FCPL Friends & Advocates Donate Homework Resources for Students

At a time when nearly everyone is accustomed to googling nearly everything, students need to learn that not everything on the internet can be accepted as fact. Forsyth County Public Library provides resources to help local students with assignments and projects that require researching and evaluating the credibility of print or electronic information.

“Our libraries are well-equipped to help students of all ages,” says Linda Kelly, Assistant Director for Materials. “For middle and high school students, we provide free access to peer-reviewed journals, biographies, historical data, and age-appropriate articles on current events. For elementary students, we offer free access to online encyclopedias, as well as science, social studies and language learning resources.”

And, busy parents will be relieved to know that the majority of these resources can be accessed online, without ever visiting the local library building.

“So, when your child needs to compare and contrast the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome for an assignment due tomorrow, they can simply log into The World Almanac for Kids from Infobase on the library’s website,” explains Kelly.

For those assignments that require citations from print materials, the library’s vast non-fiction collection for kids and teens offers information on physical science, biology, geography and culture, history, literature and a host of other topics.

“Our materials team manages the weeding of outdated materials from the non-fiction collection to keep the information current,” explains Kelly. “Our team is continually searching for new non-fiction materials that complement the topics covered in Forsyth County classrooms.”

For example, elementary students need to research, write about, and show pictures of the states for geography and social studies lessons. To provide a credible resource that is both suitable for elementary grades and interesting to read, the FCPL Friends and Advocates (FCPLFA) donated nearly $2000 for the purchase of two complete sets of Capstone Press reference books covering all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

“The Friends are thrilled to contribute such excellent materials to the library. We thank our volunteers and our bookstore patrons for their efforts and support,” says Treasurer Ramona Stoner.

Sales of gently used books at the Friends Bookstores inside the Cumming, Post Road, and Sharon Forks Libraries provide funding for a number of materials and programming across the whole library system.

If your student needs help with research for their first assignments of the school year, stop by the Ask Us desk at any Forsyth County Public Library branch or use a public access computer to search the library catalog or eResources.

Library cardholders can also search the catalog, place holds on materials for pick up, or access eResources from home via the library’s website.

Library cards are free for Forsyth residents, for property or business owners in Forsyth County, employees of Forsyth County government, and currently enrolled students and employees of any public or private educational institution in Forsyth County.

For information, or to apply for a library card, please visit www.forsythpl.org or your local library.