The Santa Maria Public Library offers books and programming for children of all ages and their families. From story time to STEAM, and from live entertainment to craft time, SMPL helps establish a love of reading and learning at every age.

Homework Help is available at the Santa Maria (main) library online with a list of helpful websites. Visit the Homework Help webpage for details and information.

Virtual Story Time features stories, rhymes, finger plays, and songs virtually on the Public Library's YouTube page. The Library also offers bilingual story time!

Program Packs are a variety of programs, including Legos, art and writing for children and families to pick up from the Library and complete at home.  Check our calendar for dates, details and registration.

Visit the Library calendar for more information on these and other Youth Services programs.

Digital Resources for Elementary Students:

		Online Tutoring with Brainfuse  Patrons will need to select my account and choose to create a free account. iOS (all versions through the Apple mobile app) Android (all versions through the mobile app)
		ProQuest: Guided research and learning resources, reference solutions, and e-books available free in this database. Provided by the California State Library.
		Reading is Fundamental The Nation’s largest children’s literacy organization. Reading is fundamental provides information on literacy programs.
		TeachingBooks.net TeachingBooks.net is an online database of useful materials that complement children’s and young adult’s books. Use the site to find short movies, audio book readings, book discussion guides and more. Provided by the California State Library through the K-12 Online Content Project.
		Gale Presents: National Geographic Kids:  Allows students to adventure in science, nature, culture, archaeology, and space. Provided by the California State Library through the K-12 Online Content Project.
		Gale In Context: Environmental Studies: Broadens student understanding of environmental issues that affect people globally through topic overviews, journals, news, and multimedia content. Provided by the California State Library through the K-12 Online Content Project.
		Gale Interactive: Science: Allows students to manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand biology, chemistry, earth, and space science concepts. Provided by the California State Library through the K-12 Online Content Project.

Other Youth Resources:

Brittanica Escolar - Age-appropriate Spanish-language encyclopedia for elementary and middle school students.

Encyclopedia Brittanica (School edition) - Age-appropriate English-language encyclopedias for elementary, middle, and high school. 

Land of Tales Movie Book collection includes classic and original tales, professionally narrated with soothing background music that will enhance children’s listening skills, improve their vocabulary and pronunciation, and foster their imagination and creativity.

Audubon for Kids Brings together activities from across Audubon’s national network of environmental educators. These activities can be done at home or in a yard or park, sometimes with the help of a computer. The goal is to give children space to explore and feel connected to the natural world. 

Tate Kids is a dedicated website for kids about art. Kids can play games and quizzes, watch videos about art, and be inspired to make their own creations. Kids can also share their own artwork with other children around the world in the gallery.                     

SciStarter is an online community dedicated to improving the citizen science experience for project managers and participants.  Over 3,000 projects and events are searchable by location, scientific topic, and age level, and by joining, members can track their contributions and provide valuable feedback. SciStarter also supports researchers in managing projects, including best practices for engaging participant partners.

BookConnections: Boost reading power with book and author resources, audio performances, discussion questions, author interviews, vocabulary lists and more.   Provided by the California State Library through the K-12 Online Content Project.