Burlco Library System creates “classroom kits” for teachers

The Burlington County Library System is gearing up to provide another service to educators ready to head back to school — new “Classroom Kits” designed to make access to library resources easy and convenient.

With an expansive library headquarters in Westampton and branch facilities in Bordentown, Cinnaminson, Evesham, Medford, Maple Shade, Pemberton and Riverton, BCLS already provides a wealth of resources to educators throughout the school year.

Launching this fall, the new Classroom Kit Service will provide teachers with packages of multiple copies of the same book title, or subject theme kits featuring books, audiovisuals, recommended databases, and supplemental teaching aids.

Multiple-Copy Book Kits, which will contain 30 copies of each book, will include: “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio; “Frindle” by Andrew Clements; “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt; “Homework Machine” by Dan Gutman; and “Shiloh” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Theme Kits will include: the Civil Rights Movement (for students in upper elementary through middle school); Solar System & Space (for students in upper elementary through middle school); Countries & Cultures (for students in elementary school); and Weather (for students in upper elementary through early middle school).

The new Classroom Kits will be available to teachers and librarians who work in Burlington County schools (excluding schools in Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Willingboro, which maintain their own libraries.)

The kits were designed to complement the existing BCLS Classroom Assistant Service, which enables teachers to request a variety of resources to supplement their curriculum and better assist students with research and learning. Teachers simply fill out a form on the BCLS website and library staff put together packages of project-specific resources, such as books from the expansive BCLS collection and electronic resources carefully selected from the system’s online subscription services.

In addition, the library system previously introduced a community partnership initiative that established school liaisons at each BCLS branch to help ensure communication with teachers, parents and administrators.

Additional BCLS services available to teachers and media specialists who work in communities that pay the Burlington County dedicated library tax include: Educator Cards that enable teachers to borrow resources for their classrooms; Librarian Cards for media specialists to enable schools served by BCLS to provide resources not currently available in their library collections; a BCLS website page for teachers and media specialists (www.bcls.lib.nj.us/teachers); a Twitter page for educators (twitter.com/bclsteacherpage); outreach presentations to faculty in local schools; classroom tours of libraries conducted by library staff for first-time visits and research; and back-to-school night visits by library staff.

For more information about all of the services available to Burlington County teachers and media specialists, please contactBCLS School Liaison Coordinator Caitlin Hawe-Ndrio at (609) 267–9660, ext. 3011.