Educational Services

Story Times

It’s never too early to begin reading to your child.  Research shows that children who are read to at an early age have better language skills and a larger vocabulary when they begin school. Our story times help your young child become ready to read.Your child will have a great time at our story times while we also reinforce six key pre-reading skills. We’ll show you how to help your child’s early literacy development from infancy through the preschool years.

Story time sessions run for five weeks and are held four times per year.

Click here to find story times on our Event Calendar.

Educational Toys

Play is an important part of child development and MCDL has made toys and learning environments available in each branch.  Come to the library with your child and experience them together. 

Each library has a heat-sensitive picture board which will reveal a scene with the heat from your child’s hand.  Talk about what you see in the picture.

Some of the libraries have puppet theaters and puppets available for you and your child to use your imagination to make up stories and events.  Make-believe play helps make real readers!

Some libraries also have magnetic letter or number panels.  Your child can spell out his/her name or identify letters and numbers.  Many libraries have spinners, mazes or gears on wall panels or floor toys.  Hand-eye coordination and tracking objects are pre-reading skills that benefit your child.  Making large circles or movements that cross the mid-line of your child’s body are important developmental tasks that will help with writing later on.

The train tables at each library encourage cooperation and sharing as well as encouraging imaginative play. 

MCDL also has a set of large floor toys that rotate between the libraries.  Check the children’s area of your library often to see what’s new.

Study Rooms

The Medina, Brusnwick and Lodi libraries offer study rooms for use by the public. They provide a quiet atmosphere in which to study or work.  Check at the reference desk in those libraries for reservations or to sign in.

T.O.T. (Take Out Tales) Boxes

Share the joys of life-long reading and learning with your children with MCDL’s T.O.T. Boxes.

T.O.T. Boxes are great to use with children at home or in the classroom.  Every box centers around a topic of interest to young children and contains books, activities, and puppets or toys related to that theme. Also see the T.O.T. Topics tab to reserve T.O.T.Topics bags which are smaller versions of the T.O.T. Boxes for the very popular holiday and seasonal themes. T.O.T. Topics include 6-9 books on the theme and activity sheets.

Things You Should Know

Check out for two weeks, up to two themes at a time.

Boxes are nonrenewable. Each item within the box accrues overdue fines.

Boxes not picked up after three days will be returned.

T.O.T. Box Themes

Reserve a T.O.T. Box

Call the Professional Resource Center at 330-723-2463 between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, with the following information:

Theme(s) to be borrowed

Your name, library card number & phone number

Date & Library for pick up

or complete the following form:

T.O.T. (Take Out Tales) Topics

Share the joys of life-long reading and learning with your children with MCDL’s T.O.T. Topics.

T.O.T. Topics are great to use with children at home or in the classroom.  They are smaller versions of the T.O.T. Boxes for the very popular holiday and seasonal themes. T.O.T. Topics include 6-9 books on the theme and activity sheets.

Things You Should Know

Check out for two weeks, up to two themes at a time.

Bags are nonrenewable. Each item within the bag accrues overdue fines.

Bags not picked up after three days will be returned.

T.O.T. Topic Themes

• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
• 100^th Day of School
• Valentine's Day
• Easter
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• December Holidays

Reserve a T.O.T. Topic

Call the Professional Resource Center at 330-723-2463 between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, with the following information:

Theme(s) to be borrowed

Your name, library card number & phone number

Date & Library for pick up

C.O.R.E. Collection

The Classroom Opportunities for Reading Enrichment (C.O.R.E.) Collection provides multiple copies of paperback titles to educators, librarians, and others interested in sharing literature with young people. Classroom sets for children from grade levels K through 8 are available. Sets check out by advance reservation for six weeks at a time. Several additional titles were added recently. Currently there are 41 titles in the C.O.R.E. Collection that support the Common Core Curriculum. When downloading the C.O.R.E. Catalog the Common Core Curriculum Map Level can be found in the far right column.

Click Here to Download the C.O.R.E. Catalog

To reserve C.O.R.E. Collection titles or ask questions call the Professional Resource Center at 330-723-2463 between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, or fill out the form below.

Picturing America

Picturing America is a resource provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  It is designed to promote the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture in K-12 schools and public libraries through sturdy, laminated posters depicting 40 pieces of great American art. These materials are also a wonderful resource for homeschoolers.

The selected artists range from early American Indian artisans to painters Mary Cassatt and Norman Rockwell, from photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange to architects Frank Lloyd Wright and William Van Alen.

This innovative program uses art as a catalyst for the study of American history and culture and provides students with a gateway into the broader universe of the humanities.

Through this innovative program, children will gain a deeper appreciation of our country’s history and character through the study and understanding of its art.

Picturing America Includes:

• Forty large, high-quality color laminated reproductions of the selected masterpieces (24" x 36");
• An online, illustrated teachers resource guide (tailored for all grade levels) providing a wide range of ideas and background information to support educators using the works of art in core subject areas; and
• Additional resources and lesson plans available through the Picturing America Web site, PicturingAmerica.neh.gov.

Picturing America's resources unlock the potential in each work of art to enhance the study of American history, social studies, language arts, literature, and civics.

Reserve this collection by calling the Professional Resource Center at 330-723-2463 between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday, with the following information:

Your name, library card number & phone number

Date & Library for pick up

All reservations are PENDING until approved by the library.

Thank you to the NEH for providing these materials. NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

Humanities encompass the study of art, literature, history, and philosophy. The study of humanities helps us to understand the world, our place in it and explore what it means to be human.