Here is a guide for free online resources to enjoy while the doors to our facility are closed. Some of these resources require a library card. If you do not have a library card, you can apply for a virtual card here.
Online Resources for Families and Kids
How to Talk to Your Kids about Coronavirus via PBS
Resources accessible with a Library card. If you do not have a library card, you can apply for a virtual card here.
- Universal Class Homeschooling Videos – Online school courses that includes examinations.
- OverDrive Kids Collection – Children’s e-books, audiobooks, and streaming video.
- Kids e-Magazines
- TumbleBooks – electronic versions of kids’ favorite picture books with added animation, sound, music and narration.
- Kanopy Kids – On-demand streaming service that features educational TV series, movies and story times for children.
- hoopla – e-books, audiobooks, television shows, movies, e-comics, and music (turn on “Kids mode” to limit search results and browsing to kid-appropriate content).
Free resources available online
- Hudson City School District – Home Learning Resources – a list of resources to support students with online learning opportunities and remote instruction (organized by grade level/building as well as content area).
- Capital Region BOCES – Summer Adventure – Capital Region BOCES has partnered with its 24 component school districts to bring you eight weeks of fun, enriching activities to keep children engaged all summer long!
- Scholastic Learn at Home – PreK and Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2
- Open Culture Educational Resources for K-12
- NASA at Home
- Audible Stories
- Talking is Teaching
- Storyline Online – Stream videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
- KidLit TV – Author readings, music and activities! Kid Lit offers a wide array of programming.
- Story Time From Space – Astronauts read space themed children’s books from orbit!
- Lunch doodles with Mo Willems – All 15 episodes and downloadable activities are archived on the website
- Mac Barnett Book Club Show – Children’s book author Mac Barnett has weekly reading “meetings” on his Instagram where he reads his own creations and other classic children books.
- Christian Robinson’s Making Space – An interactive video series on the beloved illustrator and author’s Instagram. Christian invites viewers to make something together around topics such as speaking up, anger, possibility and friendship.
- Seymour Simon Daily Readings – Listen and watch children’s science book author Seymour Simon read from his books on his YouTube channel.
- Hands On As We Grow – Nature activities for children
- Liv Bit’s Let’s Keep Reading database of Interactive Read Alouds
- Montessori Indoor Activities for Children
Virtual Field Trips – A collection of various museums , zoos and farms that have guided digital tours and activities for kids.
- San Diego Zoo
- Yellowstone National Park
- Zoo Atlanta Panda Cam
- Georgia Aquarium
- Shedd Aquarium
- Farm Tours
- Cincinnati Zoo
- Discovery Education
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Houston Zoo
- MASS MoCA
- National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
- New York State Museum
Educational Video Games
Online Resources for Tweens and Teens
Resources accessible with a Library card. If you do not have a library card, you can apply for a virtual card here.
- Universal Class Homeschooling Videos – A variety of online school courses that includes examinations.
- OverDrive Teen Collection – Young Adult e-books, audiobooks and streaming video.
- Mango – Online language learning classes.
- Kanopy – On-demand streaming service
- hoopla – e-books, audiobooks, television shows, movies, e-comics, and music (turn on “Kids mode” to limit search results and browsing to kid-appropriate content).
NewsBank – Text-only articles from various news sources from around the country. These databases are also available to all library guests using patron computers and personal devices connected to our wi-fi.
- America’s News: Search all of NewBank’s news sources, or browse by topic.
- Times-Union Collection: A collection of the Albany-based Times-Union.
- Register-Star Collection: A collection of the Hudson-based Register-Star.
- Black Life in America: News databases focused on black history in America.
- HeritageHub: U.S. obituaries and death notices for genealogical research, 1704 – today.
Digital Arts Media ToolKit– Free programs for digital arts media production (video, audio, coding and photography )
- Giphy – make animated gifs
- Davinci Resolve – video editing
- Audacity – audio editing
- Blender – 3D graphics
- photopea – online photo editing
- Three Js – online 3D javascript projects
- Visual Studio Code – online code editor
- pixlr – photoshop like editor
Computer Games
Other free resources available online
- Scholastic Learn At Home – Grades 3-5 , Grades 6+
- Open Culture Educational Resources for K-12
- Wizarding World: Harry Potter At Home
- NASA at Home
- TeenBookCloud
- Audible Stories for Tweens and Teens
Online Resources for Adults
Resources accessible with a Library card. If you do not have a library card, you can apply for a virtual card here.
- OverDrive – e-books, audiobooks, digital magazines, and streaming video.
- Universal Class – Continuing education classes on a wide range of subjects.
- Kanopy – On-demand streaming service that includes The Great Courses, a series of college-level classes.
- hoopla – e-books, audiobooks, television shows, movies, e-comics, and music.
- Mango – Online language learning.
NewsBank – Text-only articles from various news sources from around the country. These databases are also available to all library guests using patron computers and personal devices connected to our wi-fi.
- America’s News: Search all of NewBank’s news sources, or browse by topic.
- Times-Union Collection: A collection of the Albany-based Times-Union.
- Register-Star Collection: A collection of the Hudson-based Register-Star.
- Black Life in America: News databases focused on black history in America.
- HeritageHub: U.S. obituaries and death notices for genealogical research, 1704 – today.
Free resources available online
- Hudson Area Library History Room Lectures
- Hudson Area Library History Room Postcard Collection
- freeCodeCamp
- Open Culture (Massive Open Online Course) – Over 1,500 online courses from various educational institutions like Yale, Stanford, MIT and more. To access free courses select the “Full Course, No Certificate” (edX) or “Audit” (Coursera) option.
- Open Culture Language Lessons
- Michigan State University Celebrity Lecture Series
- American Archive of Public Broadcasting – A catalogue of publicly funded radio and television programs.
- Metropolitan Opera – free nightly opera streams.
- National Theatre – free weekly theatrical performances are available on their YouTube page.
- Virtual Museum Tours are also available via Google Arts & Culture. Tours include the collections of Musée d’Orsay, Paris, MoMA the Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, The J. Paul Getty Museum and MASS MoCA.
- Albany Institute of History & Art – online exhibits include The Making of the Hudson River School and New York’s Capital Region in 50 Objects.