The library is a powerful resource for people of all ages, from the littlest kids to the oldest adults. In Cedar Park, you have access to the Cedar Park Public Library as well as local libraries in neighboring cities, including Leander, Round Rock, and Austin. Let’s explore some of the amazing ways to take full advantage of the library’s resources and events. 

Interlibrary Loans

Parents supervise their children as they play on the computer at the public library in Cedar Park, Texas

“Young Child Fair” licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr by bonnerlibrary

The Cedar Park Public Library partners with other libraries in the county, allowing you and your children to check out books that are from nearby libraries. All you have to do is login to the library’s catalog using your library card, find the book you or your children want to read, reserve it online, and pick it up from the Cedar Park Public Library when it’s available. And when you’re done, you just return it to your home library and they take care of sending the book back to its home.

This system gives your family an even wider collection of books, music, movies and TV, and other resources than what’s on the shelves at your local library. It’s great for snagging the latest releases or most popular novel when all the copies are gone from your library.

TexShare

TexShare is a vast collection of Texas libraries and research centers that work together to provide access to books, research, archives, collections, and librarian and researcher expertise to every member of a partnering local library. There are 700 libraries, including those at colleges and universities across the state, in the TexShare commission. You can even get a TexShare card that gives you access to these libraries all across the state, taking interlibrary loans to the next level.

Thanks to TexShare, you can also access a wide variety of online databases of books, e-books, audiobooks, entertainment, online education resources, research, genealogy research, and much more. 

Live Online Tutoring and Educational Resources for Kids

Through TexShare, the Cedar Park Public Library is able to provide your children with vital educational resources that you can access while at the library, at home, or anywhere you have a device and an internet connection. Students in grades Kindergarten through 12 can access live online tutoring through Brainfuse HelpNow. This platform connects your student with expert tutors in a variety of subjects from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day. 

Your children can get homework help in math, reading and writing, science, social studies, and more. Older students who need test prep help can get guidance for the PSATs, SATs, ACTs, AP exams, and other standardized tests. They can also submit essays through the writing lab and get constructive feedback within 24 hours. 

They can also access the LearningExpress Library to study using flashcards, take practice tests, and watch tutorials on a variety of school subjects. If your children need to research for school (or just for fun), they can access Explora-Elementary or Explora-High School to search for age-appropriate articles, books, videos, and other resources, too. 

Adult Education and Career Prep Resources

Adults can take advantage of these educational resources, too. If you’re currently enrolled in school and need feedback on your essay, you can take advantage of the writing lab. If you’re working on your GED, you can get additional instruction and tutoring to help you prepare for the test. You can also access LearningExpress Library to do flashcards, take practice tests, and watch tutorials to prepare for exams like the U.S. Citizenship Test, a CDL, graduate school exams like the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT, and many more.

Through HelpNow, LearningExpress Library, and other TexShare-sponsored databases, you can get help with adult education and career development, too.

DIY Help

The Cedar Park Public Library gives you access to do-it-yourself guides and resources to help you complete hobby projects, repair your home or vehicle, and other DIY projects. Maybe you and your teen are fixing up an old car and need the owner’s manual or other resources on its parts; head to ChiltonLibrary.com through TexShare. Fixing up an appliance in your home or looking to do some cosmetic upgrades on a budget? Check out the Home Improvement Reference Center. 

Book Recommendations

With access to your home library, the libraries in the county, and libraries all over the state, you may not know where to start when it comes to finding your next read or a new book series for your kids to get into. That’s where CPPL to Go! comes in. 

This service has the librarians hand-picking books based on your reading preferences. When you sign up for this service, you fill out a questionnaire that the librarians use to find new and old titles in the genres you like, the lengths you like to read, and the kinds of world and characters you like to explore. Then, you pick up the grab-bag of books at the library and enjoy. Plus, it saves you time having to research books, read reviews, and search for the book online or on the shelves.

Your children can also fill out their own questionnaire for the CPPL to Go! Youth program. You can work with your young children to answer the questions so the librarians can find family-friendly and age-appropriate books. Or, your middle schoolers and teens can fill it out all by themselves. If you’re looking for something totally new and outside of what you typically read, then try the Grab Bag program, where you get 10 randomly selected titles to read instead.

e-Books, Digital Magazines, and More

CPPL gives cardholders access to a vast collection of e-books, audiobooks, music, movies and TV, digital magazines, and much more through digital content databases like Hoopla, Cloud Library, and Libby. All you have to do is access the database using your library card and PIN and then browse the collections. Then, you can reserve items that you access on your computer or a tablet, which requires having the database’s app. Hoopla, Libby, and more allow you and your children to read a book online instead of having to carry around a physical copy.

So there you have it, seven ways to get the most out of your local public library in the Cedar Park, Texas, area. Did we miss any of your family’s favorite features of the library? Let us know, and we’ll be sure to add it to our list!