Whether you are a new parent, caring for school-age children or have teenagers in your life, we can provide information and support that we hope will answer your questions about the Library and give you information you can count on about literacy, reading and picking great print books and eBooks.

Choosing Books
Our library staff can help you with book recommendations, choosing books for every kind of reader and talking about literacy.

The Reading Journey at Bayside Library 
Our collections are laid out so you can find the right books for your child for every age and stage.

• Board Books. Our board book collection are durable books made from cardboard and designed for our very first readers, from birth.
• Picture Books. Our picture book collection contain stories in which the illustrations and the text together tell the story.
• Junior Readers. Our Junior Reader Collection contains books that systematically introduce all basic letter sounds along with several essential special words.
• Early Junior Fiction. This collection is for those in early primary school
• Junior Fiction. This collection is for those in primary school

Dyslexia Friendly Books 
Bayside Library Service has a range of resources to help those who have (or support someone with) dyslexia.

eBooks provide great flexibility for people with dyslexia as they allow the reader to adjust the typeface, font size, and background colour to suit. Bayside Library Service offers eBooks through BorrowBox.

Browse Dyslexic Friendly Books 

Auslan

The Library has a selection of online storytimes that are in Auslan

Browse Auslan online storytimes 

Decodable Readers

The Library holds a collection of decodable readers, that are simple stories constructed using words that are phonetically decodable.

Browse Decodable Readers 

For older readers, we hold Catch-up decodable readers (grades 2-6). Each of the stories in these series are carefully written to motivate older readers and build reading stamina. With a higher ratio of text to illustration, these stories allow the reader to make the important step towards understanding meaning purely from text.

Browse Catch-up Decodable Readers 

High/Low Books for Children

High/low books can help build reading fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge and interest in reading. It can be hard to find a book that will appeal to a third-grader who reads at a prep level. High interest/low vocabulary books can help to motivate struggling readers by providing books on topics that they are interested in, but are targeted toward their reading level.

Browse High Low Books for Children 

For Educators: Our Library Team can:

• Arrange an institutional membership for your school or kindergarten so you can borrow items for your classroom
• Put together materials on subjects that you request for you to collect from the library
• Provide library tours for your students
• Visit your classroom or Maternal Child Health Centre to talk about library literacy, and much more!

Contact Our Youth Services Staff 

For Parents

Bayside Library has a large collection of books to support parents on a wide range of topics.

Find Parenting Books for You 

Staying Safe Online

Bayside libraries were the second library service in Australia to reach eSmart status; having achieved this in September 2014. An eSmart library is a library in which the smart, safe and responsible use of digital technologies is the norm, and all members of the library community are equipped to embrace the best these technologies can offer, while being perceptive and proactive about the pitfalls.

Protecting your personal information is a very important aspect of staying safe online. So do you know what you need to protect and how?

Some quick steps to take to keep you safe online:

• Keep your profile set to private and check your settings regularly.
• Don't share personal information, and protect yourself from strangers online.
• Think about your personal safety before you 'check in' or use location-based services.
• Manage your digital reputation responsibly.
• Respect others and look after each other online.
• Think about subscribing to the Australian Government's free Stay Smart Online alert service to keep up to date with online threats and scams, security information and tips to protect your online safety and privacy.

Dealing with online bullying

• Block the cyberbully.
• Take a screenshot as evidence of the cyberbullying.
• Report offensive material to the website administrator or service provider.
• Talk to a friend or trusted adult.
• For more help, call the Kids Helpline on1800 55 1800, or contact the police on (03) 8530 5100 for non-urgent matters or 000 for emergencies.

Tips for parents and carers
Parental controls are useful when children have access to mobile phones, tablets and computers. They can allow you to restrict what content can be accessed on these devices. Placing parental controls on devices can ensure that your children are only able to access age-appropriate material. Guides on the parental control options for several popular devices are available from ThinkUKnow.

Useful websites
eSafety Get Help
Little Black Book of Scams
Settings to protect your privacy on social media sites
Do you need password practice? Tips for passwords
Keep up-to-date with the latest security alerts
How to keep kids safe on YouTube
Staying safe online