Educators

The school resource services listed below are available to teachers employed by preschool and elementary schools in the City of Alameda. If you teach at a school outside the City of Alameda, please contact the library located in your school’s neighborhood. High school teachers, please visit our Teen Services page.

For information about services AFL provides to preschools and TK classes in the City of Alameda, please contact Early Childhood Outreach at AFLEarlyChildhood@alamedaca.gov.

For information about services AFL provides to elementary and middle schools in the City of Alameda, please contact the School Resource Services Librarian at AFLSchoolResources@alamedaca.gov.

Preschool & TK Classroom Visits

Preschool and TK classroom teachers at schools in the City of Alameda may schedule classroom visits based on the age range of your students. Library staff will visit your class in person up to four times per calendar year to present songs, fingerplays, and stories.
Visit our Early Childhood Outreach scheduling calendar to find out when library staff is available to visit your class. Scroll down the page and select the type of class you have, then scroll through the calendar to find available dates (in blue) and reserve a time slot. Fill out the questionnaire to select which type of visit best suits your class.

Elementary & Middle School

Classroom Visits

K–8th grade classroom teachers at schools in the City of Alameda may schedule grade-level specific classroom visits. Library staff will visit each class in person up to two times in the fall and two in the spring, for a total of four visits across the academic year, to read books that supplement your curriculum and promote library services, digital resources, and programs.
Visit our School Resource Services scheduling calendar to find out when library staff is available to visit your class. Scroll down the page to select your school, then scroll through the calendar to find available dates and reserve a time slot. Fill out the questionnaire to select which type of visit best suits your class.

Library Tours

Schedule a tour of the Main Library: We can accommodate one library tour per academic year for any given class. Your visit to the library will include a readaloud, a brief tour of the Children's Department, and the opportunity for students to receive new or replacement library cards. We recommend your students become familiar with the library they are located closest to. If you would prefer a tour at the West End Library or Bay Farm Island Library, please contact those locations directly.

Teacher library cards & Library-to-Go boxes

Teacher library cards

Teacher library cards are only for those who teach grades K–8 in schools within the City of Alameda, and may only be used to check out materials for classroom use. Educators must use personal library cards for materials checked out for personal use. New: Teacher cards are now available for use in your classroom; they will no longer be kept on file at the library.

Teacher cards include:

A longer initial checkout period of four weeks, rather than three weeks.
Replacement fees waived for up to three lost books per academic year.
Library-to-Go box checkouts: Let us prepare a box of up to 30 items for you on a subject of your choice.
Teacher library cards will expire every two years. Contact the School Resource Services librarian to update your information and reactivate your card.

Teacher library cards now also enable digital access to AFL’s many online resources; click play on a readaloud from Hoopla, screen a documentary through Kanopy, or demonstrate how to access our educational databases in your classroom. Let us know how you’re using your teacher cards!

Library-to-Go and Ready-to-Go boxes

You may check out our pre-made Ready-to-Go boxes with your teacher library card, or ask our staff to curate a Library-to-Go box for checkout. These boxes may only be checked out using a teacher library card. Request a box here.

Library-to-Go boxes

Library-to-Go boxes contains supplemental curriculum-related books and/or other materials to augment a classroom unit or provide independent reading choices for students. Library-to-Go boxes may contain up to 30 library items and can be checked out for one four-week period. Boxes will automatically renew up to two times for three weeks each if there are no other holds placed on the item, but we recommend you return the box as soon as possible so others may use the materials.

Library-to-Go boxes may be customized to relate to a specific topic. Teachers may request specific books or simply indicate a topic and ask the library to find appropriate books (or a combination of both). While we can’t guarantee we’ll have every requested book available for inclusion, we’ll do our best to find enough similar materials to satisfy the request.

Ready-to-Go boxes

These pre-made boxes may align with existing curricular needs; they are sorted by subject and grade level. Ready-to-Go boxes are currently being evaluated for content; please reach out to the School Resource Services Librarian with Ready- to-Go questions or feedback.

Grades K–2

Folktales & Fairytales Around the World
Folktales & Fairytales: Story Comparisons

Grades 3–5

CA Gold Rush
CA Missions
CA Native American Tribes
Explorers of North America
U.S. States/Fifty States + D.C. (a full set, with a book on each state)
Picture Book Biographies

Grades 5–8

Ancient Egypt