Supporting Students

We support IPPL families and their students’ learning. Our librarians communicate regularly with local schools. We are partners in your child’s education and continually strive to offer resources, spaces, and programs that support learning, exploration, and the sparking of creativity and inspiration.

Meet our librarians

Amy M.
Head of Programming & Outreach

Sarah Z.
Teen Librarian

Jordan C.
Collection Librarian

 

Resources

Get an IPPL library card

Gain access to countless books, movies, STEM kits, items in the Library of Things, and so much more. Learn more.

Computers and printers

Access the internet, word processing software, and more for homework using IPPL computers or portable laptops available on each floor. Print documents from a computer or even wirelessly through your phone. Learn more.

Tutoring help

Get access to live tutoring online through Brainfuse HelpNow. Ask at the library for a current list of local tutors who teach a variety of subjects.

Study spaces

Looking for a place to study? Learn more.

Programs

Learn something new, have fun, and engage with others through our library programs. Learn more.

Maker Studio

Learn something new and access equipment and tools like a button maker, laser printer, and more in this space exclusively for IPPL cardholders ages 8 and up. Learn more.

Databases

finance & investing

Pre-K

Stories and research for those just starting to learn.

customer service, quality, reliability sign

Grades K-5

Reliable resources for school projects like wax museums and state reports. Find tutoring and elearning options.

four generations of males

Grades 6-8

Reliable resources for school projects. Find writing labs, tutoring, and elearning options.

jobs & careers

High School & College

Reliable resources for school projects and advanced research. Find writing labs, tutoring, and test prep for SAT and ACT.


Pre-K 

  • Activity Corner

    Activity Corner

    From World Book, contains thousands of cross-curricular, low-cost, fun yet educational projects for the classroom, after school programs, and library programming.

  • World Book Early Learning

    World Book Early Learning

    Geared for our youngest audiences - ages three through seven - contains a wealth of resources to help preschoolers and children in the early grades grasp critical early childhood themes.


Grades K-5

  • Activity Corner

    Activity Corner

    From World Book, contains thousands of cross-curricular, low-cost, fun yet educational projects for the classroom, after school programs, and library programming.

  • AtoZ the USA

    AtoZ the USA

    Bringing the diversity and history of the USA to life in a beautifully-illustrated resource. Covers all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. Information includes local cuisine, animals & plants, history, government & politics, and historical map collections.

  • Brainfuse HelpNow

    Brainfuse HelpNow

    Provides live online tutoring 2-11 p.m. daily, plus a writing center (get individualized feedback on your papers), and a test center with practice tests including AP, ACT, GED, and more.

  • Brainfuse LearnNow

    Brainfuse LearnNow

    Connect with study guides and practice tests for kids, teens, and adults on school and career topics. Includes practice tests for most standardized tests such as GED, ACT, SAT, and GRE.

  • Dramatic Learning

    Dramatic Learning

    From World Book, uses dramatic readings of plays to help students gain reading fluency, understand core concepts, and internalize content. Activities, lesson plans, and mini-inquiry projects tie to curriculum correlations. 

  • Global Road Warrior

    Global Road Warrior

    The world’s most extensive country-by-country resource for learning about culture, travel, history, customs, and language. Profiles are available for 175 different countries and include information on business customs, travel essentials, food, and transportation.

  • History Reference Center

    History Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in history and genealogy and lesson plans to support student learning.

  • NoveList K-8 Plus

    NoveList K-8 Plus

    Reading recommendations for kids' fiction and nonfiction that you can search by Lexile, subject, and grade level.

  • Points of View Reference Center

    Points of View Reference Center

    Resources for students to understand issues, develop critical thinking skills, and develop persuasive arguments. Includes essays, overviews, articles, and transcripts on citizens' rights, earth and environmental issues, global issues, health and medicine, and media and communications.

  • Primary Search

    Primary Search

    Resources to support elementary school students, including encyclopedias specifically for kids, articles from children's magazines including Highlights and Junior Scholastic, and a large image collection.

  • Science Reference Center

    Science Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in applied sciences, biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and energy. Includes the Science Image Collection, a database of high-quality science images from National Geographic, UPI, Getty, NASA, and Nature Picture Library.

  • World Book Discover

    World Book Discover

    World Book's differentiated instruction site features read-aloud and translation capabilities, more video, and clear, easy-to-read articles.

  • World Book eBooks

    World Book eBooks

    Provides access to 2,500 titles, including 460 that are proprietary to World Book. Download the World Book eBook app to take titles on the go (requires you to first create an account at World Book online. Click any World Book link and in the upper right corner, click the person icon and click "create account."

  • World Book Kids

    World Book Kids

    Created for those ages six to 10, the site offers simple navigation, easy-to-understand articles, thousands of colorful illustrations and other multimedia, and dozens of activities and science projects. 

  • World Book Timelines

    World Book Timelines

    Hundreds of customizable, interactive timelines of important events throughout history are pre-built for researchers, or you can create your own timeline from scratch.


Grades 6-8

  • Activity Corner

    Activity Corner

    From World Book, contains thousands of cross-curricular, low-cost, fun yet educational projects for the classroom, after school programs, and library programming.

  • AtoZ the USA

    AtoZ the USA

    Bringing the diversity and history of the USA to life in a beautifully-illustrated resource. Covers all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. Information includes local cuisine, animals & plants, history, government & politics, and historical map collections.

  • Biography Reference Bank

    Biography Reference Bank

    Full-text articles, images, and abstracts with biographical information. Good for homework help and research.

  • Brainfuse HelpNow

    Brainfuse HelpNow

    Provides live online tutoring 2-11 p.m. daily, plus a writing center (get individualized feedback on your papers), and a test center with practice tests including AP, ACT, GED, and more.

  • Brainfuse LearnNow

    Brainfuse LearnNow

    Connect with study guides and practice tests for kids, teens, and adults on school and career topics. Includes practice tests for most standardized tests such as GED, ACT, SAT, and GRE.

  • Dramatic Learning

    Dramatic Learning

    From World Book, uses dramatic readings of plays to help students gain reading fluency, understand core concepts, and internalize content. Activities, lesson plans, and mini-inquiry projects tie to curriculum correlations. 

  • Global Road Warrior

    Global Road Warrior

    The world’s most extensive country-by-country resource for learning about culture, travel, history, customs, and language. Profiles are available for 175 different countries and include information on business customs, travel essentials, food, and transportation.

  • History Reference Center

    History Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in history and genealogy and lesson plans to support student learning.

  • Literary Reference Center

    Literary Reference Center

    Novels, short stories, poems, plot summaries and synopses, and literary criticism. Research guides, lesson plans, and citation tools support student learning.

  • Middle Search Plus

    Middle Search Plus

    Resources to support middle school students, including biographies, magazines, primary source documents, photos, maps, and flags. Includes Sports Illustrated Kids, Scholastic News, National Geographic, and dozens more. Articles include reading level indicators (Lexile).

  • NoveList K-8 Plus

    NoveList K-8 Plus

    Reading recommendations for kids' fiction and nonfiction that you can search by Lexile, subject, and grade level.

  • Points of View Reference Center

    Points of View Reference Center

    Resources for students to understand issues, develop critical thinking skills, and develop persuasive arguments. Includes essays, overviews, articles, and transcripts on citizens' rights, earth and environmental issues, global issues, health and medicine, and media and communications.

  • Science Reference Center

    Science Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in applied sciences, biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and energy. Includes the Science Image Collection, a database of high-quality science images from National Geographic, UPI, Getty, NASA, and Nature Picture Library.

  • World Book Discover

    World Book Discover

    World Book's differentiated instruction site features read-aloud and translation capabilities, more video, and clear, easy-to-read articles.

  • World Book Student

    World Book Student

    For kids ages 10 to 14, this is a premier online reference source with thousands of articles, state-of-the-art multimedia, editor-reviewed websites, Behind the Headlines and Compare Places features, a How to Do Research guide, periodical content, and more.


High School & College

  • Academic Search Premier

    Academic Search Premier

    Full-text articles to support research in science, engineering, physics, technology, religion, and philosophy. Includes access to video from the Associated Press (AP).

  • Biography Reference Bank

    Biography Reference Bank

    Full-text articles, images, and abstracts with biographical information. Good for homework help and research.

  • Brainfuse HelpNow

    Brainfuse HelpNow

    Provides live online tutoring 2-11 p.m. daily, plus a writing center (get individualized feedback on your papers), and a test center with practice tests including AP, ACT, GED, and more.

  • Brainfuse LearnNow

    Brainfuse LearnNow

    Connect with study guides and practice tests for kids, teens, and adults on school and career topics. Includes practice tests for most standardized tests such as GED, ACT, SAT, and GRE.

  • Dramatic Learning

    Dramatic Learning

    From World Book, uses dramatic readings of plays to help students gain reading fluency, understand core concepts, and internalize content. Activities, lesson plans, and mini-inquiry projects tie to curriculum correlations. 

  • History Reference Center

    History Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in history and genealogy and lesson plans to support student learning.

  • Literary Reference Center

    Literary Reference Center

    Novels, short stories, poems, plot summaries and synopses, and literary criticism. Research guides, lesson plans, and citation tools support student learning.

  • NoveList Plus

    NoveList Plus

    A popular and extensive tool for reading recommendations for fiction and non-fiction. Includes audiobook recommendations.

  • Points of View Reference Center

    Points of View Reference Center

    Resources for students to understand issues, develop critical thinking skills, and develop persuasive arguments. Includes essays, overviews, articles, and transcripts on citizens' rights, earth and environmental issues, global issues, health and medicine, and media and communications.

  • Science Reference Center

    Science Reference Center

    Full-text articles to support research in applied sciences, biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and energy. Includes the Science Image Collection, a database of high-quality science images from National Geographic, UPI, Getty, NASA, and Nature Picture Library.

  • World Book Advanced

    World Book Advanced

    For ages 14 and up, thousands of primary source documents are fully integrated with the encyclopedia content. Includes research and teaching tools.

  • World Book eBooks

    World Book eBooks

    Provides access to 2,500 titles, including 460 that are proprietary to World Book. Download the World Book eBook app to take titles on the go (requires you to first create an account at World Book online. Click any World Book link and in the upper right corner, click the person icon and click "create account."

  • World Book Timelines

    World Book Timelines

    Hundreds of customizable, interactive timelines of important events throughout history are pre-built for researchers, or you can create your own timeline from scratch.


Resources in Other Languages