Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
March 30, 2020 - Sacramento, Calif. – California public school students now have easier home access to online educational resources during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Teachers, families and students can quickly access content from ProQuest, TeachingBooks and Britannica using this specialized website.
“These educational resources are already available to students and educators through their schools and districts but this health emergency has disrupted the way Californians live – and learn,” said California State Librarian Greg Lucas. “ProQuest, TeachingBooks and Britannica have generously made access easier during the next few months to help families now reliant on at-home learning.”
Information from these three online sources has been available to public school students since the beginning of the 2018 school year. Britannica, TeachingBooks and ProQuest were accessed 7.4 million times, with over 33 million views and downloads in the 2018-2019 school year. These numbers will grow significantly during COVID-19-related school closures.
The California K-12 Online Content project, a joint partnership provided by the California State Library and the Riverside County Office of Education, spends $3 million annually to provide public school students and educators with access to educational resources. If every district and charter school were to pay for their own individual contracts it would cost at least $13 million.
Other providers of online tools and information are also opening up their digital doors on a temporary basis. A list is provided on the K-12 Quick Access page from the State Library, and interested families and educators can sign up for the K-12 eNewsletter from the State Library for updates and online trainings. A 30-minute overview of these resources will be provided via Zoom on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. Sign up
About the State Library: Founded in 1850, the California State Library has an extensive collection of documents from and about the state’s rich history, ranging from books, maps, miners’ diaries, newspapers, and periodicals to photographs, paintings and posters. The State Library also holds federal and state publications, is home to the Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library and the Braille and Talking Book Library, and serves as the lead state agency for library-related services throughout California. California State Library Website
Source: CA. State Library
