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              Explore our large collection of books and audiovisual materials!
​You can even place a book on hold by signing in with your library card number.

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

OPL CAN HELP
Teachers, we have resources specifically geared for you! Here is a collection of great resources to help you educate the students you love so much. We love them, too, and we want them (and you) to be successful!​

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ONLINE COLLECTIONS
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, and they have multiple digital collections that ​provide interesting and informative resources. Here are a few examples of some great collections.​

GEOGRAPHY AND MAPS
The Geography and Map Division (G&M) has custody of the largest and most comprehensive cartographic collection in the world with collections numbering over 5 million maps, 100,000 atlases, 8,000 reference works, over 5000 globes and globe gores, 3,000 raised relief models, over 130,000 microfiche/film, and a large number of cartographic materials in other formats.

CALIFORNIA AS I SAW IT: FIRST-PERSON NARRATIVES OF CALIFORNIA'S EARLY YEARS, 1849 TO 1900
The collection covers the dramatic decades between the Gold Rush and the turn of the twentieth century. It captures the pioneer experience.

CARTOON DRAWINGS
Offers more than 9,000 original drawings for editorial cartoons, caricatures, and comic strips spanning the late 1700s to the present, primarily from 1880 to 1980. The cartoons cover people and events throughout the world, but most of the images were intended for publication in American newspapers and magazines.

PRIMARY SOURCES FROM ALABAMA
Students can use this simple tool to examine and analyze any kind of primary source and record their responses. Primary sources are the evidence of history, original records or objects created by participants or observers at the time historical events occurred or even well after events, as in memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include but are not limited to: letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, maps, speeches, interviews, documents produced by government agencies, photographs, audio or video recordings, born-digital  items (e.g. emails), research data, and objects or artifacts (such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons). These sources serve as the raw materials historians use to interpret and analyze the past.

DOCS TEACH FROM NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Access thousands of primary sources — letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos, and other document types — spanning the course of American history. We’re always adding more! Borrow from an ever-expanding collection of document-based activities created by the National Archives, and teachers around the world. Copy and modify activities for your students. Create your own activities using the online tools. It’s as simple as: (1) selecting a tool, (2) choosing your primary sources, and (3) customizing instructions.

ALABAMA VIRTUAL LIBRARY
​AVL provides ad-free, safe, and reliable information from databases for all Alabama residents 24/7 free of charge. ​

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