Read, Watch, Listen, Learn

READ

  • Our children’s collection encompasses picture books, fiction, and nonfiction for babies and children up to 12 years old
  • We offer a selection of children’s books in world languages including Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish
  • Libby, from Overdrive, offers eBooks and magazines to borrow, accessible from your smartphone or tablet.
  • Hoopla offers instant-access eBooks, digital comics, and more, all accessible from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
  • Tumblebooks is an online collection of animated, talking picture books, created by adding animation, sound, music and narration to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book which children can read, or have read to them
  • Wonderbooks offer the experience of turning pages with the audio accompaniment
  • Our collection of magazines for children includes many titles, such as National Geographic Kids and Chop Chop. Magazines can be read in the library or checked out to take home.
  • Explore reading lists and award winners

WATCH

  • Our DVD collection includes popular features, cartoons, TV series, and films on a wide range of nonfiction subjects
  • With unlimited plays, Kanopy Kids has on-demand movies, tv series, and picture books for children aged preschool and up
  • Hoopla offers free access to thousands of video titles – available for instant streaming or temporary download – that you can watch on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Selections include movies for kids, family films, educational features, animation & cartoons, musicals, classics, and many more.

LISTEN

  • With audiobooks on CD, the whole family can listen together, while Playaways (audiobooks and player combined) provide a single-listener experience
  • Both Wonderbooks and read alongs (books and CDs packaged together) offer the experience of turning pages with the audio accompaniment
  • Libby, from Overdrive, offer audiobooks playable from your smartphone or tablet
  • Hoopla offers both digital audiobooks and a variety of music with no waiting

LEARN and PLAY

  • Launchpads, tablets preloaded with games for children 7 and under, are available for in-library use or to take home
  • Early World of Learning from World Book is an online learning resource with photos, videos, games, and activities for preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades
  • Borrow toys and other items from our Library of Things, including a birding kit and a telescope
  • The Central Library has Chromebooks and desktop PCs for children. The East Branch has Chromebooks and Laptops available. The West Branch has Chromebooks.

MORE

  • The Somerville Public Library has a YouTube channel!
  • KidLit TV aspires to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading
  • The mission of the nonprofit Khan Academy is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere
  • NatGeo@Home is offering quizzes, videos, science experiments, and even at-home classroom resources to inspire family exploration
  • PBS Kids is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of children through curriculum-based entertainment with positive role models and content designed to nurture a child’s total well-being
  • A project of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Storyline Online streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations

Updated September 2025