Media Center

Welcome to the Bel Air Elementary Media Center!

Hours of Operation
     7:45-3:45 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday
     7:45-2:15 Wednesday

If you have questions about book checkouts or other procedures, please ask your librarians. Our goal is to help you find the best books for your needs.

The links below are to assist you in finding online information to learn more about books available in our library or to find research resources.

Reading Resources

Bel Air OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) shows you books available for checkout at the Bel Air library. Search by keyword, title, author, subject or series. AR levels are shown to the right of book titles.

Recently Added Books

Slime Kids Find book trailers and reviews to learn about books before you read them. It also has educational games and research tools to help you succeed in learning more about things that interest you.

Your Next Read provides reading suggestions. Type the title of a book and the site suggests similar books you might enjoy.

Research Tools

World Book A multi-purpose encyclopedia/dictionary with timelines and ebooks allows for researching in a variety of ways. Use Internet Explorer to access all areas of this site. If you are accessing this from a non-school computer, login as esu8wb and use orders as your password.

Fact Monster allows you to research by topic area. It also offers a homework center, games, and a reference desk with an almanac, an atlas library, an encyclopedia, and a dictionary.

Dictionary.com offers a thesaurus and a translator, in addition to the dictionary, which provides pronunciation help.

WordSmyth is a dictionary and thesaurus that offers 3 levels of skill: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Safe Search is a Google search engine designed for elementary students. However, image searches are safer in Photos for Class (see below). It also has Internet safety articles for parents.

KidInfo is a reference site for preschool on up, offering search engines and reference tools, videos, homework help, and games.

Photos for Class will help you search for photos and images that are safe and licensed for school use.

Parent Sites

Education.com list of the 30 best books for elementary, 5 per grade level.

Teachers First allows you to search for reading suggestions by grade level or author's last name.

Association for Library Services to Children offers suggestions for building a home library.

Common Sense Media addresses parent concerns and issues regarding online activity and precautions for children and youth.