1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!
Stop by the library anytime to pick up a folder that will include all you and your child will need to begin this self-paced, free, fun, and rewarding program from the Harrisburg District Library!
Why read 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten? You are your child’s first teacher, and sharing books together creates memories and wonderful bonding experiences. Reading out loud to your child builds the pre-literacy skills needed to learn to read. These skills include vocabulary, background knowledge, and knowing the sounds that letters make.
Reading 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten can be accomplished in a number of ways:
1 book a day x 365 days = 365 books
1 book a day x 3 years = 1095 books
3 books a day x 365 days = 1095 books
So many ways to reach 1,000!
Read any 1,000 books with your child (repeating books is welcome because we know how often “Everybody Poops” can be requested at bedtime;)) and checkmark/X/dot/stamp/or/sticker on the logs provided for each 100. Check in at the library with your child so that we can cheer you on at each 100 books read. Small prizes will be rewarded.
Welcome to Miss Emily’s Virtual Story Time Room!
What is a Virtual Story Time Room? This virtual room offers options for more extended fun after story time ends. It also includes a link to click to rewatch the story time through our YouTube channel, anytime! (Story time videos will get deleted from our Facebook page but will always be available here!) There are links to watch other YouTube videos related to the topic or theme each week (letter song, or other movement video). Each room will feature book covers that take you to the library catalog to request the specific book.
Click the links to open up a new page!
Hello, Friends and Letter A for September 2nd, 2020
Teddy Bears and Letter B for September 9th, 2020
Pirate and Letter C for September 16th, 2020
Dinosaurs and Letter D for September 23rd, 2020
Shapes and Letter E for September 30th, 2020
Apples and Letter F for October 7th, 2020
Pumpkins and Letter G for October 14th, 2020
Fall Leaves and Letter Hfor October 21st, 2020
Slightly Spooky and Letter I for October 28th, 2020
My Feelings and Letter J for November 4th, 2020
Counting and Letter K for November, 11th 2020
Let’s Eat and Letter L for November 18th, 2020
Let It Snow and Letter M for December 2nd, 2020
Animals in Winter and Letter N for December 9th, 2020
Yeti Story time and Letter O for December 16th, 2020
Happy New Year and Letter P for December 30th, 2020
Dragons and Letter Q for January 6th, 2021
Soup-er Story Time and Letter R for January 13th, 2021
Pete the Cat and Letter S for January 20th, 2021
Things that Go and Letter T for January 27th, 2021
Elephant and Piggie and Letter U for February 3rd, 2021
Love and Letter V for February 10th, 2021
Healthy Teeth and Letter W for February 24th, 2021
Story Time and Letter X for March 3rd, 2021
Story Time and Letter Y for March 10th, 2021
Story Time and Letter Z for March 17th, 2021
Chapter Book Genre Fiction Lists
Sometimes it can be overwhelming to walk in the library to see stacks of books organized by author. You aren’t sure where to look for a book to read! Introducing: genre fiction lists. These lists are organized by topic and feature 15 books that can all be found in the Harrisburg District Library.
Click the links to open up a new page and view each book list!
Action & Adventure Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Read Alikes: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Family Fiction : This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Fantasy & Science Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Friendship Fiction : This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Historical Fiction :This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Laugh Out Loud Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Magic Fiction : This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Mystery Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
#OwnVoices: List coming soon!
Scary Fiction : This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Superhero Fiction : This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Survival Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Video Games Fiction: This sheet is updated to include whether the item is available as an e-resource, the AR level and points, and clickable book covers to take you directly to request the item through the library.
Monarch Award
The Monarch Award is the Illinois K-3 Readers’ Choice Award. Book nominations are accepted statewide from school library media specialists, teachers, public librarians, and students. Books are both fiction and non-fiction and include a range of interest and reading levels for students K-3. Come check out an Illinois Monarch Award winner today!
Harrisburg District Library has copies of Monarch Book Award winners for 2022, 2023, & 2024. Links below will open PDF documents for each year!
Bluestem Award
The Bluestem Award is the Illinois Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 3-5. Bluestem books are fiction and non-fiction , ranging interests and reading levels. Come check out a Bluestem Award book today!
Harrisburg District Library has copies of the books in the Bluestem Award lists for 2022, 2023, & 2024. Click the links below to open PDF documents.
Accelerated Reader Bookfinder:
Search for books to find the AR Level and points value. If the book is on this website, there is an AR test for it at your school!
Cloud Library
The 3M Cloud Library app is available for Harrisburg District Library patrons to download e-books and e-audiobooks for free! All you need is your Harrisburg District Library card number and 4-digit PIN. The app is available for free download to iOS and Android devices. The Cloud Library has fiction and non-fiction for kids, teens, and adults.
https://www.yourcloudlibrary.com/
*Choose Illinois Heartland Library System when prompted to “Find Your Local Library.”
Hoopla
The Hoopla app is available for Harrisburg District Library patrons to download e-books, e-audiobooks, movies, TV shows, and music for free! All you need is your Harrisburg District Library card number and 4-digit PIN. The app is available for free download to iOS and Android devices. There are items available for all ages, with no wait times. Download the item immediately for easy access or stream online.
*Sign up with an email and password, choose your library, accept the terms and conditions, then enter your library card number and 4 digit PIN
TumbleBooks
TumbleBooks is a fun and interactive library of books available right at your fingertips. It allows you to read along with an animated book or read on your own. TumbleBooks are created by taking story books and adding animation, sound, music, and movement to create an e-book. Find picture books, chapter books, non-fiction, videos, and more for children of all ages on TumbleBooks today!
Kids InfoBits
Kids InfoBits is a database perfect for primary and elementary school learners. It features information on topics such as health, sports, plants, science, and literature. Click the photo to access with either your Harrisburg District Library card number and 4-digit PIN, or using har16592
ABCmouse
Children can visit Harrisburg District Library for free access to ABC Mouse. ABC Mouse offers activities to improve math, reading, and art skills. Visit the classroom, the zoo, the farm, and more! Access is only available for free on-site use at the library.
Ms. Emily’s Pick of the Month
Miss Emily’s Picture Book Pick
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
Available in print at our library. (ME CONFIDENCE REY)
Vashti, a girl who believes she can’t draw, is encouraged by her art teacher to simply make a mark, which leads her to create a single dot on a piece of paper. This act of creation inspires Vashti to explore her artistic side, leading her to make more dots in various sizes and colors, ultimately discovering her potential as an artist.
Ms. Emily’s Pick of the Month
Miss Emily’s Chapter Book Pick
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
Available to order through interlibrary loan and as an audiobook on the Cloud Library app.
Melody cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom—the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she’s determined to let everyone know it—somehow.
Ms. Evan’s Pick of the Month
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
Available to order from interlibrary loan or as an eBook or audiobook on the Hoopla app.
When 13-year-old Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Marsh’s latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.
Ms. Emma’s Pick of the Month
Pepita Meets Bebita by Ruth Behar
Available in print at our library. (ANIMALS PETS BEH)
Terrier Pepita has always been her mom and dad’s bebita (baby). But when their human baby is born, Pepita is no longer the baby. Frustrated by her parents’ lack of attention, Pepita acts out. Slowly, she comes to love her sibling and becomes the family’s best little helper.
Ms. Hadleigh’s Pick of the Month
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Available in print at our library (J GAI) or as an audiobook on the Hoopla app.
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks.
Ms. Maureen’s Pick of the Month
Home by Matt de la Peña
Available at our library in print. (NEW PLACES HOME DEL)
With lyrical text and expressive artwork, Matt de la Peña and Loren Long celebrate the beauty and love found in every home, no matter its size. They show how a home is more than just a place . . . People can be a kind of home—a family and a community that cares for one another. And the natural world is another kind of home, a refuge we share with every living thing on Earth.