In response to the community need for digital resources and family activities during this time of social distancing, Frederick County Public Libraries is going digital with a new lineup of live streamed storytimes and an expanded catalog of online resources.

Beginning today and continuing Monday through Friday each morning at 10 a.m. library staff will host a daily storytime to entertain children ages 0-6. Library staff members from each of their nine branches will be contributing to the series, which will continue throughout the library’s closure. Beyond reading the selected story, parents can expect additional songs and rhymes to accompany each storytime, just as they would experience in the branch.

For families with older children, they will also host a bedtime read aloud of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson that will be fun for the entire family. You can tune into this special read aloud at 8 p.m. on Monday through Friday as we read one chapter per night.

“When the decision was announced to close the library our staff reached out immediately with their ideas for taking programming digital so that families could continue to foster a love of reading and learning with their children during this time at home,” said Janet Vogel, Youth Services Manager at Frederick County Public Libraries.

Another great resource for individuals staying at home are the digital items from the library, which are available 24/7 online at fcpl.org. These resources include 398,474 ebooks, 97,485 audiobooks, 37,920 TV shows and movies, 13 million songs, and 195 magazines, which are all available for free to any library card holder. Frederick County Public Libraries has also increased the number of checkouts for hoopla, one of their most popular services, from 10 checkouts a month to 30.

With all of these great resources, families can also join the library’s “Spring Into Reading” challenge with Beanstack, an online website and app that helps you track your reading and rewards readers with digital badges. The challenge will run until May 31 and will also feature special activities that can be done from the comfort of your home like taking a virtual tour of the National Museum of Natural History or exploring digital resources on fcpl.org/learn.

All Frederick County Public School students have special access to FCPL’s online resources using their FCPS ID. Visit fcpl.org/StudentSuccess for details.


Virtual visits to the library rising rapidly

(3/26) Since Frederick County Public Libraries’ (FCPL) closure on March 16, they have seen an exponential growth in their online traffic as families stay home and search for activities and resources to engage young and old.

As soon as the closure was announced, library staff began working behind the scenes producing livestreamed storytimes, read alongs, and programming, as well as expanding their catalog of digital content, including ebooks, tv shows, movies, and audiobooks. They expected to see an increase in online traffic with customers not able to visit their branches, but they were astounded by how much more their digital resources are being used.

“When we pulled the numbers after a week and a half of being closed we were astounded,” said Janet Vogel, Youth Services Manager at Frederick County Public Libraries. “Our virtual programming that has been streamed on Facebook has had over 94,000 views, which accounts for an 872% increase in engagement on that platform.”

Virtual programming is not the only amenity that customers are finding at the library. Across all of their digital resources, FCPL has seen an average increase in use of 109%. Use of Kanopy, one of their most popular platforms that provides access to TV shows and movies including Sesame Street, has increased by 425%. Digital comics and graphic novels on hoopla Comics, another in demand platform, have seen a 178% increase in check outs.

“We knew our customers would be looking for new ways to engage with their families during this time, which is why we made the decision to immediately increase the number of digital checkouts on hoopla and Kanopy for our customers, from 10 to 30 per month,” said Teresa Vorce, Materials Manager at Frederick County Public Libraries. “We’re glad to see everyone taking advantage of these services and we will continue to expand our offerings to meet demand. As of today, we’ve expanded our digital catalog by 81,030 titles.”

FCPL announced with the rest of Frederick County Government on Wednesday that they would be extending their closure until further notice.