerts regarding children’s activities at the library.
Books and Digital Resources for Very Young Kids
ABC Mouse Early Learning Academy offers an expert-designed preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten curriculum. With more than 5,000 individual learning activities and 450+ complete lessons along our Step-by-Step Learning Path™, ABCmouse.com encompasses reading and language arts, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Library Use Only.
For recommended books, visit Books and Literacy Tips for Babies and Toddlers. Sign your child up for our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for extra motivation and fun.
Reading Rockets is a great website to know. Visit the site for tips for struggling readers, a thorough list of award-winning books, reading topics A to Z, and more.
These recommended digital resources are age-appropriate and may be fun for you and your child to explore together.
TumbleBooks is a collection of animated, talking picture books. TumbleBooks can be read by you or to you! The collection includes storybooks, books in French and Spanish for language learning, nonfiction books, graphic novels, puzzles, and games. A Keene Public Library card number is required to use this program from home.
Vroom provides families and caregivers with daily brain-building moments.
Offers fun activities organized by age and routine for parents to support their young child’s early learning.
Thousands of movies, television shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks, and comics.
School Age
Keene Public Library can help kids succeed in school. We offer reading recommendations, online resources, booklists, programs, and student support. Your library serves as an extension of the classroom, offering resources students need to succeed.
Book Suggestion for Kids
Reading Rockets is a great website to know. Visit the site for tips for struggling readers, a thorough list of award-winning books, reading topics A to Z, and more.
Suggestions are available from knowledgeable library staff both online and in person.
***Summer Reading Suggestions***
Comforting Reads for Difficult Times Booklist (May 2017)
Global Fiction for Middle-Grade Readers
Graphic Novels for K – Grade 2, Grades 3 -5, and Grades 6-8
Stories of Immigration Booklist
Tough Topics: Inspiring Conversations in Difficult Times (K – Grade 6, combined)
Unity, Kindness, Peace (November 2016)
Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best in children’s books, recordings, and videos.
Created with help from Bates College in Maine and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Diverse BookFinder site offers information on 1,300 picture books to help kids have a more balanced and equal bookshelf.
What should I read next? That can be a tricky question! Log into Novelist K-8 to browse genres, see what’s new, read professional reviews, and find your next favorite book!
Novelist includes fiction and nonfiction readers’ advisory for children and young adults.
A Keene Public Library card number is required to access this resource from home.
Digital Resources for Kids
We recommend these resources.
Cross-disciplinary sources for junior and high school students and teachers, public librarians, and general researchers who need to document and analyze contemporary American social history (1900-1999).
A Keene Public Library card is required to access this resource from home.
Provides examples of science projects and experiments that can be replicated for science fairs and other purposes and suggestions on ways to design projects that investigate specific scientific topics and includes detailed descriptions of projects.
A library card is required to access this resource from home.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
This is a database, in e-book format, of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for research topics on the arts, biographies, education, and more.
A Keene Public Library card number is required to access this resource from home.
Did you know Keene Public Library has thousands of ebooks and audiobooks? You can borrow them instantly using just the device in your hand. Get the Libby app for your smartphone or tablet and download ebooks and audiobooks today!
Transparent Language Online provides a fun, effective, and engaging experience for learners of all levels looking to build their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in a foreign language.
Combining robust courses, supplemental vocabulary, and grammar resources, Transparent Language Online is the most complete language-learning system. With over 110 languages to choose from, including English for speakers of over 30 languages, there is something for every learner. Best of all, with mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, learners can enjoy the freedom to learn at home, in the library, or on the go.
Book-related puzzles, animated, talking picture eBooks in format kids will love. TumbleBooks turns picture books into electronic picture books by adding animation, sound, music, and narration. Includes fiction and nonfiction readers’ advisory for children and young adults.
A Keene Public Library card number is required to access this from home.
Offers detailed comparative essays on major biomes and their component ecosystems. Includes entries on land biomes and water biomes and covers climate, elevation, soil, water bodies, vegetation, animal life, food web, plant and animal adaptations, endangered species, human effects on the biome, and the effects of the environment on humans’ culture and economy.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life
This covers cultural groups in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Each volume is organized by continent, covering history, politics, customs, religion, education, human rights issues, teen life, etc.
A Keene Public Library card is required to access this resource from home.
Thousands of movies, television shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks, and comics are all available for mobile and online access.
Events and Classes for Kids
We also offer special celebrations throughout the year.
Some of our favorite school-age programs include family dances and Maker programs but look at our Public Event Caledar to see what might be your favorites.
Sign up for email alerts regarding children’s activities at the library.
Teens
Keene Public Library is committed to providing materials, resources, and programs specific to the needs and interests of our teen community.
Click here to visit the Keene Public Library’s Teen page to view reading lists, online databases, weekly and upcoming events, and other tools we provide to enrich and enjoy our young adult population.
Parents
Advice and Tips for Parents on using Library Resources
Our Youth Librarians are the help you’ll find on using the library and our resources. You can call us at 603-352-0157 with a question.
Here are some of the answers to the questions that we are most asked.
Games and Gaming Information for Parents
For information on why we offer games in the Keene Public Library and help select games, visit our Games and Gaming Page for Parents.
Libraries have a mission to provide various materials in various formats, which means that today libraries are about more than books and reading. Board games, card games, and video games are stories & information presented in new formats. At many libraries, including the Keene Public Library, you can find video and board games for checkout and gaming events for kids or the whole family.
Games give kids a chance to practice reading, writing, and computing. While playing games, kids develop new strategies while playing games, predating possible outcomes, managing multiple resources, reading and deciphering maps, tracking complex statists, and adapting to increasingly difficult levels with a game. They learn a range of media literacies beyond basic reading that give them models for navigating our informational world.
Information for Parents on Anime, Manga, and Graphic Novels
Our most heavily used collections may be Anime, Manga, and Graphic Novels. In the library’s Youth and Teen sections, you will find anime, manga, and graphic novels. Librarians are always ready with recommendations for new and long-time fans of the format.
Online comics can be borrowed through hoopla.
Internet Safety
Everyone needs to take responsibility and become an excellent online user. Like anything else, you need to consider the source, date, and accuracy of what you read online. You should also never give out identifying personal information such as an address, school name, telephone number, or credit card information.
More information is available on our Internet Safety Page.
Museum Passes
Check out a museum pass and experience new adventures at various New England cultural destinations. Reservations can be made in person or by phone, and all passes must be picked up during library hours. The Friends of the Keene Pubilc Library generously provide these Museum Passes for the use of all Keene Public Library cardholders.
Homeschooling
The Keene Public is committed to serving all families, including families schooling their children at home.
Visit our Public Event Calendar to see what events and classes are being offered.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Homeschooling families can benefit from Interlibrary Loan. ILL allows library customers to request and receive books not owned by the Keene Public Library. Theoretically, you can access the circulating book collections of all university and public libraries throughout the United States with ILL.
Interlibrary Loan is available to Keene Public Library patrons only. If you are not a KPL cardholder, you can request this service through your local library.
There is a limit of 3 active requests per person.
Request a book, video, DVD, audiobook, or sound recording.
Parenting Collections
Keene Public Library has an extensive collection of parenting books in the Youth Department,
For suggestions for books to read to a young child or for a child to read independently, please visit either the Early Childhood or School Age Child accordion tab on this page.
For suggestions of books to help parents and others inspire conversations with children going through challenging situations like the death of a loved one, an unexpected move, natural disasters, and more, please visit the resource Tough Topics. Resources for adults are also included.
We also have kits of books on divorce, the death of a family member, and going to the hospital.
Educators
Keene Public Library has a lot to offer teachers and other educators. In addition to the library’s comprehensive children’s literature collection, educators will find a growing Parenting and Professional Collection in the Youth Department.
To help students, the library offers study guides, online databases, encyclopedias & websites, and thousands of print resources.
Big Books and Storytelling Kits for Teachers
Keene Public Library has a collection of Big Books available for checkout. Put “big books” into the subject heading menu to find these books in Keene-Link. These books have a checkout period of four weeks.
Teachers and care providers can check out a Stories to Go Kit full of materials to share with kids.
Classroom and Library Visits
Bring your class to the library for a tour, story program, library orientation, and introduction to research. With enough notice, teachers from Keene schools can distribute free cards to students during the visit. Teachers must send home Keene Public Library card applications to their students, and the completed and signed applications must be turned into the library one week before the class visit. For more information, visit our class visit page.
Don’t worry if you can’t get to the library because now the library can come to you. Call us at (603) 757-1856 and book an outreach visit to your school!
Curricula Support for Teachers
Keene Public Library can support your curricula by developing customized booklists, webliographies, and study guides tailored to the unique needs of your students. Call the Youth Department at (603) 757-1856 if you need book suggestions.
Library Cards for Students and Teachers
Keene Public Library cards are free for residents of Keene. And, out-of-town students attending a Keene school full-time are eligible for a free library card. Students and their parents or guardians must bring proof of attendance to receive a card for out-of-town students.
Full-time teachers at any Keene school are eligible for free Keene Public Library cards.
Holders of Keene Public Library cards can borrow materials from Keene State College. The Curriculum Materials Library comprises approximately 16,500 items. These include books, videos, textbook sets, curriculum models, math and science manipulatives, pattern blocks, simple machines, educational games, and puppets. The CML also has two special collections: The Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) and The Safe Schools collections.
You can go to Keene State and check out the materials or have them delivered to the Keene Public Library for pickup.