Ventura County Library Website Updated to Include Features Available From Home

The Ventura County Library (VCL) website has a new look. Vencolibrary.org now highlights library resources available online including free live homework assistance by instructors and a resources page for Spanish speakers.

“Your Library at Home” features pages targeted to kids, teens, and adults. It is a one-stop-shop for individuals, parents, and teachers looking for librarian curated lists of online resources for distance learning as well as for fun.

The new pages for kids are:

· Kids’ Reading Resources for children's ebooks and audiobooks and chapter book read-alouds by VCL staff. Also listed are free ebook resources available during the COVID-19 school closures for kids from preschool through middle school.

· Virtual Storytime featuring live storytime events and recorded playlists of stories, songs, and rhymes performed by Ventura County librarians.

· Recursos en Español was created with Ventura County’s Spanish speaking community in mind. The page contains resources for Spanish speakers along with detailed instructions on how to translate various library pages from English to Spanish. Each link includes a description of the resource along with detailed access instructions. The resources are divided into three categories:

o Resources for everyone – fun for the entire family through CloudLibrary ebook and audiobook collection and the Spring Reading Challenge.

o Resources for kids and teens – keep children of all ages engaged while staying at home. Features include the new tutoring service, HelpNow, designed to help students with homework, and the California Science Center where bilingual STEAM activities are added daily.

o Resources for adults – features tools for learning, career, and citizenship, as well as downloadable National Geographic Magazine in Spanish.

· Just for Fun keeps kids busy and entertained with drawing lessons, activities from favorite children’s book authors, and digital escape rooms.

The new pages for kids and teens are:

· Online Learning contains live homework assistance for pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students with tutoring and skill building help through BrainFuse’s Help Now! service, at-a-glance links to VCL’s eLibrary resources organized by school subject, and recommended free online learning resources available during the COVID-19 school closures.

· STEAM Resources for students to explore their curiosity for all things relative to science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Included is the VCL STEAM Fun Playlist from YouTube featuring librarians as they explore fun STEAM topics through interactive lessons.

The new pages for teens are:

· Teens Reading features CloudLibrary, other digital book resources, and VCL’s Spring Reading Challenge.

· Boredom Busters has fun ideas to keep teens busy.

· Virtual Volunteering offers online volunteering opportunities for youth who need community service credit for school, or for those who want to help the library. There are also fun activities related to art, music, reading, gaming, and more.

On the new page for adults, find quick access to CloudLibrary, reader’s advisory, the Spring Reading Challenge, and genealogy resources.

Ventura County Library offers the community an online gathering place through its virtual library.

For additional information, contact Dana Vinke, Ventura County Library Deputy Director at (805) 212-9558.

Virtual Collections on the Getty Center Website

We’re in the midst of a Stay at Home Order that has been extended to May 15th. When there’s not pandemic-driven Stay at Home order, you’ve always meant to check out the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. Now you have all the time in the world, but the museums of course are closed.

Not to worry! There are plenty of things to virtually explore on their website at www.getty.edu!

Virtual Publications Library: More than 300 of books to read and download for free www.getty.edu/publications/virtuallibrary/index.html

Current exhibitions online www.getty.edu/whats-on

Online exhibitions www.getty.edu/art

Getty artwork collection: www.getty.edu/art/collection

Getty online special collections: www.getty.edu/research/special_collections/index.html

Open content - over 149,000 images at THIS LINK.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art Has at Home Activities Available on its Website

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, like other venues in the area,, is closed during the Covid-19 Stay at Home order. But there are a variety of free activities to partake in on its website at www.sbma.net/events/sbmaathome. These activities include:

• Family Activities: At Home Activities for Kids, Studio Sunday Instructions and Videos and Art Making at Home Videos.

• Tours and Videos: Virtual Exhibition Tours and SBMA on YouTube

• SBMA Zoom Backgrounds to spice up your Zoom meetings.

• Explore permanent collections online - several thousand images are on display.

Learn more at www.sbma.net.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art Has an Array of Free Online Content to Explore

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is closed due to the COVID-19 emergency but offers on its website at www.lacma.org a variety of free content:

• Short films, exhibition walkthroughs and documentaries.

• Curated audio soundtracks, compositions and live recordings.

• Online courses, lectures and teaching resources.

• Articles, interviews and exhibition catalogs.

You can also browse through current exhibitions at www.lacma.org/art/exhibitions/current.