A-Z Online Resources

ABCmouse is designed to help young children (ages 2-8+) build a strong foundation for future academic success. The award-winning ABCmouse is 100% educational, with more than 10,000 learning activities (books, puzzles, educational games, art activities, songs, etc.) across all major subject areas: reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music.

The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free access to resource collections. Including OPL’s African American Museum and Library (AAMLO) archive and collections.

History in different forms from institutions in California.

Over 3,700 credible, vetted U.S. news sources. Search for current events, business, health, education, political and social issues, and more. Includes full-text access to current issues of the East Bay Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

APS is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities.

Genealogy tools for your family.

Free search tool to look up jobs, businesses, and people.

Track reading and participate in reading challenges.

Biblioboard lets you create work, share it, and discover works by local authors.

The Black Panther was the official newspaper for the Black Panther Party. It was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1967 and ran through 1980 printing 537 issues.

A collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major black figures in America, covering 250 years of history. Provides online access to essential primary sources from black history to students of all ages, whether they're working on school projects, term papers, or college-level research.

Spanish language reference site for K-8 students.
This resource requires authentication for remote access.

Britannica School provides age-appropriate English language encyclopedias for elementary, middle, and high school students.
This resource requires authentication for remote access.

A free source of digitized California newspapers (1846 to present).

Career Online High School gives students the opportunity to earn an 18-credit Cognia/SACS/NCA/NWAC accredited high school diploma, a credentialed career certificate, and a career portfolio including a resume and cover letter. Students receive extensive career development support and graduate with the tools they need to take the next step in their careers or post-secondary education.

Manuals for DIY auto maintenance and repair.

Creativebug offers a variety of arts & crafts video lessons. All skill levels and ages welcomed.

Learn basic computer skills and software.

See millions of items from institutions across the country.

The East Bay Times Collection lets you see online issues (2016- current).

Viewable and downloadable e-Books, featuring a wide range of subjects and publishers. Downloaded books can be checked out for up to 7 days. You'll need to create an account with a user name and password to access eBook content.

Developed by experienced and passionate educators from across the United States, Educate Station helps libraries support their communities by providing quality educational content for homeschooling families and teachers.

Educate Station currently has a full curriculum for grades Pre-K through Fifth Grade, presented in a recommended learning sequence of printable packets. Primary subjects include English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Social-Emotional Learning.

Complete data on grantmakers and their grants.

Articles and indexing of college-level periodicals (1980 - present).

Summaries and reviews of current books.

Company and industry profiles, including SWOT, market share, and financial reports.

Learn how to start, finance, or manage your small business. Includes sample business plans, how to guides, articles, and more.

Best source for magazine articles.

Health information for you from many sources.

Study the history of African Americans in the United States.

Stories about people in history.

Introduce elementary students to database searching with resources featuring age-appropriate, curriculum-related content.

Gale In Context: Environmental Studies is an electronic resource including case studies, news, and videos on sustainability, global warming, and more.

Focusing on the study of sustainability and the environment, this interactive and current database allows users to navigate news, background information, video, commentaries, primary source documents, and statistics.

Many kinds of media sources for middle school and older students.

Search an array of topics from science magazines.

Manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, earth, and space science.

Manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, earth, and space science.

Search this digital master index to find coverage of authors and works in products published by Gale.

Book reviews and biographies of authors.

Sources for research in Spanish.

Search all Gale publications and source materials at once.

Adventure into the natural world with age-appropriate, engaging digital content.

Videos about gardens, gardening, and urban farming at--or with--the Oakland Public Library.

Includes profiles of 10,000 grantmakers with details on funders that provide scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other financial support to individuals such as students.

GuideStar is the most comprehensive source of nonprofit information
• Community members can easily find local nonprofits where they can donate, work, or volunteer
• GuideStar connects those in need to resources they rely on, such as food banks or shelters
• Access 2 million+ nonprofits

Login to your library account to access.

Public records and lineage tools for the family historian.

The Online Archive of California provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California. 

Photographs, letters and newspapers that document the history of Oakland and the East Bay Area and the history of African Americans in California. 

Free ebooks, audiobooks, movies, music, and comics.

Read comics in the hoopla app or online.

Free access to thousands of streaming videos with your library card. Find movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos such as "The Great Courses." Each user can use up to 12 tickets a month to use towards streaming content.

Kono is a collection of magazines from Taiwan, Hong Kong/China, and Japan.

LearningExpress Library is an easy-to-use online test prep resource that helps people improve their core academic skills, earn a high school equivalency, prepare for college, join the military, obtain occupational certification, find a job, change careers, become a U.S. citizen and much more.

Available online. Registration requires an e-mail address. If you are registering from outside the library, you will also need to enter your library barcode. Your Email Address is your Username.

Learn beginner's Cantonese with Sue Marguerite from the creator of Cantonese Corner (YouTube) and CantoLingo.

Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library for free! Libby is the library reading app from OverDrive.

MakeMake es una plataforma digital de 300 libros electrónicos en español para niños. La colección incluye libros ilustrados y libros interactivos de América Latina.

MakeMake is a digital platform of 300 Spanish-language ebooks for children. The collection includes picture books, read-along books, and interactive books from Latin America.

Explore amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology, and space. Includes the complete run of the magazine from the first issue in 2009 to the present, as well as books and videos. Best for children aged 6–14.

For access to the New York Times, you will need to set up your account with an email address. From there, you will get a 3-day pass for free access, that you may renew indefinitely.

This easy-to-remember link will help you access and renew access: oaklandlibrary.org/nytimes

Database that allows users to browse by topics currently in the news, then find relevant articles. Good starting point for student research.

Special Reports are news articles, images, videos, maps and other useful content grouped for convenience under timely topics and themes, including current and past coverage. Updated daily.

The world's largest collection of online newspapers. Includes issues of the Oakland Tribune between 1874 and 1977. Available on site only.

Source has a large online catalog of newspapers from California. Issues of the Oakland Tribune between 1874 and 1977 are in this collection.

Free articles from Nolo Books Online. All editions are current. 

Summaries and reviews of current books for kids and teens.

Summaries and reviews of current books for adults.

Over 45,000 current ebooks and 30,000 hours of video in areas such as information technology and software; business; digital media; professional and personal development; and desktop and web applications. Includes the popular "For Dummies" series.

The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides finding aids to help researchers navigate Oakland History Center collections.

The extensive photograph collection covers all aspects of East Bay life including historic buildings, neighborhoods, the harbor, schools, businesses, and much more.

YouTube playlist featuring videos from the Oakland History Center.

Oakland and East Bay articles from local newspapers and magazines.

Your Library's YouTube channel! Browse lectures, performances, storytimes, gardening tutorials, and other content for all ages!

Full-text of articles since September 14, 2001.

YouTube playlist featuring videos from the OYPL program.

OPL's YouTube playlist featuring recorded programs for children.

YouTube playlist featuring OPL's recorded programs for teens.

eBooks, eAudiobooks, magazines, and more available for free with your library. Browse and borrow online, opens a new window or via Overdrive's Libby app, opens a new window.

The Palace Project is an e-reading experience developed by and for libraries. With the Palace app you have access to the library’s digital collections in one place. Enjoy thousands of free books from the Palace Bookshelf, as well as titles your library has purchased through the Palace Marketplace, available exclusively in the app. Download the Palace app for Apple iOS or Android and check out the Palace!

PebbleGo Science 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 science, math, technology and engineering (STEM) concepts, as well as interactive eBooks on science and STEM subjects. Content is available in English and in Spanish (PebbleGo Ciencia). 

Preparing you for U.S. Citizenship

Recorded programs at, or in partnership with, OPL targeted towards adults.

Learn a new language, perfect a non-English language, or learn English.

Offers primary source material essential to the study of African-American history, politics, culture and the arts, experiences that were often excluded or marginalized in mainstream media.

Manuals and schematics for electronics repair.

This source gives you access to current and archived issues (1985-current).

Children's ebooks.

Access the Wall Street Journal from anywhere! You will need to set up an account with an email address and password. From there, you will get a 3-day pass for free access, that you may renew indefinitely.

This easy-to-remember link will help you access and renew access: https://oaklandlibrary.org/wsj

Spanish encyclopedia.

Ebooks and encyclopedia for grades K-12.