Electronic Resources

Explore and stay informed on local, national and international topics, people and events with information from credible, vetted U.S. and global news sources.

AmericanAncestors.org provides access to more than 1.4 billion records spanning twenty-two countries covering the United States, the British Isles, continental Europe, and beyond, including one of the most extensive online collections of early American genealogical records

Ancestry Library Edition delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. Ancestry Library Edition brings the world’s most popular consumer online genealogy resource to your library. This is the in-library use edition. Please click on the in-home version for home use. Click here for a tutorial.

Animated storybook classics are paired with a thematically-related nonfiction ebook and supported by comprehension activities to build skills, confidence, and curiosity. Click here for tutorial.

Explore databases, newspapers, journals, electronic books, streaming media and more without leaving your home. You can access these resources by getting a BPL eCard here. BPL has a vast amount of resources that you can access from home by being a Massachusetts resident. Trust us, this is worth checking out!

Brainfuse HelpNow is an all-in-one suite of tutoring services designed for a wide range of academic needs whether it’s tackling a tough homework problem, mastering a particular topic, or writing a paper.  The Brainfuse full-service test center offers practice tests for all levels in math, reading, and writing as well as college preparatory tests – including the SAT. Click here for tutorial.

JobNow™ provides live online assistance, powerful tools, and other resources for job-seekers. It features live interview coaching, resume Lab, career resources, and the Adult Learning Center which provides foundational, career-enhancing skills to job seekers. To learn more, click here for the tutorial.

The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital is a free, practical, online educational resource dedicated to promoting and supporting the mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being of children, teens, and young adults.

Get ready for your 2020 CNA test using the same kind of questions you’ll be answering when you take the real written examination.

ConnectWell is a leading-edge provider of digital health and wellness content that is
academically sourced and designed for consumers. ConnectWell provides the latest standard of
care guidelines and scientific findings on health, wellness, disease management, and nutrition.

It’s easy to browse for information on:

• Health, wellness, and disease topics from A to Z
• Wellness education and resources to help you adopt healthy lifestyle practices
• Healthy recipes that are tasty, easy, and made from fresh, healthy ingredients

Consumer Reports is a valuable resource for information on a wide variety of topics. It offers in-depth, unbiased Ratings and advice on thousands of consumer products and services, with no advertising! Get instant, unlimited access to one of the most trusted online sources. Click here for tutorial.

This is the desktop version of our Overdrive catalog. To download items from this catalog onto your smartphone or tablet use the Libby app. You can download that here

There are over 1.2 billion people learning a language and the majority are doing so to gain access to better opportunities. Unfortunately, learning a language is expensive and inaccessible to most.

Duolingo was created so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free.

A useful tool to find all the books written by your favorite authors. This website is especially useful for finding the order of books in series.

Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 – today. HeritageHub helps you easily identify relatives, uncover new information and potentially unknown family members. Includes deep coverage from all 50 states, hard-to-find content from the mid 1900’s, and original obituary images. Access is available 24/7.

Heritage Quest Online is a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more. Click here for tutorial.

The William James INTERFACE Referral Service aims to help break down the “silos” that exist between various agencies, mental health providers, and systems that can often hinder access to mental health and wellness services for individuals.  Through the Helpline that operates Monday-Friday from 9 AM- 5 PM, callers from subscribing communities will work with a Resource and Referral Counselor who will help them navigate the challenges of finding mental health services.

Kanopy is a video streaming service that provides instant access to
thousands of critically acclaimed movies, documentaries, and Kid
favorites. We partner with studios like A24, The Criterion Collection,
PBS and more to bring your library access to thoughtful entertainment.

You can stream Kanopy on any of your favorite devices! Kanopy is
accessible via mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android. You
can also access Kanopy on your Desktop, and SmartTV apps like
Roku, Apple TV, and Fire Stick

You can view 5 items a month. Access to Kanopy Kids costs 1 view for the whole month. Great Courses cost 1 view per course. Series cost 1 view per series.

Click here for tutorial.

Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Tackle math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, and more, including K-14 and test preparation (SAT, Praxis, LSAT) content.

Libby is a free app where you can borrow ebooks and digital audiobooks from your public library. You can stream books with Wi-Fi or mobile data, or download them for offline use and read anytime, anywhere. Click here to view tutorial.

Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester was established in 1973 as a one-to-one English language tutoring program in Worcester. Forty-six years later, we have served well over 11,000 adults in need of English language literacy education!

This past year, we had over 100 volunteers and 13 part-time specialized ESOL teachers. All volunteers, teachers, and staff dedicate their time to help adult immigrants, refugees, and basic literacy students learn to read, write, and speak the English language.

Our practice tests include hundreds of questions that are based on the RMV manuals and resemble those on the official learner’s permit exams. We’ve even created some marathon practice tests to get you fully prepped and ready to pass your permit exam.

Behavioral health – which includes mental health, substance use, and more – is a key part of your overall well-being. Brief screenings are the quickest way to determine if you or someone you care about should connect with a behavioral health professional.

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

Nemours is a nonprofit children’s health system. Neil Izenberg, MD, a physician at Nemours, founded KidsHealth.org in 1995. Our goal is to help parents, kids, and teens take charge of their health.

PebbleGo is a curricular content hub specifically designed for K-2 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas.

PebbleGo Next provides a natural next step for 3rd-5th grade students with articles all aligned to state and national standards with a familiar, yet age-appropriate, experience and supports.

Browse all worksheets, resources, printables, and more for the classroom!

Shop Westborough is an online portal with 164 (and counting) listings of retail, sales, and service businesses all located right in Westborough, MA. The directory enables users to search Westborough businesses by keyword search, distance, industry, and status as a minority-owned, women-owned, or veteran-owned business. Funding for this project was provided by The 495/MetroWest Partnership through the Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD)’s Regional Economic Development Organization (REDO) grant program.

Teen Health & Wellness provides middle and high school students with nonjudgmental, straightforward, curricular and self-help support, aligned to state, national, and provincial standards. Topics include diseases, drugs and alcohol, nutrition, mental health, suicide and bullying, green living, LGBTQ issues, and more.

All content in Teen Health & Wellness is created for teens with their unique concerns and perspective in mind. Information throughout is presented using a sensitive, respectful, and age-appropriate approach. Teen-friendly articles makes complex topics understandable. They also give insight into the teen experience—crucial for parents, teachers, librarians, therapists, and others who are a part of teens’ lives and support them.

Offering hundreds of units to supplement social studies and science core curricula learning, TrueFlix^® is a highly-engaging multimedia resource that can be used in the library, the classroom, on mobile devices, or at home.

Udemy is an online learning platform that offers over 130,000 individual online courses in popular platforms such as Adobe products, WordPress, digital marketing classes, and more. Udemy’s offerings cover categories like development; business; finance & accounting; IT & software; office productivity; personal development; design; marketing; lifestyle; photography & video; health & fitness; music, and teaching & academics.  

All of your favorite stories, now streaming directly to your library! Weston Woods Plus makes it easier than ever to connect kids to the best picture books in children’s literature. Providing joyful literacy experiences for all little learners is simple and flexible with this new streaming service.  Click the Link to Access our Weston Woods collection! You’ll find kids’ picture book favorites brought to life with Weston Woods.  Enter your 14-digit library card number with no spaces to access the list of books.

Explore Worcester history through local news, events and people with Worcester Telegram & Gazette Collection. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.